Extended area service

So, yesterday my adventurous brother decided to take his jetski out exploring the Escambia river, which runs between the pan handle of Florida and Alabama. After he'd been out for a while, the jetski started stalling, and eventually he could not get it to start anymore. He beached it and was trying to work on the engine, see what was wrong, when it occurred to him to call my dad for mechanical advice. 

This reminded me of the time many, many years ago, when my mom and I got a call from my dad, who was out in the desert. He had been exploring mine shafts, and night time had snuck up on him rather quickly. He called my mom to tell her he was lost, and thought it might be best to sleep in the car for the night instead of driving around, getting more lost. 

There is something very strange about cell phone coverage, that one can in fact be lost and yet still call people to tell them about it. People that are hundreds if not thousands of miles away, and in no position to be of immediate assistance. And yet they want to be, are rather frantic that they cannot help under such potentially dangerous and dire situations. 

Cellular telephone service here in Iceland is much more sporadic. If you get lost in the interior of Iceland, you have to walk your way out of it over many disorienting days without anyone knowing of your plight, just as it should be. 

P. S. My brother, by the way, got a tow back to the marina shortly after calling my parents, so all was well.