Wandering Road

Bobby got a new cell phone recently.  It is the Palm Treo 700p.  After taking a look at it myself, I’ve started to get jealous.  The problem is that I just renewed my Sprint contract at the beginning of the year for 2 years.  So if I wanted to buy the 700p and stay with Sprint, I couldn’t get any new/renewing customer bargains - I’d pay the full price of $600.  And if I wanted to go with another carrier, I would have to pay $150 to get out of my Sprint contract.

At least, that was the case until Bobby sent me this link.  Apparently Sprint increased their text message rates from 10 cents each to 15.  This change constitutes a “material change to the terms and conditions”.  And if a “material change” is made, then the customer can cancel service without having to pay their end of contract fee ($150 in my case).  I did a google search and found a great forum thread on slickdeals.net about this.  Turns out that it is true, though a little difficult to achieve.  Sprint is fighting pretty hard to stop people from canceling - sometimes they offer perks (like free messaging) to get customers to stay or just say that this change doesn’t impact you and you can’t cancel.  But with determination, people are able to get their account canceled without a fee or have the fee waived in case they decide to cancel in the future.

I saw this as my perfect chance to get that 700p.  It took 2 calls and talking to 3 service reps, but I was able to do it.  I canceled my Sprint contract without a penalty.  My advice to anyone who wants to do this is to first read the forum thread.  Second, stick to your guns and topic when you call.  The reps try to lead you astray by asking you if there are other reasons you are canceling or offering you free perks.  Just keep repeating, “you changed the cost of messages……this is a material change in the contract……i want to cancel my account”.  You’ll get there in the end.

So after that fiasco, I was ready to order my new phone.  I was going to do the same deal Bobby did through Amazon.  I log into the site, select the phone, select the plan, select the options, and then click checkout.  I’m asked to select the shipping address and I do.  I’m then asked to enter the shipping address again.  It becomes a continuous loop and I can’t get any further in the purchase process.  I call support (or more accurately, have Amazon support call me - cool new feature of the site) and find out they are having a glitch with checkout on some items and my 700p is one of them.  So I have to wait a day before I can buy it.

So now that I can’t get my instant gratification, I decide to continue surfing.  In my reading on the slickdeals thread, I kept seeing references to Sprint SERO plans.  I didn’t think much of it then, but with some free time on my hands, I decided to research and came across another great slickdeals forum thread (I must visit slickdeals more often).  Turns out that SERO stands for Sprint Employee Referral Offer.  Sprint is offering specially priced plans to friends and family of employees.  The kicker is that to get the special offer, you just need the address of a sprint employee.  You don’t have to know them or get their approval, the site just requires a valid email address to get in.  A quick search on google will give you one of those.
These plans seem pretty amazing.  You get 500 anytime minutes, unlimited sprint pcs vision (ie data downloads, emails, im messages), unlimited night (starts at 9pm) and weekends, and unlimited picture mail for $30 a month!!  That’s right folks, unlimited data AND 500 minutes for only $30.  A plan like this through Verizon or normal Sprint plans would be $70.  From everything I have read, this is totally legit.  The only drawback I see is that you are required to sign a 2 year contract.  But with a plan like that at that cost, why would you leave?

So I’m now thinking I’ll go with the SERO option.  I’m going to do a little more homework before I make my decision, but I’m about 90% sure that is the way I’m going.  I’ve had Sprint for a number of years and have been very happy.  I only wanted to leave them because I wanted the cheap 700p through Verizon.  Now I can spend $200 more to get the 700p through Sprint, but save $480 a year in plan costs.

I’ll let you know how it goes…..

I made it back alive from out tent camping experience. And I have to say that I enjoyed it. Lake Mineral Wells is so close to us - less than a 2 hour drive. It seemed like we were there in no time (a bonus for me who hates long drives). The campsite was very nice with a cleared area for the tent, fire ring, running water, and picnic table. And the hiking was excellent! On Saturday we hiked about 6 miles. And that was before noon. It was wonderful hiking through the woods with the dogs. We left them off leash most of the time since there was nobody else around. They ran themselves ragged which is what we wanted. Bobby and I just enjoyed strolling through the forest and admiring the views of the lake.

Sleeping in the tent was not quite as nice as I hoped. The sleeping pads did add a little comfort, but not much. Next time we’ll be getting an inflatable bed. I think that will make a huge improvement.

Cooking on a fire and a camp stove was a new experience for me. I tried making a meal on the campfire Friday night. I found the recipe on the web. Basically you mix dried onion soup mix, ground meat, and chopped veggies. Wrap it all in foil and throw it on the coals. The meal wasn’t really that great. But it was a starting point, I already have a number of ways I can improve it. I did scrambled eggs and toast on the Coleman stove for breakfast and that turned out nice. I also heated up some water so we could have hot tea and cider. Now that I have a feel for what I can and can’t cook out there, I’ll be able to pack better next time. And hopefully make tastier meals.
My one bit of genius with cooking was to chop all veggies at home and have them in the cooler ready to go. This made things much simpler. No need for a chopping board and knife. Just dump and go. I highly recommend it.

We ended up staying just one night instead of the two we planned. On Saturday we got some rain and it was forecast to rain more over the evening and next day. I didn’t want to be breaking camp in the middle of the rain. Especially since we would be loading everything into my new Rav4. It was bad enough we were carting the dogs around in it after only having it 18 hours. I think one night is a good stay. Especially if you arrive early and leave late. I’d enjoy doing that many more times.

On one of our future trips, I want to try primitive camping. Lake Mineral Wells had a primitive camping area that you had to hike 2 miles to get to. We hiked over there just to check it out. It is in the middle of a wooded area with a few clearings around. There is no electricity, water, restrooms, tables, or other basics you find at the walk-in campsites. You hike in everything you need and then hike it all out. I think it would be a lot of fun to try for a night. The only problem with it is that the park does not allow fires out there. So you better not go when it is too cold or you’ll freeze your ass off. I’m hoping we can get a group together soon and give it a try. It better be very soon because the colder weather is fast approaching.

Well, I got the Rav4 on Thursday. The dealership called me at 4 to say it had arrived and I was there by 5 to pick it up. The paperwork went very smoothly and fast - a nice surprise. Another nice surprise was that even though the vehicle arrived with the remote start and towing prep options (which I did not request), the sales guy didn’t make me pay for them. He stuck to the original price we agreed on. I have to say I had a great buing experience with Toyota of Plano. Now we’ll see what I think of their service department.

But enough about the dealership, everyone wants to know about the car. Well, I love it! It drives so smoothly, it almost seems to glide on the road. And it has some great pick-up in it……..so glad I went with the V6. I’m really enjoying the dual zone automatic climate control. Bobby and I each get to set our own temperature (something that has always been a constant battle for us). The storage in the car is also amazing. There are two storage spaces under the floor in the rear area. One is enough room to fit carry on luggage and the other can fit smaller items like umbrellas or tools. Bobby and I took full use of these when we went camping (more on that later) and were able to put the tent, sleeping pads, stove, propane fuel, and other miscellaneous items in the larger compartment.

The sound system is also great. A big step over what I had in the Escape. And I actually had purchased the upgraded Escape sound system when I got it. The bass in the car is amazing, considering there is not subwoofer. It is also wonderful at the treble as well (which is what I really enjoy). I hear pieces of songs now that I never heard in my Escape. The mp3 player connector is also great. You connect a wire from the headphone jack of your mp3 player to a port in the car. You can then listen to the mp3 player through the speakers. I like that the port in the car is generic and not made for a specific player. My iPod works great. I’ll need to get a longer cord so that the iPod can be more accessible when it is hooked into the car. Oh, also discovered that I have a 6-disc cd changer in the dash. I rarely listen to cds, but it is a nice addition. I can use it as backup for when I forget the iPod.

I could go on and on about the Rav4. I’m extremely happy with it. Much happier than I thought I would be. Let’s hope this love affair is able to last for 5 or 6 years.

I got the call this morning that my Rav-4 would arrive at the dealership tonight or tomorrow!  I’m hoping it comes tonight.  That means we can get it in time for our camping trip.  If it comes too late, I’ll have to wait until Sunday to get it.  Fingers crossed…

Bobby and I go on a early camping trip with friends. I’ve been told that I really shouldn’t call these “camping” trips since we don’t really camp. We rent a cabin - a cabin that has beds, a bathroom, stove, oven, and tables. And the last time we went, the cabin even had a washer and dryer (it was more of a house than cabin). We like to think we are roughing it because our cell phones don’t get a signal and there is no internet access.

Well, this weekend Bobby and I are going to try real camping….in a tent! I was chatting with my friend Brian over the weekend and he was telling me about the backpacking trip he is going on this weekend. He and his boyfriend are packing up two packs and going on a multi-day hike where the camp along the way. Hearing about this got me excited about the idea of tent camping. I know I’m not ready for backpacking, but I think I could handle regular tent camping where you drive up to your campsite. This way I could take a cooler, portable stove, air mattress, etc. Plus, if anything is forgotten, the car is right there!

Since this our first foray into tent camping, we have none of the gear. Luckily, Bobby had the great idea of checking if REI rents out gear. Lo and behold they do! For only $60 we are getting a 4 person tent, two sleeping bags, two sleeping pads, and a portable stove. Cheaper than I expected. So if we like this whole tent camping thing, we can go invest in our our supplies. But if I decide it is a bit too rough for me, we won’t have wasted money on all the gear.

Speaking of gear, I loved walking around the camping section of REI. There are so many cool camping accessories. I could go wild buying stuff. They have water purifying systems, water bottles with purifiers in them, coffee presses that fit in your water bottle, collapsible pots/pans/plates/bowls, packs, games, electronics, and I can’t remember what else. I’m one of those people who loves a hobby partly because you get to buy all the accessories

As you can tell, I’m pretty excited about this trip.  I’m hoping I love it and this becomes something we do on a regular basis with the dogs.  It seems like a cheap vacation that we can take with the dogs while enjoying nature and getting some exercise.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

via BoingBoing

I found a great new extension for Firefox called FoxyTunes. It is a small extension that controls your music software (iTunes, Windows Media, WinAmp, etc) from within Firefox.  By default it puts a small set of buttons in your status bar.  The feature I like best is that you can have it show the artist name and song title.  It’s great having all this functionality from within Firefox so I don’t have to constantly switch between apps.  And it is so small!  Very unobtrusive.

Today I drove past a street called Lois Ln.  :}

I wanted to link to a map of it but it is too new to be included in mapquest or google maps.

I’ve been using the sewing machine lately. Having a lot of fun doing it. I’m starting to feel comfortable. Sometimes I even think I know what I’m doing!

I’ve posted more details on the projects at TDL. Here are the projects:

• Shimmy, Shake, and Bake Apron
• Complete Outfit in a Bag - Messenger Bag
• iPod Case (gotta protect my newest toy!)

In case you had not heard (where have you been?), this week Apple introduced updated iPods, Nanos, and Shuffles.  And the timing could not be more perfect.  My 3 year old iPod has finally died.  Well, the battery has.  It can only keep a charge for a few minutes.  If I want to play it for extended period of times, it has to be plugged in.  Very aggravating.  It will especially be back when going on trips (if they ever allow mp3 players on the plane again).

So in the interest of my sanity at work, I decided it was time to upgrade.  I just ducked out of the office and picked up the new black 80 gig iPod.  I haven’t gotten to play with it yet because it needs to be charged.  I’ll do all of that tonight.  Anyway, I’m excited to have a new toy and had to share!

I don’t really need 80 gig of space, but the next biggest model is 30 gig.  Our music collection currently sits at 33 gig and it’s a requirement that I be able to carry around all my music collection - even the songs I hate.  So I just like to think that I’m planning for future expansion.  We all know how I acquire the music. 

It will also be nice to check out the video features.  I had the old iPod that only did music.  It’s like I’m moving into a new era.  I’ll have to do my research to find out what formats the iPod supports.  I seem to remember hearing/reading that it is a very limited set that is very Apple centric (surprise, surprise).  I’m sure there is some software floating around to convert to the correct format.  I have a small video collection that would be fun to carry around.

Oh, I can’t wait to get home and play!