Tuesday, March 20th, 2007
Looks like postage rates are going up to 41 cents in May. They’ll also be releasing forever stamps, which will always cover the first class rate. I’m guessing someone will find some crazy arbitrage opportunity using those…
Here’s a short list of the new rates that MSNBC put together:
The rates taking effect May 14 include:
- Letters, bill payments, greeting cards: 41 cents for the first ounce, up from 39 cents.
- Wedding invitation (2 ounces), 58 cents, down from 63 cents.
- Postcard, 26 cents, up from 24 cents.
- Priority mail flat-rate envelope, $4.60, up from $4.05.
- Express Mail flat-rate envelope, $16.25, up from $14.40.
- Parcel Post, 1-pound package, $4.50, up from 3.95.
- Bank statement, 2 ounces, presorted, 45.9 cents, down from 54.4 cents.
- Utility bill, bar coded, 31.2 cents, up from 29.3 cents.
Wednesday, December 20th, 2006
I’ve been using a Plantronics Discovery 640 bluetooth headset for about 8 months now. It’s perfect because it’s small and light, not to mention you can charge it using whatever connector your cell uses.
Well, after about 6 months of use the earbud piece decided to disintegrate. The outer layer started to peel off, revealing a sticky layer underneath. Not exactly something you want to use. So after a couple of months of trying to use the larger size (they come in 3 difference sizes), I finally got around to calling Plantronics. At the very least I needed to get the part number and order a new one.
So I dialed their 800 number. Only had to go through 2 layers of the voicemail system and I was at a real-live-human-agent. Less than a minute. Told her what was wrong and asked if it was covered under the warranty. She went and chatted with someone. In the meantime, I pulled up the warranty online. Of course they consider earplugs consumables, so it would not be covered. I figured I was out of luck and would be paying for a new earplug.
I was certainly surprised when she came back on the line and told me she would send it out for free. Gave her my address and was done. I should have them in 2-3 days.
Total process was less than 10 minutes– a great example of good customer service.
Wednesday, December 20th, 2006
Last Thursday we had a terrible windstorm. Gusts were 60-70mph in some areas causing many large trees to go crashing through powerlines. We ended up being without power for 59 hours– the longest I’ve ever had a power outage. Some people are still without power today (almost a week!).
Of course, even after the power came back our cable service was still out. And since our cable also carries our internet and telephone it was not a lot of fun. In total, cable was out for 116 hours.
Luckily I picked up a T-Mobile SDA a while back and was able to use that for making calls and checking email. When the power started to get low, I charged it through a car adapter and then at a friend’s house who had power.
Here are the items that I really wish I had during this experience. It’s not a complete list, but at least a place to start.
- Full gasoline tanks. Luckily my car had a full tank. Unfortunately my wife’s car only had a 1/4 tank. We spent almost half a day looking for a gas station with power so that we could refill it. My new rule is that cars should always have minimally a half a tank of gas, at least in the winter.
- D batteries. I have one of the large MAGLite flashlights, except I did not have any extra batteries for it. Ended up borrowing them from a friend who had a stockpile.
- LED flashlight. While my MAGLite was bright, it would have been better to have one of their LED flashlights.
- Lantern. I tried reading one night using the flashlight but it was not easy/comfortable since the light was so focused. A lantern would be better for reading / playing games at night.
- More candles. We had some, but not enough large ones.
- More matches. Near the end of the 59 hours we started to get low on matches.
There were a few things that worked out really well– internet on phone, gas stove, gas fireplace, and battery back-ups.
Of course with a power outage this long, maybe it’s time to look for a generator…
Sunday, November 5th, 2006
It’s been a year since I requested my credit report from TransUnion and a few months since I’ve last requested a credit report. So I went on over to http://www.annualcreditreport.com/, filled out my personal info and selected TransUnion. Last time I tried TransUnion it would not let me see my report online and instead forced me to request it via phone or snail mail. This time I hoped that I could just request it onlinen since they had previously sent me one. Of course I didn’t have any luck and ended up reaching the following page:
Please Contact Us by Phone or Mail
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What happened:
We cannot provide you with a Personal Credit Report.
Explanation:
For security reasons, your Personal Credit Report is not available online.
What to do:
- Please return to annualcreditreport.com and order your Personal Credit Report by phone or mail.
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So I gave the number on the annualcreditreport.com site a call. After two failed attempts at saying my name and address, I was finally successful on the 3rd call. Probably took me a total of 20 minutes just to get the system to take my info.
Has anyone else been able to get their TransUnion report online? I’m still not sure why they are not letting me when both Equifax and Experian do.
Sunday, February 26th, 2006
After waiting patiently to upgrade my cell phone I pulled the trigger and purchased a T-Mobile SDA. Ended up buying it in a T-Mobile store since it was more convenient and their web site does not have it yet (http://www.t-mobile.com/promos/online/preregmdasda/).
When it came to price, my decision point was based on how long I wanted to renew my contract with T-Mobile. I’d been enjoying a month to month contract since I was out of contract about a year ago. Signing up for a new contract is never fun. It came down to the following:
1 year contract: $300 - $50 rebate = $250
2 year contract: $250 - $50 rebate = $200
Early termination fee for ending a contract is $200. My gut was to jump at the 2 year contract since I’ve been with T-Mobile that long in the past. But having a 2 year contract length really sucks, especially with the nice deals carriers will give you for signing up as a new customer and the fact that phone numbers can now be ported between carriers. So in the end I went with the 1 year contract and paid $50 to give myself additional flexibility in the future.
The SDA replaced my Samsung E105 that I’ve had for the last 2 years on the T-Mobile network. It’s served me really well but recently I noticed some of the features my friends and co-workers were making good use of on newer phones:
- Bluetooth. Yea, I know I’m a good couple years late on this one. It’s just not safe to be talking on a phone without a headset today. For a while I was really good about using my wired headset with the E105, but at some point it was just too cumbersome. I’ll be looking for a good bluetooth headset soon. Plus, cars are finally starting to have built in bluetooth which means you can simply throw your phone somewhere in your car and it will sync up with the in-car speaker and microphone system. Not that I have a car with bluetooth yet… Can you say purchases driving additional purchases.
- Calendar access. I meet with a lot of people throughout the day as a normal part of my job. My schedule is handled on a Microsoft Exchange server that allows us to co-ordinate meetings. Recently I’ve found myself having to open my laptop to find out where I need to be next. A phone with my regular Outlook calendar lets me stay on top of my schedule without always having my laptop with me.
- Usable email. The E105 had a way to get at your email, but with the screen size and interface it made it difficult to do anything useful. Plus the network it used (GPRS) is not the fastest thing in the world. Additionally I need access to multiple email accounts, at a minimum my work and personal mail.
- Internet. Lots of new services are popping up that allow you to use your mobile device to connect web sites to grab useful data. Google mobile is one example. Several times while on the road having a web browser would have really saved me a decent amount of time.
What drove me to the SDA was seeing a friend’s Cingular 2125. The screen was so clear and form factor was exactly what I was looking for– it was a phone primarily. The SDA is almost identical to the 2125, except it is on the T-Mobile network and has WiFi.
Basic overview of the T-Mobile SDA:
- Size/Dimensions. 4.5 x 1.8 x 0.7 inches, 3.74 oz.
- World Phone. Supports 850/900/1800/1900
- Display. 64k, 2.2 inches, 240 x 320 pixels
- 802.11b WiFi.
After using it for 2 weeks here are the positives, negatives, and points I’m still not decided on.
Positives:
- Screen size and clarity. The crispness of the screen is unbelievable. Browsing a web site with decent pictures like CNN or ESPN really shows off the screen. Text is rendered perfectly and legibly. It almost seems better than my LCD monitor.
- Bluetooth. Now I can go out and get that wireless headset.
- Productivity. I now have access to my calendar, work email, personal email, and the web. Since my email volume is so high (it comes with the job), I’m now able to stay on top of my mail anywhere I need to. I send occassional mails, but the SDA is certainly not my primary email sending device. Plus, I always know where my next meeting is and can look something up quickly on the web.
- Phone first. It’s a phone! I wanted something that could stay in my pocket, not a bulky PDA device masquerading as a phone.
- EDGE and WiFi. Both Cingular and T-Mobile have introduced EDGE networks. These allow you to have higher download speeds when going over the cellular network. Plus in the case of the SDA I can jump on any T-Mobile WiFi network or other access points. Also, my data plan lets me hook my laptop up to all of the T-Mobile hotspots, which means every Starbucks.
- Smartphone. The SDA runs Windows Mobile 5.0 so there are lots of other applications you can add to your phone.
- Price. Now that I’ve added the T-Mobile Internet Add-on Plan I’m paying an additional $29.99 per month. This was directly offset by moving from a business plan to personal plan. So in the end I’m actually getting more minutes plus data for the same price I was previously paying per month. Not a bad move.
Negatives:
- Small size of buttons. It can sometimes be difficult to hit the exact button on the keypad. They’re just slightly too small.
- Battery life. I’m getting about 24 hours out of a single charge. This is without using WiFi which will heavily drain your battery. Also, the case that T-Mobile provides does not help with battery lifte since it has a slight design flaw. It’s so tight that it presses keys which means your backlight comes on. So using the case is really out of the question. Of course I’ve just put a screen protector on and keep it in my pocket.
- Size. This is slightly larger than my E105. I’m willing to live with it given the functionality I gain, but when I asked my wife about getting her one she thought it was too big.
Things I’m undecided on:
- Task switching. This device now has the ability to randomize me. I’ll need to be careful to avoid negative task switching which might take my focus away from the task at hand.
- Non flip phone. I’ve always been a fan of flip phones. Now I’m getting used to locking the keypad so that I’m not dialing random numbers.
- Obsolescence. Since I’m on the front of the technology wave now, am I committed to a technology too early so that it will become obsolete in under 2 years?
This was one of my initial steps towards being location independent. I can stay on top of my work almost anywhere now. While some may view the cost as high, I believe that it will help me do a better job at work and let me make better use of small snippets of time.
So how long do you keep your phone? What phone/carrier do you use? What aspects of it have made you feel most productive?
