Reason #254 why AT&T sucks

I'm really starting to think I've hit a lick of smartphone bad luck. It started with my HTC's screen crapping out, then buying a new Sony Xperia only to decide that it was too small, repairing the old HTC to hold me over, buying the larger version of the Xperia only to discover I couldn't remove the SIM lock, then the HTC screen crapped out AGAIN, so I was back to my Nokia until I could find a SIM unlocked Xperia. Then everything is peachy-cool, I love my new phone (it has PURPLE lettering on the keyboard. How cool is that?!), its software is behaving and seems to be pretty sturdy.

I don't have a data plan and don't really want one – I'm glued to a computer 8 hours a day, and being unplugged from the internet forces me to actually interact with the world, so I have the mobile data switched off. It works pretty well, unless someone send me an MMS. Until they figure out how to allow us to download MMSes via wifi, I'm stuck with having to turn HSPDA/EDGE on, download the message/picture, then shut it back off.

Yesterday one of my coaches sent me someone's number in .vcf format... teeny tiny little message, all of 1 KB of data. I did my usual on/download/off routine, got the contact info, and went on my merry way.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to find a text message from AT&T:

"Did you know a data plan is required for your Smartphone? We have added an appropriate data plan. Learn more at blahblahblah..."

Whaaaaa?! That's absurd! I've had a smartphone for over three years on this non-data, voice/text only plan and have never had this kind of message appear.

Well, apparently AT&T is really effing sneaky. Their policy is that any smartphone must have a data plan, regardless of where you bought it from. I assume they've been enforcing the policy by slapping data plans on people who buy phones directly from AT&T. Since all my phones have been bought from a third party and are carrier-unlocked, AT&T has no idea what phone I'm using since I haven't upgraded through them for 4+ years.

I was ready to call them and unleash some mild-mannered fury: "I've been a customer for more than ten years, this particular family plan was signed back in 2004 when there was no such thing as a mobile data agreement, so how is this possible?! Turn it off, or I'm having my dad switch to another carrier!"

When I called, I was ready to get angry, until the person on the other end sounded REALLY nice. I couldn't pull it off. Rather than give her a hard time, I fibbed. (As I've said before, I hate lying and suck at it, but I also suck at being a hardass.) I said that I had a Nokia (the last phone they provided to me), but yesterday I had put my SIM card temporarily in a friend's unlocked T-Mobile phone* to test it. Then this morning I got that message, and could she please remove the new data plan that was added?

*This wasn't a total lie – I had put my SIM card in a T-Mobile phone (my aforementioned HTC that broke), but it's now in an unlocked Xperia, not a Nokia.

Fortunately, she was very kind and removed the plan from my family account.  I'm sure my dad would have been THRILLED to find out that AT&T did this without his permission, because he's the curmudgeony type that hates these types of shady-yet-legal practices.

I thanked her and hung up, happy that I was able to dodge the data plan bullet. Unfortunately, this also means that I'm going to be screwed when MMSes arrive. The only workaround I can think of is putting my work phone's SIM card in my phone (since work has unlimited data/text/whatever) if it's imperative. Until then, I guess I have to be the asshole that replies back, "Can you send me that via text? I can't read it."

Oh, and thanks, cellular phone service providers, for not asking customers' permission to do things like this. I'm pretty sure that'd fly over *real* well in other businesses: "Here's a piece of cake. You don't want it? Oh, too bad... you're going to have to pay for it anyway." Jerks.

And I go at sleepy time

Yeesh. Long time, no blog!

I've actually been really busy at work (which is when I usually write my blog posts, in between spurts of productivity), so I haven't had a chance to read anyone's posts. Hoping everyone is healthy and sane. :) 

Additionally, my unnamed sport/hobby that takes-up-most-of-my-time is back in full swing, so I'm leaving the house at 8:30 AM (really should be more like 8) and not returning before 8 PM. When I get home, I am so exhausted by the day that I barely have enough energy to eat some dinner, shower, and then zone out for a bit in front of the TV before dragging myself to bed.

Speaking of bed, I got a new mattress! A few weeks ago, I woke up one Sunday to major back pain and thought, "This is it. I cannot STAND to sleep on this mattress anymore. I don't sleep well, I'm always tired, and I'm getting much too old for this." I made a trip to a couple mattress stores, hated the whole used-car mentality of it (and the prices were absurdly high), and then decided to go to Sears. They were having a 50% off sale, which I'm guessing is permanent because no one wants to pay $1000 for a mattress. After about an hour of rotating between mattresses, I found one and bought it. And additional 10% off and no boxspring needed meant it was even cheaper than I thought. Yayyyyy!

I had it delivered to my house last Saturday, and schlepped it into my bedroom. It didn't dawn on me how gigantically thick the mattress  until I threw (well, dragged) it on top of my beloved IKEA plaform bedframe. The thing is fucking enormous. I have to use the f-word there to describe how large it is, because it was so tall that it actually blocked my headboard. (Granted, the headboard isn't super high to begin with, but still.)  My reaction: "Erkk!"

I measured the thickness of the mattress, and it's a whopping 15" thick since it also has a pillowtop. The old mattress was about 7 ½ inches thick. Big difference there.

Thankfully, I remembered that this particular IKEA bedframe is adjustable. You can adjust the sides to be higher or lower, as well as the rails that hold the wooden slats up. The slats were on the highest position since my very first mattress with this bed was one of those 4" high foam things. I tried to remove the pegs that allow for the sides to be lowered, only to find the previous owner had glued the pegs in. Oh well.

After reassembling my bed, I put the slats back on and tried again. MUCH better. Still higher than the old mattress, but at least this time I didn't need a ladder to get into bed and could actually see my headboard. However, it makes the bed a bitch to put sheets on, because it's nearly impossible to lift the edge of the mattress.

As for sleeping, I'm still in the adjustment period. At first I was afraid it was too hard – the one in the store was firm but the pillowtop was cushy – but I did some reading and apparently the materials need to settle and break in... which makes sense, since the store one has probably been  laid upon hundreds of times.

So far, no back pain, and I think I'm sleeping more soundly. But I've also made an effort NOT to sleep on my stomach, which I'm 90% certain is the cause of it. I tend to take up in the early morning and roll over on my stomach, which feels comfortable at the time, but then I wake up feeling like a 6 year old has been sitting on my back for two hours.

That's about it for now... I did go a date with the friend of a friend, but that'll have to wait until next time!




Post title song reference: "Cornflake Girl" - Tori Amos

If only it were this simple...

This is exactly what Bluemoon and I need:

Bend me, break me, breaking down is easy

I'm alive, I promise!

I went to Mexico last week for vacation, and it was wonnnnnderful. It was nice to leave the 40 degree freezingness and experience warm sunshine for a good five days. The only thing that would have made it perfect is less wind and higher temperatures, but I can't complain.

When I landed in the States on Wednesday, I eagerly turned on my phone to see if I had any texts or voicemails waiting. Turns out NO ONE attempted to contact me. I only told a few people about my trip, but at the same time, it would have been nice to have someone miss me! Feeling cranky, I posted the depressing experience to Twitter. To my surprise, D texts me: "Welcome back to the U.S., Lis!"

What. The. Fuck.

You ignore me for approximately four months, I decide to cut you from my life (in fact, I wasn't sure who it was at first because the text wasn't from one of my contacts, then I recognized the area code), and you have the nerve to text me NOW? I curtly responded to him: "Ha, that was fast." D proceeded to ask me a couple of pleasantries, I replied with the same degree of terseness, and that was it.

Well, dumbass me, I didn't delete the thread from my phone. Flash forward to Saturday night/Sunday morning. I got on the subway and realized that this was the stop where I ended my first "date" with him awhile back. I stewed about it, and my stupid tired buzzed brain says, "Hey, we can't lose now. Let's text D back and tell him how you really feel!"

Oh yeah. I *am* that stupid.

Actually, it wasn't too bad. I basically texted him one line, saying "Normally I'd never do this, but it's 2 AM, I'm a little drunk, and I'm mad at you." I also referenced the subway stop, but let's face it: he's a dude and never remember something like that.

I'm guessing he was an insomniac or hanging out in another time zone (aka with Jailbait), because he texted back, "Good -- you need to kick back once in awhile. I'm sorry. Be careful."

Me: "Really?? I am, always. I think."

Actually, sober me begs to differ on the last part (about being careful). Drunk texting someone you've been doing so well at getting over is not in the recovery plan! Arrrgh!

Fortunately, he didn't text back after that, and I deleted the thread, so his number is no more. But I'm still kicking myself just a little bit for breaking my resolve to stop talking to him. And I won't stop being angry with him until he grows the eff up and stops behaving like an irresponsible man child, squandering his life away. In the meantime, he's abandoned the website I poured so many hours into and broken a thousand promises along the way. I highly doubt that's going to change anytime soon.

On the bright side, my friend set me up with one of her friends, who's a lawyer. If he's taller than me, we're already off to a good start.





Post title song reference: "I Think I'm Paranoid" - Garbage

Phone frustration

GAH! I am so, so, SO frustrated with this whole cell phone problem. My Android died last month, so after several weeks of research, trials (meaning I bought a phone off eBay, hated it, and resold it -- yay eBay), bandaging my current phone, I finally received the phone I loved last week.

Only problem: the phone is locked to a Canadian cell phone company (Fido), so it won't work when I put my SIM card in. Normally that's not an issue -- you can purchase an unlock code online for less than 10 USD -- but it's a problem when said unlock code doesn't work, which is what happened to me. (I got my money refunded.)

So, apparently the only way to get the phone unlocked is to call the cell phone company and beg for them to unlock it for you for a fee. However, there are all sorts of caveats, such as -- you have to be a current customer, the phone must be off contract or originally purchased at full price, etc. Being of the optimistic desperate sort, I called Fido. The guy who answered was very nice and said, "Well, since you're not a current customer, we can't do anything for you. But there is a trick -- I'm not supposed to tell you this -- but you can register as a customer for free and then say you already have a phone that needs to be unlocked, and they will unlock it for you. I can transfer you now."

SUHHWEEET.

Well, turns out I can't exactly do that. The next guy asked me for my SIM card number, and I said, "Uhh... I actually have an AT&T card at the moment." He said, "Nope, you have to have a prepaid SIM card, which you can buy in a store in Canada, or else I can't get you an account."

But... but... the nice guy told me I could just register... ahh damn. Noooooooooo...

So now I'm at a crossroads. I suppose I could purchase a SIM card online, use that to register myself with Fido, and then go from there... but at this point I'm ready to start banging my head against the wall, especially when my current phone is literally falling apart at the seams and I have this new, beautiful shiny phone I can't do anything with. :(

I'll take you frame by frame it

Recently I had a somewhat awkward experience with trying to get a print framed for my bedroom. There's this semi-large, ugly, fuse box on the wall next to my bed, and it's a bit of an eyesore. (Why they couldn't just put it in the closet is beyond me.) Me, being of the thrifty sort, measured it and found this frame from IKEA would cover it nicely top-to-bottom, and still have enough room on the sides so that I could still attach it to the drywall. Better yet, it has plexiglass instead of glass, and for clumsy me (who routinely drops/breaks things), it was perfect.

Once I found the frame, I had to find the print. The not-so-nice thing about large IKEA frames is that they're measured metrically and don't jive with the good ol' Imperial system. This one was a balanced 60x80cm, which translates to 23 ½ and 31 1/2 inches.  (Actually, I think it was even worse than that – like 23 2/5ths, but the IKEA site is deceiving.)  The good news is that I found a print I liked that I could mat it so it'd fill out the frame. My mom does matting all the time – "It's not rocket science," she says, and supposedly local art stores usually cut down mats for people.

Nope. Apparently NOT down here in my city. I called at least 4 different stores, and no one just cuts mats. Michaels tricked me and said they cut mats, but when I went there, the guy behind the counter said, "Sure, we cut them... but only the outside. It'll cost $80 cut a window on the inside." WTF!

Finally I found a store that's actually a kind of a do-it-yourself shop, where they'll show you how to cut your own mat and mount it to a frame. However, first and foremost, they're a custom frame shop, which is obviously how they make their money. So I show up in the evening, expecting they'll help me cut down a mat in 20 minutes and I'd be on my merry way. Nope. Long story short, the lady behind the counter would cut the mat for me the next day, and the next evening I'd come back to mount it there in the shop. All this for only $38.

This is where it gets embarrassing. I was kind of hoping I could just take the mat home and do it all myself so I didn't have to come back and have them show me basically how to use scotch tape. But since the service included a "how to," I had to do it all in front of them with this cheap ass IKEA picture frame. And, like anything from IKEA, it requires some sort of assembly. We had to wrestle with the frame to get everything all snugged up and in place, and it because glaringly obvious that bringing a $20 frame to a custom frame-making place is like bringing Two Buck Chuck to a cocktail-attire champagne & cheese party.

Anyway, we finally get everything settled in, and I do my best to book it out of there once it's wrapped up. As I thanked them and went out the door, the woman calls out, "Pleasure doing business! Next time we'll have to make you a frame." As if I weren't embarrassed enough that I brought a particleboard and plastic picture frame to this shop, I get a guilt trip as I'm leaving. Gee, thanks guys.

Next time I'm just going to buy a mat cutter and try to do the damn thing myself. ;)





Post title song reference: "O.P.P" - Naughty by Nature

Take the "B" train

So, how's this for complete randomness?

Last Thursday, I was late getting to work as usual. I was waiting on the subway platform and saw a cute guy standing nearby. [For those of you who know where I live, I would never call it the "subway" in real life. But for anonymity's sake, it's the subway. :P]  The first train that showed up was packed to the gills. Normally I would have just jumped on and dealt with it since I was running late, but there was another train about a minute away, so I waited. Sadly, cute guy did not and squished himself onto this train. I was sad. :(

Turns out this was actually in my favor. I jump on the next train, which was blissfully empty, and get off at my stop for work. I start walking to the other side of the platform's stairs to avoid the crush of people disembarking. To my amazement, Facebook guy is RIGHT THERE, waiting for the opposite train. Whaaaaa!

(Okay. Facebook guy is officially "Josh," because "FB guy" could be misconstrued as Fuck Buddy Guy or Ferret Boy Guy or something.)

Yeah. Very random. He stopped and recognized me, so we had a 30 second conversation, because his train was pulling up and he was leaving for the airport. Anyway, as he was getting on the train, he said, "We have to ride together soon," or something to that effect.

Gerhh. That means I have to actually start riding my bike so I don't die on a simple 25 mile ride – that is, if he follows up. I'm also the world's slowest uphill biker, even when I'm in shape, because my knees are shot and I ride with a triple chainring (meaning, itty bitty front gear so my poor knees don't explode). That triple is the reason I have a "no two person bike rides" policy – because most guy road bikers are total spokejocks/triathletes-in-training who treat every ride as if it's a competition, and also have no road manners (aka, not staying on the shoulder, etc.). 

On the flip side, guys who bicycle recreationally on hybrid/mountain bikes are scared by my road bike, because I usually go faster/farther than they do, even when I'm riding at my normal, slowish pace. Sounds dumb, but it's happened. So, as silly as it sounds, my policy has some merit. ;)  The only person who's an exception to the rule is my dad, and that's only because he's 30+ years older than me and I'm able to keep up with him.

Anyway, it's funny to think that skipping the first train and missing out on the cute guy from my station (who I probably wouldn't have even talked to... or better yet, is married) would time perfectly when I walked off the second train. AND I was wearing my hair down, so I didn't look like my normal, disheveled self with a lopsided ponytail! Strange how these things happen.






Post title song reference: "Take the 'A' Train" - Billy Strayhorn/Duke Ellington orchestra