Telephone Bills!!!

Man,... the cost of personal communications with the masses is about to drive me to drink (a good glass of Merlo or Lexiia). What with $40.00 to $70.00 per month for my AT&T cell phone, and another $42.00 a month for the house phone, .... I felt I was paying entirely too much for "Telephones".

So, .... I did something about it.

About two years ago I bought my Wife a 'Tracfone' prepaid cell phone. For her usage level it costs me $99.99 a year to keep her going (that's for a year's airtime and 800 minutes of talk time. That's $8.33 per month, and she dosen't use all of her minutes.

So,....I got to thinking,..... If I were to switch to Tracfone, and drop AT&T, I could save $30.00 to $40.00 per month on cell phone service. Now, true, I'll probably burn more than 800 minutes a year, but I can buy more minutes as I need them, and still be nowhere close to what I was paying AT&T in a year (do the math).

Well, .... I did. I transported my AT&T phone number over to Tracfone, canceled AT&T and never looked back. And guess what, .... Tracfone equiped my phone with a "C4" SIM card, which indicates that they are using AT&T as my signal carrier.

I have the same service level, for a much lower price!

OK. Half the problem solved. Now, about the house phone. Again, AT&T, ....$42.00 a month,.... even if I never use the phone. Wow, ..... some kind of B___S___.

I have high speed (broadband) internet, for my computer, through the local Cable company. This opened up some possibilities for VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol).

Vonage is $24.95 a month. Not much better that AT&T.

Skype is $100 a year for inbound and outbound calling to any USA or Canadian telephone. I tried this and wasn't real happy with the computer based telephone or the special wireless Skype IP phone that I purchased.

Then I found "Magic Jack". Now this a service I could sink my teeth into. For $39.95 I received the USB hardware dongle to plug into my computer (remember, I have Broadband internet service already) and the first year's service included. Additional years of service are just $19.95 a year, for unlimited inbound and outbound calls, anywhere in the US or Canada. No additional charges for features or talk time.

$1.66 per month, for a telephone service I can use all I want, 24 hrs a day.

So, let's see now AT&T cell service $40.00
Plus, AT&T's hard wired house phone $42.00
For a total (of what I used to pay) $82.00 a month, and sometimes more.

And now Tracfone Cell service $8.33 month (plus some occasional additional minutes)
Plus "Magic Jack" for home $1.66 a month
Current total $9.99 a month for home and cell service.

A net savings of $72.01 a month on telephone service fees,.... for what I perceive to be the same level of service.

Anyone interested?
Click Here for Tracfone's Web Site.

Casita preparation

Since we decided to keep the Casita travel trailer, we've dug in to make it more custom to our usage and needs. I have rearranged the bed/table configuration to give us something similar to a "V" berth in the bow of a small boat. We now have a twin bed on each side with a mattress between the upper half of the beds. This gives use two beds with room to spread out arms and elbows while leaving a large aisle walk space and creating a lot of "Horseshoe shaped" seating during the day.

We don't have a fixed table, instead we have a small flip-up table at the end of each bed that can be left up or folded down, as your needs dictate.

Today I made a mounting bracket and installed a new Digital tuner 15" TV in one rear corner of the trailer. This hangs on the wall so as not to require a shelf or other obtrusive support structure.

I think it's about time for another run to the mountains (just as soon as I can rob a bank for gas money).

Well, .... NOW WHAT?

OK, ...I 'm nuts, ......I'm certifiable, ..... I'll admit it. I'm not too smart, but then, I'm not supposed to be. After all, ... I'm a Hillbilly.

After buying a brand new 24' travel trailer, for the extra room, and having our beloved 17' Casita for sale for the last month, ... a serious buyer called to come see it. Connie and I freaked ! "They're going to take our Casita !" Now what?

We made the decision to keep the Casita, ... called the buyer and said "Sorry", and listed the brand new 24' unit for sale on a couple of classified ad web sites.

Does this make sense? Well NO ! But then, .... here we are, ... keeping the one we wanted to sell and selling the one we wanted to keep.

Go figure, ........... There's just no accounting for the thought processes that go through some peoples minds, ....is there?