We're not monetarily poor, but we're not monetarily rich, either. We don't typically stress about whether or not the bills will get paid on time. We have yet to pay a penny of interest to a credit card company. We don't have cable. We don't have car payments. And yet, somehow, we haven't saved hardly anything since getting married. Toby isn't helping that, but before Toby, it was always something. (I'd like to think we've "saved" money by buying a house and adding value to it, but who knows if anyone is ever going to want to give us much more than we paid for a little house in the city? There are an awful lot of 'for sale' signs around here...) Every now and again, the selfish thought pops up in my mind... Wow, think of how much extra cash you'd have at the end of each month if you weren't tithing... Now there's a thought to take captive!
When Robyn and I got married way back in the spring of twenty-aught-three, we decided that the internet wasn't a necessity, so we didn't have it. After I went on staff at the church the following February, email access became a need, so we went all-out and got the best dang NetZero service we could get for $9.95/month. It has served us well, but man oh man am I tired of waiting several minutes for my Gmail to load, for Blogger to start up, etc. Websites are no longer designed for cavemen like me... for anyone more than just a twice-per-week email checker, high-speed has become (dare I say) a necessity.
I've always thought the AOL ads with Dialup Man next to the caveman in a museum exhibit were good, probably because I resonate with the poor guy when he realizes he's almost extinct. And I resonate because I am Mr. Dialupe. That's me... blogging at low-speed, emailing at low-speed, not watching any of the fun youtube videos emailed to me... I'm the guy who doesn't get the joke in the room full of people laughing because I can't process it fast enough.
Zoomtown is running their typical $20/month for the first year deal. High-speed is worth an extra $10/month, right? We signed up last week. We're supposed to have it by now. Do you realize how much slower dialup is when you're paying for high-speed and you can't use it???
Justin, FYI, the Zoomtown help guy was very nice, but he couldn't get me up and running. I need more than courteous. I need my high-speed!
2 comments:
this was funny - it reminds me of the story i tell of the dude from time warner cable who came by 2 years ago. it goes a little something like this:
*doorbell rings*
Rustypants: yes?
Time Warner Dude: hey, sir! how are you today?
Rustypants: i was good until i answered the door.
Time Warner Dude: haha! well, listen: i'm in the neighborhood getting people signed up for Time Warner Cable with a dazzling offer!
Rustypants: oh boy. tell me all about it. i'm so excited.
Time Warner Dude: we'll give you six months of brilliant TW Cable for only (insert low low price here) and not only that!
Rustypants: here it comes.
Time Warner Dude: we'll install all the hardware for FREE!! that's a savings of (insert huge savings dollar amount here)!!!
Rustypants: no thanks. we're good.
*TWD's jaw drops*
*RP begins closing door*
Time Warner Dude: wait! installation is FREE!! who doesn't want something for free??
Rustypants: has no one ever turned you down or something?
Time Warner Dude: not often. i mean, it's FREE!!!
Rustypants: why would i want you to drill holes in my wall and put a box outside my house to facilitate something i don't want?
Time Warner Cable: facilitate? er, uh.. we'll give you a couple months of cable for free, too?
Rustypants: thanks, no thanks.
*TWD with incredulous look on face*
*RP closes door*
*TWD flops over from heart failure on front porch*
that last line is made-up.
at any rate, i sympathize with your cable-less existence. as for the 'Net, my high speed has been up and running for 5 years or so and as one of those old timers who can remember their FIRST MODEM being a 2400bps model 16 years ago...
quoth the raven: nevermore!
did he say why your DSL modem wasn't training up? i'd imagine it's either distance from the CO, or the wiring in your house. they can install a POTS splitter to get rid of some of the line noise...
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