Finding a phone number

used to be easy. You simply hauled out a book made of cheap newsprint and looked for the name you wanted.
This is no longer possible. There is still a book made of cheap newsprint but it is much smaller than it once was. It also has teeny, tiny print - so small that a magnifying glass is needed to see it.
That in itself is a problem. The bigger problem is that many phone numbers are no longer in it. 
People have mobile numbers instead.
We have kept our old "land line" number for the benefit of the Senior Cat. He knows how to use that phone. His mobile confuses him - even though it is intended for "seniors". I can understand this. He was born when very few people even had a phone. His father had one for business purposes. Making any other phone call was something you actually thought very carefully about. Was it necessary? Should you write a letter instead? 
Letters were delivered twice a day Monday to Friday back then - and once on Saturdays. Bills came through the post as did invitations, birthday cards, condolences and much more. 
There were "ordinary" letters too - the sort my grandparents and my mother wrote. My mother was an excellent writer in the physical sense. Her hand flowed easily across the paper. Each week she would write to all of us who were away from home - and to her mother. Less frequently she would write to other people but she still wrote more letters than any of us would contemplate writing now.
The Senior Cat has been in the habit of phoning the Black Cat once a week. They conversations are usually rather stilted. They do not have much to say to one another but provided she is there and sounding "okay" that is enough for him. On the other hand he has long conversations with Brother Cat - about woodwork, workshop plans, the Senior Cat's grandchildren and great-grandchildren. On occasions the wonders of technology allow my sister-in-law to join in as well.
And we have phone numbers for all these people.
Two days ago someone called us looking for a phone number. The woman who called us is an historian - a very good and thorough historian. She is updating the records for one of the oldest churches in the state and she needed some information. Someone we knew was someone who might be able to help. Did we have a phone number? 
I gave her the phone number that was in our old personal telephone book. It was not the right number. Later I thought of looking it up on line but there was nothing in the on line "residential white pages" that looked right. I tried the "reverse number" site - the one which is supposed to tell you who rents that number. The number came up as "previous" but is currently not in use.
I thought back. Yes, the last time S... was here he used a mobile phone. That's the likely problem. I will almost certainly see him on Monday so I will ask him to contact the historian then.
And I will ask him for his mobile number.
It made me realise that only one person apart from family has my mobile phone number.  I suppose this will have to change. It means making myself more available.
Life was simpler when a phone was just a real land line - and there was a phone book to match.