My New Blackberry

I recently decided, after much consideration and weighing of the proverbial pros and cons, to discontinue my service with AT&T.  This meant that I also had to give up the full use of my beloved iPhone.  To many, especially those who use this device on a daily basis, such a step is akin to technological sacrilege.  However, I had my reasons.

First, there is the issue of AT&T keeping things from iPhone users.  The big one for me, ironically, was Google Voice.  Now, I only have the one phone that I use on a regular basis.  I drive a truck for a living, so a land line is a bit out of the question.  I have one at my house, of course, but I rarely use it there.  But the fact that AT&T would conspire against its customers to prevent becoming a "portal" for Google usage is criminal.  By the way, AT&T, in case you didn't realize it, customers with the iPhone DO use you as a portal.  They don't buy games or ringtones or anything from you.  Just minutes and a data plan.  The only time they know that they have AT&T is when you're fucking them.  On to reason two.

Since I drive everywhere, I have a pretty decent idea of how well each service provider does on the national level.  I used to drive into California and I knew, for a fact, that I would only have dropped calls in two areas.  One was going under an overpass in Needles where there was just a dead zone; a bit of an anomoly, really.  The second place was along US 395 in the Eastern part of the state.  But I'll give them that one:  it was basically driving through a canyon next to a river.  However, over the past year or so, the service in California has gotten worse and worse.  I can be in the middle of Los Angeles, probably the largest land-area metropolis in the country, and have calls dropped repeatedly.  It's bullshit.  I don't know if anybody's out there giving orders to shut down towers, but you have to wonder when stuff like this happens.

Thirdly, with being in school and having so many documents and spreadsheets and Power Point presentations to make and deliver and edit, I needed a device that could do those things when I was unable to pull out my laptop.  Sure, there is an app that I could buy for around $20 that would do it, but it still has not been updated to work with Microsoft Office 2007.  Now, my school requires me to use the 2007 version; they even let me buy it from them for only $15.  Well, I'm not going to wait around for an app to finally get its shit together.  When I'm on the toilet and need to write in a Word document, I need a device that will back me up.

So, as you might guess, I have resolved all three of these issues.  I went with Verizon Wireless as my carrier and got the latest Blackberry device as my phone.  As much as I loved the iPhone and its sweet, smooth curves and operability, this Blackberry makes for a nice, steady fuck.  It has a Word/Excel/PowerPoint editor built right in for free.  It has so many options for messaging that I can hardly keep up with them all.  It's decently easy to type on and the Verizon Network makes AT&T look sad.  If you look at the coverage maps from both companies, you might consider AT&T's "partly cloudy".  Verizon, though, looks like a nightmare bubonic plague has swept the nation and is killing people by the millions.  Sweet. 

Now, in a perfect world, I would be able to get the iPhone on a Verizon account and those asses would get their Office editing software updated.  But that time is not now.  When AT&T finally loses the exclusivity agreement with Apple, perhaps I'll get another one.  By then all the other shit will have been straightened out, too.  To tell you the truth, based upon what I've seen from AT&T's current pricing plans and phone costs, they'll probably be just as glad to lose the agreement with Apple. 

Oh, and by the way, Verizon gave me a sweet deal on my phones and service.  I bought one Blackberry for $200 and they gave me the second one free.  Both are the same phone.  Also, there's no paying for text and MMS plans.  Fuck that.  It's all unlimited.  They even waived my activation fees.  According to the receipt I got, I saved well over $400.  So fuck AT&T. 

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Another Session Ended

Well, after a long-winded, yet surprisingly well-accepted, research paper on why Global Warming is bullshit and an extremely in-depth Final Exam on the intricacies of Microsoft Excel, another half-semester has ended for me at school.

Although it's a relief to be done, there's that interim week that makes you feel like you have absolutely nothing to do.  Usually, I have a dozen things on my mind relating school and work.  I have to balance the amount of miles I drive per day with how much time I need to work on a project or simply to check in with my class discussions.  Now, with a week off until my next session starts, I almost feel lazy.

I'm heading home today for a well-deserved week off.  We're going up to the northern part of the state where my in-laws have a tiny weekend place on the ocean.  We're dropping the kids of there and heading to the Best Western.  We rarely get away on our own, so I figured $130 a night was worth it.  My wife wants to go to some joint called Boston Pizza, which is sacrilege to me, since it's a Canadian company.  We're also going to see Inglourious Basterds Saturday night.

But I can't help feeling like I have nothing to accomplish this week.  I've already busted out the books for my next school session to read over some of the introductory things we'll be doing. 

I used to get a knot in my stomach at the thought of taking classes full-time while working the same, but, now that I'm well-entrenched, I can hardly imagine life without such a full schedule.  It's going to be one hell of a shock to me to finally climb down the steps from this truck and waltz into a normal life.  Fortunately, I plan on moving ahead with my Masters.  I hope I don't turn into Pauly Shore from Son In Law and end up taking classes for the rest of my life.  Whoever knew that college could be a crutch?

I suppose I'll get through it.  Every time I grind out two of these courses, I know there are two more waiting in the wings.  One day, though, it'll have to stop.  Do they have rehab for graduate degrees?  Yikes.

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The Little Things

As of January of this year, I have been enrolled in college full time. I did this because I was tired of thinking of a way to get out of my current employment situation.

Not that I have a bad job. On the contrary, this is the only job I've ever had that I can truly say I fully enjoy. My company, though small, is highly competitive and keeps me busy. I'm well-compensated and I consider most of the people I work with to be my friends.

The only thing missing from this job is time at home. You see, the most successful truck drivers are those that stay out for long periods of time. Logistically, if you have no particular place to be, there are many more options open to you. I normally stay out for five to six weeks before heading home. Twice a year, I stay out for ten weeks.

But being home with my family has always been something I've had to miss out on. It comes with the territory, sure; but the territory is what has to change.

I always had it in the back of my mind to find a way out, but most of my ideas were fleeting at best. They usually involved civil service tests in the hopes of landing some cushy government job with a nice pention for the back forty.

However, I also knew that the chances of landing such a gig were slim. There are thousands of people with the same ideas as mine. Even if I could beat out the majority of them on the testing, there would be the long wait and the painful transition. I would rather have a bit more control.

So, remembering that I still had a couple years to claim my GI Bill money, I made a few inquiries. After a lot of faxes and phone calls, I got in.

It'll be 2011 before I have my degree. I'll be 31. But I'll have a degree. I'll be able to search a whole new area on the job listings. If I'm really lucky and steadfast, I might even land a gig teaching school, which would be my ultimate goal.

Then, it would be the little things that I could appreciate once again. It's been so long since I've had the opportunity to look forward to the weekend. It's been so long since I've not had to worry about leaving. It's been so long since I've had a guaranteed amount of time for myself and my family. That is what I'm looking forward to.

Sure, I'll moss the road. "White Line Fever" is a real thing that a lot of guys get. But I can deal with that. Every time I wake up on a Saturday morning knowing I have the day off just like every other normal person out there, I'll know it was all worth it.