You are bored and thinking about an impromptu slumber party. You just realized you’ve a free Friday night but it’s too late in the week to send out invites. Calling everybody you know is such a hassle. They might not even be there when you call. To make sure you get the message across to everybody you’ve in mind, log on to view your contact list. Type in your invite and send it as a group text. That works like the reply-all feature on your email. Only that your message goes directly to your recipients’ mobile phones inboxes.

Your girlfriend’s a nurse and does not sit in front of a PC all day like you do. You are a busy programmer with a Bluetooth headset stuck to your ear all day so you can pick up calls to your cell phone without having to take your hands or your eyes off of your screen. You’re glued to your seat – and your screen – twelve hours a day; she runs around to take care of patients and assist doctors for an entire shift, maybe even two shifts in a day. The only thing she has on her all the time is a watch and a cellular phone.

How do you keep the romance alive in the fast lanes you’re both on? How do you make sure you tell her you are thinking of her when you do at the moment you do? Send her a text from your workstation. Yes, that’s more convenient for you, isn’t it? You do not have to fish for your phone or pull it out of your pocket. Just pull up a window and key in a quick note. When you press enter, your message gets to her in no time.

Free messaging is available from several websites and online facilities. It is fast, it’s convenient, and it is available. And best of all, it is free.