My formerly perfect solution to the lack of unprotected wifi here is the worst. So unreliable! Constantly booting me if I try to do anything more complex than a simple google search. And because I use a Mac, At&t is unable to offer me adequate customer support. So I get shuffled between Apple and At&t, both of which perpetually have "longer hold times than usual." How long does it take until the average hold time estimation increases? If every time I call them it is "longer than usual," doesn't longer than usual just become usual? Regardless, I will be returning this piece of crap technological miracle before Wednesday which marks the end of my 30 day trial period. I will be reimbursed for my trouble and already got service credits when I called to complain about the inadequate customer support for a product that was promised by them to be my perfect solution.
Anyway, I am unable to blog with any reliability as a result. Without internet service it is hard to locate stock photos of recent purchases or upload my own photos of anything. It also means I can't read the blogs and browse the websites that drive me to post in the first place.
But just because I don't have internet service doesn't mean I haven't consumed. As I've mentioned in previous entries, I recently bought a house with my partner so curbing spending is priority number 1.
Some things that help me save money: I have no DC rent to pay and limited bills. I don't eat out much. It is easy to resist seeking out great restaurants because I am alone a lot of the time. Without company I don't feel much incentive to dine since a huge part of the dining experience is social. I've been cooking a lot and occupying myself planning inexpensive meals for the week. My lack of internet service and address transience mean I don't shop online and I don't browse as many websites that enable or encourage conspicuous consumption. The decrease in online consumption is somewhat neutralized by living in a neighborhood with such great brick and mortar shopping. But the lure of novelty has worn off and my drive to browse has diminished with it. I never thought the day would come when I could choose to walk to Anthropologie or Zara or Barney's Coop but opt instead to go home.
Tomorrow I will go with an e-pal to an outlet mall that has a Nordstrom Rack and Off Fifth. Hopefully there won't be too much that catches my eye. I am more excited to hang out with a friend and spend some time exploring new territory. I have to stay financially focused on the projects that Chris and I have planned to increase the value of our shared investment. And on making our house a home.
3 comments:
AT&T's air cards are the worst, even if it works I've heard people complain that the internet is as slow as dial-up sometimes. If you want a reliable air card with fast internet service, definitely go with Sprint. (I sell AT&T and Sprint products, so I've heard all about them and know a fair bit too.)
We have a demo air card at our store for Sprint, and I have never seen the internet go down on it once... It's been there for at least four months now, and is always fast and reliable. (The store's internet goes out more often. And every time that internet is down, the air card is working.)
The main complaint I hear is that it's with Sprint, and we all know their customer service sucks... But if you want something like this, Sprint's the way to go.
Other than that little speech... I just found your blog the other day and find it very entertaining. :) I hope that doesn't offend you... It's not meant to. It's just very different from all the other blogs I read, which makes it refreshing. I tend to live vicariously through other people who spend money on good quality things when I haven't quite gotten to that stage myself yet... (I have saver DNA, not spender.)
I agree with the other comments. This air card sucks. I was actually hovering around 92k download speeds this morning which is barely better than dial-up. I hard-wired the same computer and immediately jumped up to 6900k, a speed that I'm more accustomed to receiving.
In short, don't by ANY air card unless there's absolutely NO WAY to establish a hard line connection. It's like volunteering to go back to 1995 just for the priveledge of looking cool.
I am so glad I returned mine and didn't get locked into a contract. It was a good idea in theory. Bummer it didn't work! Thanks for reading! -Jess
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