Cell phone coverage in California’s Sierra Nevada can be spotty to non-existent. I just got back from three days camping in mountainous El Dorado County. Although I was trying to be disconnected from work, there was one work-related message I wanted to receive. Yet no cell phone coverage. Until I discovered the Phone Both. Have you seen anything like this?
We were told by a bartender at Uncle Tom’s Cabin (external link to Facebook), a place running solely on generator power, that there was one solitary turnout on Wentworth Springs Road where I could hit a cell tower. An enterprising local resident had painted the roadway to mark the spot. (With a sense of humor and some hurried spelling.) Sure enough, I found the blue paint and was able to receive my e-mail. I guess my advice to remote workers is this: ask a local for help when you have to make a connection.
Can’t I phone just one of them?
In the early days of cellular, when I was still installing phones for a living, I did a lot of installations for one particular dealer in Irvine. At an intersection near their office, there was a gas station with a bank of about 8 phone booths, and they were always busy. At least, at first. Over the next few years, I watched as one after another phone booth got removed. Finally the last one was gone. An era had ended.