Round 4: Are YOU up???

MARISA141@VTEXT.COM – Hey girls…mike is workin all weekend…anyone want to do drinks at my house Sat night? Let me know. Jan 21, 6:58am

MAKIBABY@VTEXT.COM – lol come 2 think of it I almost texted her 2day….caught it in the middle of sending the text {..what ever..} Jan 24, 6:49pm

6152027632@VTEXT.COM – WELL R U UP? Jan 26, 1:42am

4782139789@VTEXT.COM – forgot to say good morning.GOOD MORNING! my email address is gehambrick@yahoo.com Jan 26, 6:41am

904-239-6740 – 9042396740 So r u sick or did u play hooky Jan 27, 12:55pm

406-855-7296 – Hi sweety….how you holdin up …you doing okay…any word on wht they’re gonna do in regards to ur daughter..? Jan 28, 9:29am

406-855-7296 – Hi sweety….how you holdin up …you doing okay…any word on wht they’re gonna do in regards to ur daughter..? Jan 28, 10:35am

2 Week Recap

So after my first 2 weeks blogging the texts, I've documented 32 text messages. I know that seems like a lot but it's actually been a slow couple of weeks. I think I'll start putting totals after each round I post so I can tally it up each month and see just how many texts it takes to get Verizon to do something about this.

Round 3: r u gona work 2day

904-239-6740 – 9042396740 R u going 2 work 2day Jan 11, 8:28am

81855448358 – so u gona hang wit la comadre and me later? =) Jan 11, 2:42pm

4786976267 – R u doing hair today Jan 13, 6:24am

2145571710 – don’t look at me like that, im not doing anything im not suppose 2! Jan 17, 5:52pm

MsgID4_5YR7PQPF@v.w - (YTL) Hope everything is OK. Want 2 chat via AIM? If not then don’t sign on. Want 2 look @ a house at 11 am? Jan 18, 6:24pm

MsgID_6SPSJQQPF@v.w – (YTL) What did the Dr. say? I’m @ church for a few minutes. Then have the rest of the day free. Jan 19, 12:33pm

MsgID2_KZ3BPQPF@v.w – (YTL) Leaked Fixed. Bathing suit required for next visit. Going to look at Town Office Rd house again this afternoon. Jan 20, 12:09pm

4238833187@vtext.com – U sick? Jan 20, 12:57pm

Merick1213 says...

MERICK1213@vtext.com - Got groceries 215.00! AAAAHHHH! Jan 9, 2:02 pm

Round 2: Not so many the last couple of days :)

2299382204@vtext.com - I JUST listened 2 your msg.R u planning 2 stay at your mama's?Mrs. Gatewood may have something soon.Also manages rentals 4 friend.My apt is already rented Jan 7, 6:51 am

904-239-6740 - Had 2 take cat home Jan 7, 4:23 pm

Round 1: Here we go with the first batch of texts

5854470010@vtext.com – hi hunny im waiting for you Dec 23, 11:15am

5854470010@vtext.com – where you r Dec 23, 11:19am

5854470010@vtext.com – not yet hope soon Dec 24, 3:13pm

916-662-3971 – Shona I’m sorry but I’m not even going to get dressed today. What time do you want to go shopping for a car tomorrow? I would like to get an early start. Dec 26, 5:28pm

5854470010@vtext.com – do you have coffee Dec 27, 9:41pm

5854470010@vtext.com – did you find my knife Dec 27, 10:14am

5854470010@vtext.com – are you on your way? Dec 27, 12:48pm

505-728-1399 – Wr u at? (:Smiles:)

7402627145@vtext.com – What r u doing $Josh$ Dec 31, 4:39pm

7402627145@vtext.com – What r u doing $josh$ Dec 31, 5:03pm Note the lower case 'j' this time

7402627145@vtext.com – Bcuz why $Josh$ Dec 31, 6:16pm

7402627145@vtext.com – Ru going to out whit james $Josh$ Dec 31, 6:28pm

7402627145@vtext.com – Y did u tell him no $Josh$ Dec 31, 6:35pm

7402627145@vtext.com – James is gay and he is afrad to talk to u and what he sad was not true $Josh$ Dec 31, 6:51pm

8605102738@vtext.com – im in a club weirdddd frist one in like 4 years. Wish you were here. Muah Dec 31, 7:52pm

5854470010@vtext.com – yello Jan 1, 5:41pm

5854470010@vtext.com – yello Jan 1, 5:43pm

5854470010@vtext.com – hello Jan 1, 5:45pm

916-662-3971 – Hello Shona Are you OK? I have not heard from you and I am starting to worry. Hugs AL Jan 4, 12:34pm

MERIK1213@vtext.com – they go 2 Riverside Cong. Jan 6, 7:17am

What is the Shona Vortex?

It all started some years ago with a text message to my cell phone that wasn't for me. I didn't think much of it until a second text message followed that said "Shona I can't make it to Six Flags today" at which point I just had to write the person back. You see, my name is Shona and here is this person that I don't know, with an area code hundreds of miles away from my own, texting my phone, calling me by my name and telling me they can't make it to somewhere I never made plans to go that day. Turns out the texter's name was Daniel (a fellow Verizon customer) and we had a very pleasant and amusing exchange about how odd it was that the texts for his friend, also named Shona, somehow made it to my phone. Nice one, Verizon.

I have continued to get texts that were not for me (an average of 1.5 a day) to this day. Sometimes they have my name in them, sometimes they don't. Sometimes I write back, sometimes I just get annoyed and delete them. One day I got a text from Ginny who lives on the East Coast asking me if I wanted to play Guitar Hero. "I love Guitar Hero!" I texted back and we had a fun little exchange and I told her to say hello to her Shona for me and we looked each other up on myspace and I saved Ginny's number in my phone in case I got anymore texts from her on accident, but I haven't.

After years of this, I've decided to document them here in a blog for all to see. Maybe once I have a nice collection together Verizon will have a little more to say than "We can't control who sends you text messages."

As you'll see, they seem to come in clusters from the same # for a while then it changes. I've also decided to text these people back and let them know their messages are being posted online. They can get angry at me if they want, but I hope that they instead set their sights on Verizon because trust me, if it were up to me the only texts I'd get are the ones that are actually for me.

My guess is that for some ridiculous reason, Verizon's text messaging system is somehow referencing the name Shona when transmitting these messages instead of going by something more specific... like say a 7 digit phone number. There's not really any other explaination (that comes to my mind anyway, but feel free to post any ideas you may have) but I've been assured by Verizon reps that this is not how it works.

So here we go, my next post will be a list of texts, exactly as they appeared in my phone (type-o's and spelling mistakes and all) and in the same order.