Hawk's Babble-Log

I remember when someone’s word meant something. If someone said, “I’ll be there at 6pm,” then they were there at 6pm. They were not “fashionably late”. They didn’t show up at 6:30pm. If they said that they would be there at 6pm, then they were there at 6pm.

These days, not so much. If someone tells me that they’ll be there at 6pm, then I take along a good book (or my Kindle), so that I have something to do while I wait for them at 6pm. I arrived at 5:55pm. That’s the secret to being on-time, by the way: get there early. If you target yourself to get there at 6pm, you’re going to be late.

These days, I have to hound people to get them to keep their agreements. I have to call people to make sure they’re coming, or are on their way, or whatever. Repeatedly!

Well, I don’t let things like that slide. If someone breaks their word with me, I let them know it. Then I don’t trust them after that.

This is sooo awesome!!!

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/sweet-justice-how-to-foreclose-on-your-bank_06062011

I’ve been shopping around for cell phones lately. It’s quite a research project to compare all these various cell phone plans, what they include, what they don’t include… very confusing.

Some plans include unlimited network. Some plans include “unlimited” network which include 2000M of network (notice the quotes). I guess that’s good; I wouldn’t want the “unlimited” plan which didn’t include 2000M of net.

Some give you x number of minutes plus x number of other kinds of minutes plus x number of weekend minutes plus x number of evening minutes… screw that!

It’s like charging someone more for a “long-distance” call. The equipment is distance-insensitive. It always has been. Charging more for a call to a switching station more miles away is just evil (and profitable, apparently).

I want an unlimited plan which has no quotes around it. And I want unlimited voice, unlimited text, and unlimited net. And I want to pay the price on the ad. With AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc., you’re going to pay the price on the ad, plus taxes, plus fees, plus some more taxes, plus some more fees, and then your bill will be much bigger than you thought it would be.

I also don’t want to pay a “phone tax”. With Sprint, you do get a truly unlimited plan (I think), but you pay a “phone tax” if you have what they consider a “smart phone”. It’s $10 / month extra. I just can’t support a company that does that. Plus they have a mandatory 2-year contract when you sign up; there is no option to not get a new 2-year contract. Screw that! I’m never going to be under another contract again. Ever!

I might have tried Boost Mobile, because it sounds cheaper, but their phones don’t take SIM cards, so I’d have to buy new phones for use on their network.

So I ended up going with Simple Mobile. http://mysimplemobile.com

Simple Mobile has a no-contract plan which is unlimited everything for $60 / month. And it’s really just $60 / month. Not $60 plus taxes plus fees, etc. I’ve also signed up my dad on their $40 / month plan (unlimited voice/text). Both of these plans together is less than what I was paying AT&T for their “Family Plan”.

Additionally, Simple Mobile can use any phone that takes a SIM card. A cell phone network which locks their phones sucks! Simple Mobile has no “smartphone tax”, no day/night restrictions, no limits on text messages, no limits on how much bandwidth I use… and so on. So for me, it’s all good!

I tried, on several occasions, to buy a phone from people on craigslist.org. The first time I tried this, it worked wonderfully. The guy showed up with the phone, I tried my sim card in it. Everything worked so I paid cash and it was a done deal. That was years ago and I was still using that phone up until recently.

It seems things have changed. I’ve sent about a dozen emails to various ads, never had one single response.

I’ve set up two meets, no one showed up.

I’m afraid to set up another meet, and I have no desire to email another ad. I’ve spent much time on this (days) and have no desire to continue. Does Craigslist now only have ads from people with no honor?

In contrast, I bought my phone on Ebay. It was easy, quick, and it arrived in no time at all. As an added bonus, I ended up paying less than I would have meeting the first two guys (with free shipping)! So it turned out better in all ways!

Craigslist: not recommended. The sellers don’t respond to you if you email, and if you text those who post their phone number, they don’t follow through on their agreements (no honor).

Ebay: recommended. The sellers want your good feedback, and ebay guarantees the transaction anyway.