I am now the proud owner of a beautiful black Motorola RAZR V3. I had no intention of getting a Razr but standing there at the Cingular kiosk, I noticed they were running a 3-day 99.00 sale. On their Web site, that particular phone is 149.00. That’s a pretty good deal. I told my father that I was leaning towards the Razr but maybe I should just keep my old phone. When the time came to make the purchase my father said, “2 Razrs and 2 Nokia 6102s, please.” He knew I wanted it. So my mom and Lisa have the Nokia 6102 and my dad and I have the Razr. I am happy with it so far. It’s much more money than I had planned on spending but it’s money I would have spent at some point.

Other possible reasons why I opted for the RAZR:
That symbol on the front looks very similar to the Star Trek logo
You would definitely find a RAZR in Nikita’s pocket
It’s so skinny without purging!

We decided upon Cingular. My current provider. Oddly enough I was pulling for T-Mobile because I thought they gave us the best deal.

T-Mobile
700 minutes for 59.99 + 9.99 +9.99 = $80.00
Phones = FREE
Activation Fees = 35.00 * 4 = $140.00

Cingular
550 minutes with Rollover for 59.99 + 9.99 +9.99 = $80.00
Phones = 40.00 * 4 = $160.00
Activation Fees = 36.00 + (18.00 * 3) = $90.00

HOWEVER there was one thing that swayed me to Cingular.

Having used Cingular for years, I know from experience their reception is great. T-Mobile’s coverage map looks lacking. This is something that worries my father. I’ve been told that T-Mobile’s service is fine and I shouldn’t worry about it but if we get T-Mobile and my father finds he can’t get service, my ass is grass. CINGULAR IT IS!

And ultimately, other than the upfront payment of 250.00 Vs 80.00, the monthly amount is the same.

Blue Moon with a slice of orange
Hot buttered rum with 2 shots of rum
Hot buttered rum with 1 shot of rum
1 breath mint and 1 bottle of water

I LOVE VISITING ERIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am off to see a career consultant who is going to help tweak my resume and provide me with other job hunting information. Lisa said something to me yesterday that has given me a sense of relief. I confided in her that just thinking about resumes, job hunting and interviews puts me in a state of extreme agitation, anxiety and discomfort. She said I just need to get 3 interviews under my belt. Once I experienced it three times, I would be fine. And besides, all things pass. I will be looking back at this period in my life before I even know it.

I need to convince myself that I LOVE looking for jobs. Talking about myself and my accomplishments is FUN! (Can you believe I hate talking about myself? Isn’t that ridiculous coming from a blogger who only writes about her life?)

At least I know one thing…. it can’t be any more pulverizing than online dating.

T-Mobile is cheapest, has the best phones, and only requires 1 year contract term BUT their coverage area is lacking.

Cingular has rollover, but do we even use enough minutes to care?

Sprint requires a two year contract and if we cancel before the 2 year term is over, 180.00 per phone! Their phones are not great but their coverage area is extensive.

Verizon seems a lot like Sprint.

I just don’t know what to do. Two years seems like a long time to be stuck in a contract.

TMOBILE
FamilyTime Basic Plan
700 $59.99 1 year

SPRINT
Fair & Flexible America
800 $69.99 2 year

CINGULAR
Nation 700 FamilyTalk w/Rollover
700 $69.99 2 year

VERIZON America’s Choice
Family SharePlan
700 $69.99 2 year

I signed up for Vonage. 14.99/month. Beats the 52.00 I was paying Verizon. Hopefully this Voiceover IP works. We shall see.

Now I just need to figure out the cell phone conundrum. T-Mobile has a 19.99 rate plan is available (Thanks Charles!). I just need to figure out if it is worth going it alone or should I have my dad include me in his Sprint Family plan.

Holly Hunter, age 47, just gave birth to twins.

Never mentioned that on Friday Lisa told me about a crazy thing that happened in her classroom. Lisa asked the class if anyone had heard of Dr. Martin Luther King. Her assistant decided to answer by saying, “Martin Luther King freed the slaves, before him black people served white people and if you didn’t do what they said, they beat you with a whip!” Lisa said she was able to quickly regain control in just enough time that her assistant didn’t have a chance to mention his role in the Reformation of the Church.

I am still recovering from 24. What a whirlwind! I have no idea how they can keep up this pace for 20 more episodes!

My ex-colleagues have started calling me. Their messages are all pretty much the same: “Is it true? Please tell me it’s not true! What are we going to do without you?” The answer is the work I did will be assumed by other people. The less important stuff will fall by the wayside. Eventually people will say, “Donna who?” Still, it’s nice that I am getting calls.

Today was a long day. I spent most of it just running around. Almost all of the items on my to do list were accomplished with the exception of “Figure out what to do with cell phone situation.” My old company reimbursed me every month for my cell phone. Now that I am no longer an employee and I am not getting tons of calls, I want to downgrade my service. Sadly, that is not easy. I had AT&T Wireless but they are now Cingular. The only way I can change my plan is if I upgrade to a Cingular plan and the only way to do that is to sign a 2 year contract. The individual plans are all around 40 bucks a month and I think that is far too much money. I could cancel but that will cost me $150.00. If I cancel, I could ask my father to add me to his Sprint family plan which would cost him an extra 10.00 a month. I would of course pay him 1/4 the bill which should be pretty reasonable but I would have to buy a new phone. UGh! All I want is a simple plan that would cost about 20.00 a month and give me about 200 minutes. I have looked at Sprint, Nextel, Verizon, T-Mobile and Cingular but none of them offer any low grade plan. I am also trying to figure out what to do with my home telephone. That was also reimbursed along with my Internet and I am trying to figure out how I can get the service I need without spending an arm and a leg. If I have Internet and cellular, why do I need telephony? This is giving me a headache!

Skype, Vonage, Cellular, Roaming, Long Distance, Toll, Local, Regional — I think I may start a fire.

The things you find on the Internet! I never thought I would see this again. It’s a skit that is played ad nauseum in Germany on New Year’s Eve. I never could understand it’s popularity but the Germans LOVE it. This only reinforces my theory that Germans have no sense of humor.