Carol, thanks for your input! When my BF saw the pics, he said the same thing - salamander. I don't know how I didn't see the legs while I was watching it "slither" around the dirt but he saw them in the picture, like you did. (Well, yes I do know how - my sunglasses aren't bifocals!) But I insisted it had scales and its' tail didn't taper so dramatically. He said maybe it's a skink and we went to the link you posted, actually. Sure enough, we found him, in the lizard section. He's a ground skink. What a cute little thing! I thought skinks were like snipes - make-believe animals to tease people with, but now I know they are real and happily living in my yard.

But I also think there are exceptions to the exception. Like taking a kid to a kid movie? If the whole theater is kids and their parents, I'm much less concerned about the little one sitting still and or being quiet. No one else is, and I fully expect a lot of the leeway that I am giving. Cell phones/laptops are standard business practice at meetings. I cannot see cell phones disappearing at meetings. Cannot. It's only gotten more prevalent over the years, and I think you're trying to fight a rising tide expecting it to be limited to what you find "acceptable". Now none of my associates who would bring a phone to a meeting and read emails before/after a meeting, would bring it to lunch and text all lunch long. Maybe you're not so lucky, and that's the problem? Not here. Honestly, I really don't understand the mindset of the whole cell phones are evil thing. People have always carried on conversations. For some reason, it is absolutely acceptable when the participants are standing nearby, face to face. But put a cell phone in one of the participant's hands and have the other person be somewhere else, and it's evil/wrong/bad manners??? Cell phone conversations being overheard is becoming more acceptable, and less seen as bad manners any more. I never saw it being a problem, except when someone couldn't hear and they were yelling. Which has gone by the wayside too, so maybe that's why it's more tolerated. I truly don't understand cell phones being in business settings as being wrong. Just don't get it. Even if I didn't have a son to watch. I saw colleagues using their phones before I had one and it didn't bother me then. I really am beginning to wonder if this is a generational thing?

Oh boy, he was lucky dad found him! Our younger son is "directionally challenged", and can get lost turning around. glad it all turned out ok.

It depends on the phone and the carriers. There's a number of different types of service out there too. For instance different carriers use different frequencies (CDMA, PCS, GSM, etc) SIM cards are suggestive of GSM technology used by Tmo and ATT. If you're looking to use prepaid service you can sometimes use the phones but won't always have all the features. If you're looking for a contract service, then as cautioned before, beware of costs to change. Often the smallest thing will extend your contract. For instance, if you get a new phone, you generally get a new (extended) contract with hefty cancellation fees. You'll have to get more info from the companies, but generally speaking, Tmo will not be interchangeable with Virgin and Verizon. Tmo & AT&T are more likely to be options. Probably not answering your question, but not an easy question to answer!