To VoIP or not to VoIP?

When we moved this summer, we order Vonage and Verizon telephone service. I was all ready to take the VoIP plunge, but I wanted to make sure I had stable phone service before I ventured into the unknown. Plus, I wasn't ready to tackle the set-up of multiple phones from the single access point of my cable modem.

I initially ordered the low-level 500 minutes plan from Vonage, which costs us about $17/month (with taxes and such). Our unlimited Verizon plan costs us about $70/month. Even if Vonage were our only phone service, it would be a rare month for us to come even close to the 500 minute threshold. We just don't use the telephone that often.

I am ready to take the next step in my VoIP adventure. I am planning to acquire a decent 5.8ghz wireless phone system, whose base station will live next to the VoIP cable modem. However, I couldn't help but smile when I read this news story today: Verizon Reduces Prices For Phone Service. Basically, Verizon is supposedly dropping prices for its unlimited phone service plans by about $15/month. Even if that turns out to be true, that'd still have my Verizon bill peaking out to about $55/month. And, even if I decided to up our Vonage service to the unlimited version, that would only take us up to about $28/month. Still around half the cost of Verizon.

Even with the cost of buying some new wireless phones, it's pretty much a no brainer. I plan to be Verizon-less by mid-January.

Whatever happened to relaxing on the weekend?

When we became parents, I don't think we realized that the nature of weekends would change so drastically. Prior to becoming parents, we had the commitments on the weekend. However, we usually made sure that we didn't have commitments every weekend. At least once a month, we had NOTHING PLANNED. Ah, those were the days!

While much of K's early childhood is now a blur for me, recent years clearly involved planned activities of one variety or another virtually every weekend. Currently, K is signed up for tennis and swimming lessons on Saturday mornings. We also usually attend church several Sundays each month, and some other church activity at least once a month. None of this is inherently bad. However, I miss a basic day of leisure now and then.

I think we might actually have one coming up soon: the day after Thanksgiving. We currently have no commitments. Everyone is off from work/school. I am thinking that I will resist any attempts to schedule anything. We can sleep late. Do whatever comes to mind (definitely avoid any shopping areas, it being one of the biggest shopping days of the year). This will be Family Leisure Day.

Since I was raised an only child, I also crave large blocks of alone time. Sadly, I rarely get them. I love my family. However, I also REALLY like being alone. But, this year, I am getting one of THE best Xmas presents ever. Three days all to myself. B and K are going to Texas for Xmas weekend to see my in-laws new house, and to celebrate my mother-in-law's 70th birthday. I decided not go. While I enjoy my in-laws immensely, I do not fly very well. First off, I suffer from severe motion sickness. Secondly, I am very afraid of flying. That said, I seriously considered taking this trip. It sounded like fun, and it would be cool to see everyone for the holiday's and the birthday celebration. I planned on getting massive drugs to deal with my flying issues. Then my back pain started flairing up big time recently. And, it made me realize that I probably would not do well spending five to seven hours on airplanes in the course of a day. And, the one thing that makes it tolerable for me to sit for very long, my TENS unit, probably wouldn't be allowed on the plan due to security concerns (I might use it as a weapon to hijack the plane). So, I decided that I wasn't going.

We're planning a family trip to the Baltimore-Washington area for April. K and B will probably be flying for that one. I won't be. I will be taking the train. I love train travel. Yes, it will take the better part of a day. However, on a train, I can freely get up and walk around. The seats are a bit roomier too. Plus, there's a train station at BWI airport, so we can coordinate our travel to arrive at relatively the same time. That will be very cool. Now, only if I could be sure that I'll still have a job then, I'd be a very happy camper. But, I'll save that concern for another post (or perhaps one-on-one emails with inquiring minds).

We miss Comcast!!!

Before we moved, we had Comcast digital cable. We never had an real issues with them as a cable provider. When we bought our current house, we were very sad to find out that we wouldn't be in Comcast's service area. Unfortunately, we are in Adelphia territory. Here's what we like better about Adelphia than Comcast:

• Parental controls include the ability to block viewing by day/date/time
  
• ...
  
• ...
  
• ...chirp...chirp...chirp
  

Here's what we miss about Comcast:

• Better picture quality
  
• Better Music Choice fidelity
  
• Better 'on demand' content and menus (by leaps and leaps and bounds)
  
• Faster Internet service for the same price
  
• Quick and easy setup for online bill pay (have to wait a full billing cycle for it to kick in after registration for Adelphia)
  
• Better overall channel selection
  

Every day we hope to hear that Comcast has purchased Adelphia, so we can have a decent cable company again!

Hurting for something relevant to say?

I know I don't post here very much. I always have the best intentions, but I let life get in the way. My friend Brian always has TONS of relevant and interesting things to say on his blog. Then again, he's not above posting links to the inanities of the web. Of course, I'm so lazy and bored that I can't help being sucked in. Blame him for this little gem:

Your Monster Profile

Shadow Lunatic You Feast On: Bananas You Lurk Around In: Movie Theaters You Especially Like to Torment: Pop Stars

What's Your Monster Name?

Gas prices got you down?

I have double the amount of money I spend on gas each month in the last year. I know that other countries have had expensive gas for a long time. So, I'm swallowing this medicine without too much grumbling about it. On the other hand, the cirucmstances surrounding the price increase have been stewing a bit.

1) Our current administration is headed by two "oil men". [ Whose friends have been profitting from the increase in oil prices. ]
2) We are enmeshed in an unpopular war with an oil rich nation. [ How about stepping up production in Iraq? ]

On another note. Driving home last night, I noticed that the cheapest fuel at the gas station is diesel. I want to be a friend to the environment. But, diesel powered vehicles are looking more and more attractive to me. One of the downsides is that diesel engines often have issues in colder climates. Now that we don't have a garage, that could be problematic.

Since we don't typically join the lemmings on Labor Day, and drive off to the beach, we won't be changing our behavior this weekend because of gas prices. We will be staying local. We'll probably go to see Transporter 2, and go out for dinner, sometime this weekend. Other than that, we have plenty of home entertainment options. Or, we could unpack some boxes .... yeah ... that's the ticket!