My Roofer

If you have been following my blog for sometime, you will remember that I got a new roof on my house back in June. I was the only one on the street who did not lose a single roof shingle during Hurricane Rita. I did have some sheetrock damage where water came into the attic through a decorative vent and ran down the wall and damaged the ceiling above the windows in my front bedrooms. A week or so after I returned from the evacuation I noticed a stain on the ceiling of one of the bedrooms on the opposite side of the room from the windows. The spot was under the gas furnace in the attic. I showed it to my neighbor, and we agreed that the seal around the vent off of the furnace on the roof was probably the source of the leak.

 

I contacted my roofer, Marty Young, and asked him to take a look at it. He has been swamped with work as all of the roofers in the area are. Every time it has rained over the last three months I have climbed on my step ladder and felt the ceiling to see if there has been any additional leaking. There has been none. Today Marty finally was able to come and take a look at the vent. He also checked out the ridge row vent. He could not find anything wrong with either. He thinks the stain was caused by the water that came in through the decorative vent. It ran along a beam and finally formed a puddle which leaked through the ceiling. I agree with his conclusion since I have seen no additional leaking. We have had several fairly heavy rains over the last three months.

 

Marty Young is a hero in my book. I recommend him without hesitation to anyone in the Beaumont area who needs roof work. The only problem is he is a very busy man. You may have to wait quite a while for him to get to you.He has installed one other new roof on my street and done two on the street in back of me. I noticed one of the houses on the street in back of me looked like it had better workmanship than what many of my neighbors are getting. I did not know at the time that Marty had done this roof.

Goodbye 2005

You were an awful year. Please do not come back. The tsunami was technically in 2004, but the suffering and unbelievable loss of life were felt most severely in 2005. The whole Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas was hit by Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Then the earthquake killed so many people in Pakistan. The horrid war in Iraq has taken so many Iraqi and American lives. We learned more about the incompetence and deceit of the Bush Administration. I can find very little good to say about 2005. I hold onto the hope that 2006 will be a better year.

Aibo in the News

Last night I watched the CBS Evening News. They had a story on a U.S. black college that entered a team of Aibo's in the Robo Cup held in Japan. I think the Aibo soccer game is so cute. This a link to the story: Robot Dog Showdown. On the right side of the page is a link to the video. I think it is worth the time it takes to watch it.

Sheetrock Repairs

Yesterday afternoon I was making my daily trek to the mailbox and stopped to talk to my neighbors. They had extensive damage from Hurricane Rita including several large holes in their sheetrock where water came through the roof. They got a new roof several weeks ago. This week the sheetrock has been repaired, interior painting is underway, and they are getting new carpet. They invited me in to see the progress. I was absolutely amazed at the wonderful repairs on the sheetrock. I would never known anything had happened if I had not seen the damage. My damage is insignificant compared to their's. I got the name of the man who repaired the sheetrock and called him as soon as I got back home. He will come out in the next few days to give me an estimate. My neighbors have the same type of texture on their walls that I do. This man obviously knows how to deal with it.

Fires and Fences

Yesterday afternoon I turned the TV on to CNN and saw the reports of the wild fires that were burning in suburban areas of Dallas. Very nice homes were burning. What I saw was wooden fences were igniting and bringing the fire right to the homes. I thought about how dangerous this type of wooden fence is. I have one around my own yard. When I was young the yards in my parents' neighborhood were open. People did not wall themselves off from their neighbors. I have never given it much thought. Where I live every house has a wooden privacy fence. The builders include them as a standard part of the house. I started thinking about how bad these fences are. They rot after ten years, blow down during hurricanes and are expensive to replace. They wall you off from your neighbors which is both good and bad; but after I saw the fences conducting fire right to the houses, I decided the wood fences are just plain stupid. I noted when I visited Sun City Texas at Georgetown that fences were not allowed unless they are wrought iron. I hope the Frisco Lakes community will have the same rule.

Looking Forward to Next Week

The networks have specials and reruns during the holiday season, but I am looking forward to next week when new episodes of shows that I like to watch such as CSI are presented. This is my first holiday season with my iPod, and I am finding that many of the podcasts that I have been listening to on a regular basis have taken a holiday hiatus. I am hoping they return to normal next week, too. Many of the news anchors that I am accustomed to watching have taken vacations. Since the hurricane I just want everything to settle down to predictable routines.

After Christmas

Another one has passed. When I was young, I was always a little sad the day after Christmas. Now it is a relief that it is over. I am going to stay home today and avoid the crowds and traffic and let other people fight over the after Christmas sales. I did find one online bargain yesterday. I also noted that the L.L. Bean website is down for maintenance with a message that they will be back at 8 AM. I am assuming they are going to come back up with a Christmas sale. I am not completely immune from bargain hunting fever.

Disastrous Storms

It is Christmas, and it is supposed to be a joyous time. However, I am still having feelings of dread and fear. I survived Hurricane Rita with only minor damage to my home. For that I am very thankful, but every time I turn on the television there are reminders of the disastrous storms that have occurred in 2005. There are stories about global warming and how we are moving into a twenty year cycle of intense hurricane activity such as we had in 2005. It has made me consider selling my home and moving away from the Gulf Coast. I am exploring the possibility of moving to Frisco which is a northern suburb of Dallas. Last night I watched a program on the National Geographic Channel on tornadoes. It had a segment on what would happen if a giant tornado struck Dallas. It made me wonder if I might be moving into a more dangerous area than the Gulf Coast. I grew up in Kansas City which is definitely in tornado alley. As a child and young adult, I was invincible, but I remember how fearful my mother was every time there were tornado warnings. She knew just which corner of the basement was the safest place. It made me think that the Del Webb houses in Frisco Lakes will probably be slab construction like the houses on the Gulf Coast. I wonder if they are making any provisions to protect the community from killer storms.

Oatmeal

As a child, I hated oatmeal. My mother would tell me it is good for you, it will stick to your sides. On cold winter mornings she would tell me I needed something warm in my tummy. As a last resort, she would tell me to think about all the poor, starving children in China who would just love to have the nice oatmeal. I would think so why don't you send it to them. I would not dare say that out loud.

 

As an adult every so often, I would buy a box of oatmeal. I usually bought the old fashioned variety that had to be added to boiling water and stirred for a certain length of time or else it would be very lumpy. Cleaning the pan was always a chore. It was so hard to get every last trace off the pan. It stuck to the bowls and spoons too. Usually I would not finish the box of oatmeal and would end up throwing it away.

 

Then the instant varities were introduced. They were much easier to prepare, but I didn't think they were as good as the old fashioned oatmeal. I usually eat cold cereal. I like the kinds that come with freeze dried fruit. I buy big boxes at Sam's Club. The last time I needed cereal Sam's did not have any with freeze dried fruit. I bought a big box of instant oatmeal. It contains 55 packets and has six different varieties. I have eaten oatmeal the last two mornings. I still do not like the stuff, but I am not going to let this big box go to waste. 53 more days to suffer.

Making a Change

After I made my little experiments with my blog yesterday, I have decided to make a change. From now on I am going to email my new blog entries. I noticed the way the title is posted. It is a nicer color and slightly smaller font size than I have been using. I have beat my head against the wall when I try to modify the template for this blog. I have experimented and experimented to get the title to be separated from the body in the RSS feed for Talkr.com and for the RSS links. I could not find the answer. Now I find the emailed articles make the proper break between the title and body. Also it is faster to send an email that it is to wait on blogger.com to publish an article. Anything that makes life easier is appreciated.

Playtime Is Over

I just did a couple of little experiments. Instead of using the normal method of posting to my blog I emailed an entry, and I also sent a text message from my cell phone. Both messages were posted to the blog. If something happens that I want to put in the blog and I am away from a computer, I can text message from my cell phone. I can also send photos to Smugmug and Fotolog from my cell phone and PDA. My brain is having a hard time adjusting to all of this.

This is text message.

Emailed Article

I am testing to find out if I am able to post articles to my blog via email.

No GPS Purchase

Sometime ago I wrote about my desire to purchase a GPS. I had read about the Nuvi 350 that Garmin was preparing to release. It sounded like it included everything that I wanted. The unit is available now. It has a list price of almost $900. I have been searching for a discounted price from what I think is a reliable dealer and have not found anything that tempted me. I have also been following discussion forums. For the most part the unit is getting good reviews, but the common complaint is that everyone feels that the Nuvi 350 is overpriced. Yesterday The Wall Street Journal’s tech reporter, Walt Mossberg, reviewed the unit. The title of the article was “Nuvi GPS Receiver Is Too Rough a Guide for the High Price Tag.” I imagine by the time the price falls to a reasonable level there will be a newer model with more bells and whistles. The best GPS that I have seen has an Acura RL attached to it.

Cold This Morning

I had an early appointment to get my haircut this morning. There was frost on the roofs of the houses on my street. Cars that sat outside all night had to have their windshields scraped before they could be driven. My hairdresser told me she had to throw hot water on her windshield. I told her she obviously had not grown up in the north. I explained that if you put water on your windshield you would just have more ice in a really cold climate. It is supposed to warm up today. There is no chance of a white Christmas down here.

Packages Arrive

The mailman brought my order from Amazon.com to the door, and FedEx delivered my books from Alldirect.com yesterday evening. It took ten days for both of these orders. It seemed very slow while I was waiting but probably is not too bad considering that both orders had free shipping, it is the busy Christmas season, and more people are using catalog and online shipping in the area because a number of stores are still closed due to the hurricane.

Christmas Garb?

This is my attempt to decorate my iPod for Christmas. Unfortunately the sock is the wrong shade of green and the earpads are not quite Christmas red.

Made Reservations

I talked to the lady from Del Webb’s Frisco Lakes about the seminars they are going to hold in late January yesterday. She said they will have floor plans and a bus trip to the site. I went ahead and made my reservations. I was really lucky to get a low fare on American Airlines from Houston to Dallas. They also were offering bonus miles for purchasing on AA.Com. I made reservations for two nights at the Embassy Suites in Frisco where the seminar is going to be held. I did not want to drive to Dallas because there might be ice and snow at that time of the year. Also I will take the Super Shuttle from the airport to the hotel and not rent a car. I hope to get enough information from this trip to know if moving to Frisco is in my future, or if I will have to start thinking about other possibilities. I still think it is best to leave the Gulf Coast.

Thank You, B.O.A.

The rumor was true. Last Monday a lady that I encountered at the Bank of America Broadway Banking Center told me the West Beaumont branch would reopen on December 19. I thought about this and thought to myself, “I bet they will have Christmas cookies.” This morning I called the West Beaumont branch. The phone was answered immediately, and the lady who answered really sounded cheerful. She confirmed that they would open at 9 AM and all services were restored. I had received another check that needed to be deposited and was so glad that I did not have to drive to the Broadway Center. I deposited my check in the ATM. Then I went inside and signed in to get into my safe deposit box. All was intact. I felt like Scrooge McDuck as I sorted through my valuables. When I stepped out of the vault, I spotted the table with Christmas goodies. I helped myself to two cookies and a little candy cane. One more of Hurricane Rita’s inconveniences has been removed.

Another Sudoku Site

Someone at CBS News must really be addicted to Sudoku puzzles. Back in October they had a story on Sudoku on the CBS Evening News. A couple of days ago I noticed they have a link to their own puzzle site on their news page: CBS News Sudoku. These puzzles can be worked online. There is annoying music when it first loads, but there is an option to turn it off.

A Little Good Luck

This morning I was about two blocks from my house when I saw the FedEx Home Delivery vehicle. I stopped my car and asked the driver if he was making deliveries in the neighborhood today. He said yes. I told him I had a package that had been out for delivery for two days. He asked me what my address was. I told him. He went back in the truck, and then came back with my package. He said it was scheduled for delivery tomorrow. Anyway my iPod now has colorful earpads. I am going to decorate it with a green iPod sock and red earpads for Christmas.

No Earpads

Now I am really getting disgusted. My package from the online Apple Store was out for delivery on the FedEx vehicle all day yesterday. A little after 6 PM the status changed to delivery exception because of weather delay again. This is ridiculous. The only thing wrong with the weather was it was a little chilly. The temperature was in the high 40’s. Now the estimated delivery has been changed until Tuesday. The really sorry thing is that this package requires my signature. If I miss the delivery attempt, who knows when I will get my earpads. If you ever see FedEx services called SmartPost or Home Delivery Indirect, avoid them. They are no good.

I had a couple of good ideas yesterday that will make my life a little easier and best of all did not cost any money. When I went to Sun City Texas back in November, I noticed they had a pair of Bose computer speakers connected to a TV that was playing some of their sales propaganda. I have a pair of those speakers attached to my old desktop computer that I do not use anymore. I have another pair of Bose powered speakers in the bedroom that I call the den. I have been attaching my iPod to them, and I think it sounds very good. I untangled the computer speakers from the computer and took them to the bedroom I call the library. I set the speakers on top of my tall book shelves. I attached the iPod and tested the sound. It is quite good. Now I can sit in my recliner and listen to the iPod. The little earbuds hurt my ears so I think this is a much better way to listen.

When I untangled the computer speakers, I found I had used the long speaker extension cord to attach the speakers to my computer sound card. It must be at least 30 feet long. I have been using the auxiliary function on my Bose Wave radio to listen to the iPod in my bedroom. The radio is across the room from my bed. I can turn the radio on from my bed with the remote but had to walk across the room to control the iPod. I connected the long extension cord to the radio’s cable and ran it along the baseboard to my night table. Now I can connect the iPod and control it without getting out of bed. Very lazy but nice.

Slow Shipping

Last Saturday I placed three online orders. One week later I have received none of them. Apple shipped the iPod earpads the same day as I placed the order by what is called FedEx Home Delivery Indirect. I think “Indirect” is the operative word. The package arrived in Beaumont yesterday morning and was sent out for delivery. I waited all day. At 5:30 I checked the tracking information and saw the package was returned to the terminal for next business day delivery. This morning when I checked there was an added message that said shipment delayed because of inclement weather. At 5:30 PM there was no weather problem in Beaumont. Anyway the package is out for delivery again this morning.

Amazon waited five days before they shipped my order. It is being shipped from Coffeyville, Kansas, by the U.S. Postal Service. I should receive the package Monday or Tuesday. I have received mailed packages from Amazon.com’s distribution center in Coffeyville before and usually they have gone quite smoothly. Amazon.com often drags their feet when you choose the free shipping option.

Alldirect.com shipped my books last night via FedEx, and I am scheduled to receive them on Thursday. Alldirect.com usually takes 2-3 business days before they ship. I have had the extra delay at Christmas time in past years. Their cheap prices and free shipping are worth the wait.

Update

Yesterday I decided not to wait the full 72 hours for my old cell phone number to be transferred to the new phone, and I called T-Mobile’s Customer Care. It was a good thing that I did. I was given a direct number to the porting department. The rep. checked my account and saw there were errors in the transfer process. She tried to clear the errors and finally called Sprint. Sprint said they would have the conflicts cleared in 6-24 hours. The T-Mobile rep. told me that when the number transferred there would be a 24 hour transition period where I could make calls from the T-Mobile phone and would still receive calls on the Sprint phone. She told me to call back in 24 hours to make sure the transfer was completed. Well it did not work that way. At 3:15 yesterday afternoon I got a text message from T-Mobile telling me that my phone number was the old Sprint number. I found I could make and receive calls on the T-Mobile phone and the Sprint phone no longer worked. This is very good, and now I do not have to spend any more time on the phone with them. Also I can no longer access my Sprint account online. I wonder if there will be one final bill; or if, I am due a refund.

This morning I got an email from T-Mobile’s online support regarding unlocking the phone. They said if I paid full price for the phone it could be unlocked immediately. They wanted me to fax a copy of my receipt to them. I collected all the information they requested and sent the fax. So far my T-Mobile experience is very good.

I ran errands yesterday. At each stop I checked the signal strength on my Razr. It was at least three bars every time I looked at it. It appears the phone will work well around Beaumont. My old phone could send and receive text messages, but I never signed up for the service. T-Mobile charges ten cents for outgoing text messages and incoming messages are free. I set up filters in Yahoo Mail to notify me when I receive certain emails. I also set up Yahoo Alerts to notify me of weather and breaking news. This is old hat to most people, but I am having fun with it.

I have set up reminders to get my tires’ air pressure checked periodically. I went to Discount Tire and got them checked yesterday. The tires are holding up well so I must be dodging the nails that are still plentiful around Beaumont. I keep thinking about the new Acura RL that has a digital readout of tire pressure available on the dashboard display. That would be very nice to have. The street congestion seems to be lessening. It is still heavier than before the hurricane but not as bad as it was. I went to Sam’s Club. They are installing new gasoline pumps. They only had regular gasoline available. Work was in progress on the premium system. My car uses premium so this was frustrating. The store was very crowded inside. Shoppers are getting serious about Christmas.

First Day with Razr

It has been 34 hours since I activated my new phone, and my old phone number has not been transferred. I read the manual yesterday and started storing phone numbers. I have a couple of complaints. The call volume seems rather low. I have put it all the way to the maximum level. At home I can use the speaker feature but worry that I will be unable to hear when I am in a noisy environment.

My old Motorola Timeport allowed me to insert pauses in a phone number sequence which was great for navigating automated menu systems and storing account numbers. I searched the manual for the new phone and could not find what the Timeport called “pause dialing.” I did a Google search and found that a couple of people were complaining about the same thing on Razr discussion forums. I then searched the Motorola Razr support website. They listed a procedure for storing a phone number and then storing a sequence of numbers that you want to transmit while a call is in progress. It requires you to step through a couple of menus which is rather awkward. I could accomplish the same thing with a single press of a button with the old phone.

This morning I tested the video capture feature. I shot a couple of videos of Henry while he was kicking his ball. The videos are rather mediocre. I then had a hard time figuring out how to delete the videos. The manual was no help. Finally I figured out how to get to a menu to delete them.

The phone came with $15 worth of air time and a $25 bonus card. The initial $15 is good for 60 days and 60 minutes. The $25 card is good for 90 days and 120 minutes. If I go ahead and buy the $100 card and use it before the $25 card, I can increase the value of the $25 card to 150 minutes which expire in 365 days under T-Mobile’s Gold Rewards Program. In order to get the best deal from T-Mobile’s Pay as You Go plan, it is necessary to qualify for the Gold Rewards as quickly as possible. As soon as you purchase $100 worth of air time, you qualify for Gold Rewards.

Razr Arrived

Yesterday after I posted to this blog I checked the UPS tracking information and saw that my package from T-Mobile had arrived in Beaumont and was out for delivery. I waited all day for it to arrive. At 7:30 I decided there was no hope of getting it on Tuesday. At 8:40 PM the doorbell rang. The UPS driver had dropped the package on the doorstep. They must really be working hard. I have never had a package delivered that late at night.

I opened the package and plugged the charger in to charge the battery. I called T-Mobile to activate the phone. They had an automated process, and I was supposed to enter some number that I did not understand. Bad start! I held on and finally a nice lady came on the line. I said I am so glad that a real live human being picked up the phone. She walked me through the activation process and then transferred me to another department to transfer my Sprint phone number to the new phone. This lady was very nice and efficient. She said it could take up to 72 hours for my old cell phone number to be transferred. In the meantime I have a temporary number to use with the new phone.

A few minutes after I hung up a text message arrived on the phone which welcomed me to T-Mobile and gave me the phone number. I made a call to my home phone, and it worked. The phone shows four bars of signal strength at my house. The Sprint service had five bars. I must live in a good cell phone location. Time will tell how the T-Mobile coverage compares to Sprint. I am supposed to receive a second text message when my old phone number is transferred.

There was no text message this morning and my Sprint phone is still working. I called the new phone from my home phone. The phone is set to a default T-Mobile ring which sounds like what I have heard in their television commercials. I have to learn how to set ring tones, wallpaper, screen savers etc. I also have to enter all of my phone numbers. That is not a pleasant chore. If I had got the Treo 650, I would have been able to transfer my address book from the computer. Anyway I will be busy reading the manual and learning how to use the features. The phone is about the same size as my old Motorola Timeport, but it is much thinner and lighter. It has a very pretty big screen, a flat keypad that lights up in a very attractive manner and a built-in camera that can even capture video.

The main advantage of this phone is that I am now free of the Sprint web of fees and contracts. There will be no more monthly bills. When I need additional minutes, I can order a 1,000 minute card for $99.99 from Amazon.com. These minutes will be good for 365 days. It includes nationwide long distance including Alaska and Hawaii, voice mail, etc. etc. If the coverage is decent, I do not see a downside.

Update

Yesterday I went to the Broadway Bank of America Banking Center. There was a woman at the ATM. As soon as I walked up, she started complaining about the inconvenience because of the West Beaumont branch being closed. She told me she had heard West Beaumont would reopen on December 19. I really hope that is correct. I am going to go by there on Monday and find out if it is true. There are so many lingering reminders of Hurricane Rita. Yesterday, however, I saw many building that have been repaired. One more house on my street got a new roof yesterday. Twelve of the fourteen houses now have new roofs. The street is actually looking better than it did before the hurricane, but I am so tired of hearing the pounding as the new roofs are installed.

I was not able to buy a copy of Consumer Reports yesterday to read the article on cellular providers. Wal-Mart has T-Mobile phones. I was able to hold the Motorola Razr. The phone is rather large, but its outstanding feature is that it is very thin. Wal-Mart does not provide the Razr on the Pay as You Go plan. I ordered the Razr from T-Mobile’s website when I got home. They recommended paying $11.99 for overnight shipping if you were transferring a phone number. They said the standard free shipping would take 3 to 5 business days. I decided to go with the free shipping because it would not bother me to be without cell service for a few days. Yesterday I received a shipping confirmation from T-Mobile. They shipped the phone UPS second day air. I thought that was very nice. This morning I changed my mind. The phone was shipped from Dallas last night and is due to be delivered tomorrow. This is not good. Normally UPS can deliver their ground service from Dallas to Beaumont in one day. I checked my Sprint phone this morning, and it is still working. If T-Mobile transferred my phone number, the Sprint service should have stopped. I will wait until the phone arrives. I hope I do not have to battle both T-Mobile and Sprint to get my number transferred and the Sprint service canceled. My home phone rolls over to the cell phone. I hope that still works correctly. I might even have to fight with SBC to get that feature working again. Maybe things will work as they are supposed to, and I will not have any hassles.

Goodbye Sprint

My mind is ninety percent made up to switch my cell phone service to a T-Mobile Pay as You Go Plan. I crunched the numbers. I estimate I can pay the non-discounted price for the Motorola Razr and still save $75 the first year. After the first year I should be able to save over $300 a year. I found that the January issue of Consumer Reports has an article that rates cellular providers. I am going to see if I can buy a copy this morning. If there is not too much negative information on T-Mobile, I will make the switch. I called Sprint to find out what is involved in canceling their service. The lady I talked to was very nice and asked if there was a problem she could help me with. I told her I had decided I could save quite a bit of money by switching to a prepaid service. She told me that Virgin Mobile is affiliated with Sprint, and I should check them out. She said it was a CDMA network. I do not want that. I want GSM like T-Mobile that works in most countries. The Sprint rep. also told me that as soon as the new company switches my telephone number the Sprint service will be automatically canceled.

I looked at the Motorola website and found the ring tones for the Razr. My old phone does not support the downloadable ring tones so this will be a new playtoy for me. I listened to ring tones and found one that I liked.

Update

Last night I watched the Steel Magnolias on the Lifetime network. I think this was the first time I had watched the movie from start to finish. I saw several things in the movie that I had seen on the trip to Natchitoches. The round brick columns where the character played by Shirley MacLaine struggled to tie up her dog were pointed out to us by the guide. The church where the wedding took place was draped in so much pink fabric that I hardly recognized it. The Christmas light display along the river was very similar to what we saw. Our guide told us the movie was shot in the hot part of summer and the actors really suffered in winter clothes in the Louisiana summer heat. There was also a street scene in the historic district that was close to where our group went into the coffee shop to get out of the cold.

My check from Aetna for my flu shot finally arrived in the mail yesterday. They paid only seventy percent of the cost. I am just glad to be able to check this off my list of irritants. Next year I will just walk in and show my Medicare card and get my shot. My wish for 2006 is that I have very few dealings with insurance companies.

There is not going to be a Treo 650 smartphone in my Christmas stocking. I have studied all the rules and obstacles that SprintPCS puts in the path and decided it is not worth the cost. Verizon and Cingular also offer the Treo 650, but their data plans are more expensive than Sprint’s. In order to get the $150 discount from Sprint I would have to sign a two-year contract. There is a $35 activation fee for a new phone. Also the voice plan that I am currently on would have to be changed to one that costs $6.50 more a month plus I would have to pay $15 more a month to get web and picture mail access. This is just too much. I have been a customer of Sprint’s since 1999.

When I first got a cell phone, I read about prepaid plans and got the impression they were for people with bad credit ratings that could not qualify for regular monthly plans, and the per minutes costs were much higher than regular plans. I have a friend who told me she is on a prepaid plan and what her monthly costs run. They are considerably lower than mine. I rarely use more than half of my minutes each month.

I started looking at T-Mobile’s website. They have what they call a Pay as You Go plan. It has a number of nice features: no contract, nice phones and once you spend $100 on minutes you get a bonus of at least 15 percent on purchased minutes and once the $100 threshold is passed the minutes do not expire for a year. T-Mobile offers the silver Motorola Razr on the prepaid plan. It is a quad band GSM phone that works around the world. Local SIM cards can be purchased and used in an unlocked GSM phone. I called T-Mobile and asked them if their phone was unlocked. I was told the phone is locked, but once you have owned the phone for 90 days they will unlock it. I sent them an email. I want them to confirm that they will unlock the phone in writing. I looked at T-Mobile’s coverage maps for Beaumont and for Frisco, Texas. They claim to have decent signal strength in both areas. They told me the phone can be returned within 20 days if I am not pleased with their service. I printed out their agreement and see there may be a restocking fee for a returned phone, but still they seem to have fewer obstacles than the other providers.

Apple has already sent me the FedEx tracking number for the iPod earpads that I ordered yesterday morning. I thought that was remarkable considering that I placed the order on a Saturday. This was the first time I had placed an order with them. Amazon.com and Alldirect.com have not even gotten credit authorizations on my card. This is always the first step when an order is being processed.

Online Shopping Again

I had resisted online shopping for several weeks, but this morning I once again succumbed to the ease. I ordered coffee pods from Amazon.com for my Senseo coffee machine. They have lowered the price so that they are now lower than Wal-Mart. I ordered colored earpads for my iPod from the Apple Store. Two pairs of earpads came with my iPod. I lost one last week on the trip to Galveston. The colored earpads along with the iPod socks will make my iPod very distinctive. Then I ordered twenty-four Robert Ludlum books from Alldirect.com. I have seven of his books that I have not read yet. There are still one or two more titles that I need to order at a future time. I am going to have a Robert Ludlum reading marathon after the first of the year.

Natchitoches, Louisiana, Pictures

This is a link to the pictures I took on Tuesday of the Melrose Plantation and St. Augustine Catholic Church: Natchitoches

Dull Day

I cannot figure out what happened yesterday. I managed to fritter away the whole day. I had three days’ worth of Wall Street Journals to read and only got through two of them. My Time magazine arrived in the mail, and I did not touch it. I printed out the Sudoku puzzle and only managed to enter five numbers.

The charging cable for my Sony Clie broke. I have been thinking when the Clie wore out I would get a Palm Treo 650 that combines a Palm PDA with a cell phone. My cell phone is almost six years old. I do not know anyone with a six year old cell phone. I could not understand the cost of the data plans on the Sprint website. I also found that discounts for existing users were not available online. I called Sprint and got some information on the data plans. I hate to commit myself to a higher monthly bill. Then I did a little more research on the web and got more information on the data plans. I found there is a ten dollar a month plan with unlimited web access but no picture mail. To add picture mail it would cost an additional five dollars a month. I will go to the local Sprint store in a day or two. If I can get the Treo 650 with the $150 discount, not sign a contract and get unlimited web access for $10/month, I will go ahead with the deal. Otherwise, I might go for seven years on my cell phone and put tape on the connector for my Clie.

Home Again

The day trip to Natchitoches went very well. When we arrived in Natchitoches a local guide dressed in a period costume boarded the bus. She was very entertaining. We went to Melrose Plantation. A descendant of the original owner showed us through the buildings. Her great, great, great, great grandmother had been a slave owned by the commander of the post at Natchitoches. She bore ten of this man’s children. The man was named Metoyer. He freed her and her children. She and her children became the owners of what was to become Melrose Plantation through land grants starting in 1794. The black family owned the plantation until the 1840’s. I had never heard about black plantation owners before.

We then went to Saint Augustine Catholic Church for lunch and a tour. The church was used in the wedding scene of the movie, Steel Magnolias. Natchitoches has been used in several movies and Oprah Winfrey has visited the town a couple of times. We then got on the bus and received a tour of the area and historic part of town. After that it was time to shop. Most of the people including me headed to a coffee shop. Then we got back on the bus and waited for the Christmas lights along the river to be turned on. They really have a spectacular display. After we saw the lights come on in downtown, we drove through residential areas. The people put a tremendous amount of effort into decorating their homes. I was surprised at how many new residential areas with really nice homes there were. There is a college in the town, but I really did not figure out what is supporting their economy. It was sugar cane and cotton in the past.

I talked to the salesman at Classic Acura on Monday. He did more checking on the 2006 models that they are scheduled to receive. He said the cars with the technology package are being allocated and Classic Acura will not be receiving any more in the foreseeable future. He said if I came in and placed an order by the end of the year, it would be delivered during the first part of February. This is the only way I will get the car I want. I am going to take my time to think this over.

Update

Another twenty-four hours have passed, and I have decided the best thing to do is wait a few more months before purchasing a new car. I started thinking about how there is still so much debris from the hurricane piled along the sides of the streets. There are lots of new roofs being installed. Along with the construction comes the hazard of nails. I would hate to get a brand new car and have it damaged.

I read the Acura RL brochure from cover to cover yesterday. Throughout they kept talking about the use of aluminum, magnesium and carbon fiber parts in the car to reduce weight and increase efficiency. I began to wonder if the car was sacrificing safety. I looked at the crash test data and found the 2005 RL had received five star ratings in all three categories of the NHTSA crash tests. It was only the third car in the history of the tests to achieve this rating. The car still weighs over 4,000 pounds so it is a hefty vehicle. The Insurance Institute gave it a good frontal crash rating, not tested on side impact and marginal on rear crash protection. I wonder what the difference is in the testing methods of the two organizations.

Also, after I read the brochure, I decided the only feature the car was lacking was a way to connect an Apple iPod to the car’s audio system. I then looked at the Acura website and saw the announcement of a dealer-installed option for the 2006 RL to enable the use of an iPod through the sound system. Now they have thought of everything.

Tomorrow I am going on a day trip to Natchitoches, Louisiana. This is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase. There will be a plantation tour, a tour of St. Augustine Catholic Church and a Christmas Lights Tour. I have to be ready to get on the bus at 6:45 AM and will not return to Beaumont until 10 PM. It is going to be a very long day.

New Car Shopping

Well now that I have new tires on my car it must be time to trade it in. I know that sounds really stupid and it truly is, but unfortunately for some reason after I put new tires on my car I am bitten by the new car bug. It has happened before.

Yesterday I went out with the intention of just taking a look at a few new cars as an educational exercise. I wanted to look at the Acura RL, Acura TL and Toyota Avalon. I currently own an Acura RL and have been extremely happy with it. Acura had held the price of the RL constant through nine model years. They changed the body style for the 2005 model year and raised the price. The RL is a big car, and I thought the TL or the Avalon might be better suited to my needs and not put such a big dent in my pocketbook.

I went to Classic Acura and told the salesman I just wanted to learn about the new cars and not discuss cost on my first visit. He was a crafty soul and guided me to the Acura RL’s before looking at the TL’s. I landed in the cockpit of a techie’s delight. I cannot begin to describe the goodies that are loaded into that car. It has a voice activated system that really works. It responded flawlessly to every voice command that I gave it. I had it map a route to Lebanon Road and FM 423 in Frisco, Texas, where the new Del Webb community is being built. All I had to do was choose the intersection, enter Leb, it came up with suggestions that included Lebanon Road at the top of the list. Then I entered FM and it suggested FM 423. When I selected O.K., it calculated the route from the Acura dealership to the destination.

It has Onstar, XM radio, Bose speakers. It has a special compartment to hold a Bluetooth enabled cell phone with a way to thread a cable through out of sight so the phone can charge. The Bluetooth allows the phone to be used through the car’s speakers. The car does not have a cigarette lighter nor does it have ashtrays. There is a power plug. Ashtrays and the lighter are a very high-price optional accessory. I hate smoking and found that very amusing.

I then took the car for a short test drive. It rode and handled in a manner very similar to my car. The steering wheel is the same size and felt the same as my car. Most of the controls and general layout are the same as my car so I felt very comfortable driving it. However, there are so many new gizmos that it was mind boggling. There is a power screen on the rear window that can be raised with the touch of a button if the sun is shinning in on the display screen. There are manual screens for the rear side windows. The rearview mirror tints to a darker shade when it senses bright head lights. The head supports for the rear seat can be lowered by the driver with a button touch when there are no rear seat passengers.

Classic Acura has only received one 2006 RL. It has two new options that the 2005 model did not have. It has a collision avoidance system. The car shoots a radar beam out through the Acura logo on the front of the car. If it senses that it is getting too close to the car in front, it starts braking automatically. Lexus and Mercedes have had this system for a few years, but it is new to Acura. The second new option is that it has run flat tires and special wheels. They say you can run for 120 miles on a flat tire. The car does not have a spare tire and has a slightly larger trunk. The tires are made by Michelin. I asked if the tires are more expensive when you have to replace them. They said a little and also said you could expect to get the usual 40,000 miles from them.

I then said I wanted to see the available colors. I found a color I liked. They had two, 2005 models in that color with taupe leather interior like my car. I have always heard that you can get a good deal at the end of the model year. I looked at the Texas safety inspection stickers on the cars and saw that both cars had July dates on the stickers. Alarm bells went off in my head. July was five months ago. That is a long time for cars to be sitting around. An even bigger concern is that if the cars had been here since July they went through Hurricane Rita. At first the salesman tried to tell me that they had got the cars through swaps with other dealers. That was not true because the window sticker clearly showed Classic Acura in Beaumont as the destination. Then the salesman told me that before the hurricane all of their inventory was moved to the St. Elizabeth Hospital parking garage, and none of the cars were damaged. He said they were required by law to reveal any damage. They had several other 2005 models that had been delivered after the storm, but all were in dark colors that do not appeal to me.

I then asked if he could tell me what 2006 models were in route to them with the collision avoidance system and run flat wheels. He looked at a printout that showed only three 2006 models destined for them. They were all in the dark colors and did not have the new technology package. Another salesman joined the discussion and told me that only ten percent of the 2006 RL’s would have the technology package. I then looked at the TL’s. The Acura TL is a very nice car with a much lower sticker price, but it is not an RL.

They gave me a brochure on the RL’s, and I went home. I did not go to a Toyota dealer. I have found the car I want, but I think the wise thing to do is to wait a few months until Classic Acura has received more 2006 models. It would probably be better to wait and see if I actually go through with the move to Frisco Lakes and buy from a nearby dealer; but on the other hand, it would be nice to have a safe new car to use for several road trips to Dallas; and the navigation system would definitely be useful. I think Classic Acura’s business is depressed because of the hurricane. People in this area have concerns other than buying fancy luxury cars.

Moody Gardens Pictures

This is a link to my photos from Moody Gardens in Galveston: Christmas 2005 – Moody Gardens.

Back from Galveston

I returned to Beaumont yesterday evening. It was a good trip. I just finished uploading my pictures to my pc and have given them one quick look. Later today I will decide what to upload to Smugmug and post a link. The aquarium at Moody Gardens was quite large. This was the first time I had been to this aquarium. The last time I was at Moody Gardens the aquarium was under construction. I have been to three aquariums since I purchased my Nikon D70. This was my third attempt at photographing fish. I have not perfected the technique but got a few good shots this time. I was looking forward to this little trip as a way to get my mind off the hurricane. Unfortunately the main topic of conversation on the bus and at the meals was the hurricane. Everyone has their own lengthy version of the tale to tell. I wish I were a flamingo and could go stick my head in the sand.