Friday, March 07, 2008

Spend: USRobotics Internet Phone

In addition to 2008 being the year of the 140s, it's also the year of Monk Mode, wherein Steve and I (especially the I part) are going to try to save lots of money.

However, monks don't need to make phone calls, and I do. And let me tell you, cell phone calls to Canada are EXPENSIVE. Last Fall I purchased a $29.95 Skype plan to Canada but stopped using it after a particularly painful call to Air Canada's customer service line in which the word "Pardon?" was used more than all other words in the conversation combined.

And so I ordered a USRobotics internet phone which arrived today. I had a brief moment of panic when I noticed the box only listed Windows compatibility, but a quick rendez-vous with Google (my other boyfriend) turned up instructions for Mac installation (the Mac USB utility for the phone is available for download from the USRobotics website). I haven't quite figured out the Skype software navigation from the phone (that or it just doesn't work very well) but since I'll be at my computer to make phone calls anyway, that functionality isn't essential. Now I can call my mom without asking her to call back every time. The only problem is I'm tethered (just like the olden days!) so I can't do the dishes while I'm talking to her... but I *can* still take my Scrabulous turns.

It even qualifies for Monk Mode, because the $30 I spent on the phone will save me much more than that even in those one-minute, call-me-back calls to Canada.

3 comments:

montague said...

you're a genius. have i told you that lately? hey - we're having a crafts night at the end of march. come. or start thinking of a good excuse. you'll need one.

Anonymous said...

OMG, 1-minute call-me-back long distance calls? I thought I was the only one who did that! It's another gillianism! We should start a cult!

Anonymous said...

i love going into monk mode [what i refer to as a "spending moratorium"]...in fact, it goes along *perfectly* with WBR! asceticism rules the skool!