Longest. Break. Ever...
Well, It's officially been two weeks since my last post. It would appear that my laziness knows no bounds. It's been a hectic, yet not so hectic two weeks, and I've alternately been in highly annoying discomfort and utter bliss, depending on what day it was. But more on all that later. For today, upon my return to my apartment, in addition to finally talking to my father (who unceremoniously (after not having spoken to me in a couple weeks) left me a message, among other jaw-dropping news, indicating that he thought I was in jail) I've been faced with the need to deal with a few situations. Of which I only seem to have gotten to one:
Those of you who know me, know that I've been having some mobile phone problems of late. Some of these problems were carrier-related, some phone-related, most highly mysterious. Said problems have motivated me to start looking into phone replacement and thus carrier-jumping avenues. My initial impulse in terms of replacement candidates was the Motorola V3 RAZR, a damn fine review (with literally dozens of photos) of which is here. Another decent one (with way fewer photos) is here.
This phone is only available through Cingular, but that works out, as I'm also of the impression recently, that Cingular is probably the best way to go as far as carriers for several reasons: 1) their recent merger with AT&T Wireless has rendered them nothing short of the juggernaut of North American Wireless providers, which bodes well for coverage and free in-network mobile-to-mobile calling. (let me know via comments if you're on cingular/AT&T, so if I DO get one of these phones, I'll be that much more likely to be calling you more!) 2) T-Mobile has pissed me off for what may be the last time, as despite having an 800-min/mo daytime minute calling plan, I've somehow managed to rack up in excess of $1,000USD in cellular bills in the last quarter/three months, primarily in the form of overage charges. This is exorbitant, by any measure. Thus, so-called "Rollover" minutes are a very good thing, and offered exclusively by Cingular. True, T-Mobile has a cuter spokesperson in the form of Catherine Zeta Jones, but she's been forever tainted by the hopelessly old balls of Michael Douglas anyway. I mean really, had I been the sort to open my bill every month (seriously now, who can be troubled to do THAT?), I could have switched to a 1600-2000 minute plan, AND purchased a RAZR outright, and at full retail, non-subsidized cost, no less, AND gotten myself some choice prime rib upon which to dine. Sheesh.
Anyway, to make a long story less long, In searching for the best way to procure this new toy, I came across the following: behold, the forthcoming Motorola V8 SLVR, or as I like to call it, 2005's finest mobile/cellular penis extension to date. clicky
OK, upon further reading, it seems as though this phone will not be out for several months...it will no doubt at that time carry an exorbitant price tag, and thus not really be worth spending an assload of cash on. However, the added memory expansion capability is nice, as is the newness factor. My understanding is that everyone and their brother has one of these in the larget metro markets, so the cachet is basically nonexistent. Meanwhile, the RAZR is basically down to "free after rebate", which, in this case, means $200USD unless I can remember to send in the convoluted rebate paperwork "no sooner than 180 days from activation, but no later than 210 days after activation...yadda yadda yadda." Can I remember to do this? Not real likely. So basically, the phone will cost $200, plus activation, plus figure $100/mo or so for the more suitable 1500-minute calling plan, times two for a phone for Bah also, since we'll be switching carriers. Hrm. Now is it worthwhile to try and port our beloved sequential zen-one1 and zen-one2 (don't go calling Bah, got it?) numbers over to the new phones (Hassle factor: exceedingly high, it seems, especially when combined with the necessity of purchasing two different phones (Bah doesn't need a RAZR) on a shared plan. Or do I take this opportunity to get a 704 Charlotte number?) [sigh] Such a production. Perhaps they could get me the zen-one1 within the 704 area code? Unfortunately, shared minute plans from most carriers (including T-Mobile and Cingular) require all numbers in shared account be based in the same area code and prefix area (that was awkward), so moving to 704 would preclude Bah and I from being in the same shared plan, thus negating any benefits I had of sharing with him in the first place (He uses his phone very sporadically and infrequently, so I in effect "get" all his unused daytime minutes monthly, while paying less than I would for a basic plan for him, and a separate higher-minute use plan for the both of us. Grr! I DO still prefer the flip vs. the candy bar form factor, and the advent of flip units without the protruding antenna is very enticing indeed. (As I tend to stick the phone in my pocket, and any antenna protrsion invariably gets eaten pretty quickly.)
Ugh, this is too much to have to think about. Recap of prior two week's events and Bah bombshell update tomorrow (or perhaps next week, as it's basically the weekend already.
Also, it appears that those crazy French bastards are going to attempt to build a trans-Atlantic undersea train that will do the Paris-NYC journey in around 8 hours. The website is at www.transatlantys.com. I can't find word one on it in english, and this leads me to think it's all a little shady. Construction is to begin this month, and will reportedly take 11 years. A good idea, I suppose, as the train will allegedly have niceties that the airlines can't and don't offer, such as a casino, swimming pools, and a driving range.
It all sounds like a hoax, if you ask me...
Those of you who know me, know that I've been having some mobile phone problems of late. Some of these problems were carrier-related, some phone-related, most highly mysterious. Said problems have motivated me to start looking into phone replacement and thus carrier-jumping avenues. My initial impulse in terms of replacement candidates was the Motorola V3 RAZR, a damn fine review (with literally dozens of photos) of which is here. Another decent one (with way fewer photos) is here.
This phone is only available through Cingular, but that works out, as I'm also of the impression recently, that Cingular is probably the best way to go as far as carriers for several reasons: 1) their recent merger with AT&T Wireless has rendered them nothing short of the juggernaut of North American Wireless providers, which bodes well for coverage and free in-network mobile-to-mobile calling. (let me know via comments if you're on cingular/AT&T, so if I DO get one of these phones, I'll be that much more likely to be calling you more!) 2) T-Mobile has pissed me off for what may be the last time, as despite having an 800-min/mo daytime minute calling plan, I've somehow managed to rack up in excess of $1,000USD in cellular bills in the last quarter/three months, primarily in the form of overage charges. This is exorbitant, by any measure. Thus, so-called "Rollover" minutes are a very good thing, and offered exclusively by Cingular. True, T-Mobile has a cuter spokesperson in the form of Catherine Zeta Jones, but she's been forever tainted by the hopelessly old balls of Michael Douglas anyway. I mean really, had I been the sort to open my bill every month (seriously now, who can be troubled to do THAT?), I could have switched to a 1600-2000 minute plan, AND purchased a RAZR outright, and at full retail, non-subsidized cost, no less, AND gotten myself some choice prime rib upon which to dine. Sheesh.
Anyway, to make a long story less long, In searching for the best way to procure this new toy, I came across the following: behold, the forthcoming Motorola V8 SLVR, or as I like to call it, 2005's finest mobile/cellular penis extension to date. clicky
OK, upon further reading, it seems as though this phone will not be out for several months...it will no doubt at that time carry an exorbitant price tag, and thus not really be worth spending an assload of cash on. However, the added memory expansion capability is nice, as is the newness factor. My understanding is that everyone and their brother has one of these in the larget metro markets, so the cachet is basically nonexistent. Meanwhile, the RAZR is basically down to "free after rebate", which, in this case, means $200USD unless I can remember to send in the convoluted rebate paperwork "no sooner than 180 days from activation, but no later than 210 days after activation...yadda yadda yadda." Can I remember to do this? Not real likely. So basically, the phone will cost $200, plus activation, plus figure $100/mo or so for the more suitable 1500-minute calling plan, times two for a phone for Bah also, since we'll be switching carriers. Hrm. Now is it worthwhile to try and port our beloved sequential zen-one1 and zen-one2 (don't go calling Bah, got it?) numbers over to the new phones (Hassle factor: exceedingly high, it seems, especially when combined with the necessity of purchasing two different phones (Bah doesn't need a RAZR) on a shared plan. Or do I take this opportunity to get a 704 Charlotte number?) [sigh] Such a production. Perhaps they could get me the zen-one1 within the 704 area code? Unfortunately, shared minute plans from most carriers (including T-Mobile and Cingular) require all numbers in shared account be based in the same area code and prefix area (that was awkward), so moving to 704 would preclude Bah and I from being in the same shared plan, thus negating any benefits I had of sharing with him in the first place (He uses his phone very sporadically and infrequently, so I in effect "get" all his unused daytime minutes monthly, while paying less than I would for a basic plan for him, and a separate higher-minute use plan for the both of us. Grr! I DO still prefer the flip vs. the candy bar form factor, and the advent of flip units without the protruding antenna is very enticing indeed. (As I tend to stick the phone in my pocket, and any antenna protrsion invariably gets eaten pretty quickly.)
Ugh, this is too much to have to think about. Recap of prior two week's events and Bah bombshell update tomorrow (or perhaps next week, as it's basically the weekend already.
Also, it appears that those crazy French bastards are going to attempt to build a trans-Atlantic undersea train that will do the Paris-NYC journey in around 8 hours. The website is at www.transatlantys.com. I can't find word one on it in english, and this leads me to think it's all a little shady. Construction is to begin this month, and will reportedly take 11 years. A good idea, I suppose, as the train will allegedly have niceties that the airlines can't and don't offer, such as a casino, swimming pools, and a driving range.
It all sounds like a hoax, if you ask me...
posted by Gene at 5:08 AM
1 Comments:
it's about damn time you posted...chrissakes :)
i need a new phone now..
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