For those of you who missed it in the paid post, I’ve got a new phone on the way. I bought a T-Mobile Dash on eBay. I’ve been underwhelmed by my Sidekick for a while, and the Helio Ocean doesn’t have certain capabilities I need, so I looked around and decided on the Dash. I just called T-Mobile and asked about switching plans; because the new data plan requires a few days for setup, I’ve already activated it so it’ll be ready when the Dash arrives. I’m a little annoyed that the wifi will only work with their hotspots, it costs $20/month for “Hotspots at Home” which lets you use any wifi network. Switching to the Dash will cost $15 more per month, because that’s how much unlimited SMS costs - the Sidekick plan has it built in, but the Total Internet does not.

I’m planning to try the Dash for up to a month. The keyboard is much smaller than the Sidekick’s, so I want time to get used to it and decide if I like the phone before I sell my Sidekick 3. The Dash cost me $181 including shipping; if I decide to keep it, I will post my SK3 on eBay for buy-it-now $181 with free shipping, and it will get snapped up fast, I think. I’ll probably do the same thing with the Dash if I don’t like it, too. So we’ll see how it goes - I am looking forward to trying it!

I have been looking around lately for T-Mobile phones, because I discovered that the Helio Ocean is not all cracked it’s cracked up to be. (No ssh? No thanks!) I was looking at the MDA instead, and I glanced at the Wing and some Blackberries. But I really ended up with my heart set on the T-Mobile Dash. I read dozens of reviews and the pros seem to outweigh the cons. Plus I would have had to transfer my contract to someone else if I had bought a Helio, this way I don’t! I was really amazed to see that A1 Wireless has the Dash for free if you’ve never been a T-Mobile customer before. (I’ve been a customer since 2002, so the lowest Dash price I could possibly have qualified for was $150, but I bought the Sidekick 3 in May.) A1 also offers one-year contracts, so you can get a reduced price on any phone without locking yourself in for two years. But since I’ve already done that, I ended up buying the Dash on eBay for $181 including shipping. I’m not committing myself to it yet. Once it arrives, I will have T-Mobile switch my plan to the Dash plan and then I will try it for 2-4 weeks. If I like it, I’ll make a Buy-It-Now auction for $181 for my Sidekick 3 (free shipping) and it’ll get snapped up right away. Same for the Dash if I don’t like it!

• AAA - TourBook info (events, attractions, hotels, etc), driving directions
• Cotopia - Play some simple games against others
• GayScout - International gay guide and event calendar
• iPad - Notepad, grocery list, more handy uses
• MiniBlogs - Create a blog that’s suitable for mobile devices
• Pilot - Driving directions and maps!
• Official Time - Accurate time for anywhere in the world
• Taxicab - Phone numbers for cab companies in UK, US, and Canadian cities
• WAPedia - Wikipedia formatted for mobile devices
• Weather Forecaster - Enter your zip code for a two-day forecast

We were supposed to go to a Buffy singalong tonight, but my brilliant sister-in-law didn’t go to buy the tickets until Thursday night, and of course they were sold out. So we’re going to see the Harry Potter movie instead. I also finally redesigned my Sidekick 3 skin; the first one came out really bad and satisfaction is guaranteed so I wrote to them, mailed back the bad one, and got a coupon for a free replacement. The front is going to look like this now.

Also, we went to the Original Pancake House today and had yummy pancakes - I got Chocolate Chip and A got buckwheat with pecans. I had never been to the Falls Church location; tikva and I went to the Rockville one a couple of times. I took some Alli before the pancakes; I’m giving it a try. A’s been using it for a little while but I am not sure if I will want to do it forever.

This morning I did three hours in the VRS center at Gallaudet, about two of which were actual hot seat real calls. I did a much better job than I was expecting! I went over to do my math/English tests after that, but the testing lab had lost its networking connection and so I had to reschedule for Tuesday at 10am. This means my vacation is getting extended even more…I feel bad about being away from my agency for so long but it’s the way things are working out.

Last night I started putting up the pictures from the trip; I’m still captioning and tagging them. It’s slow going! Tonight I started posting my journal entries but that’s a lot of typing so I’m taking a break for a bit.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned on here that I upgraded to a Sidekick 3. When we boarded the plane in Denver on Wednesday, I turned off my Sidekick 2 and put it in my pocket. When we arrived in Baltimore and I got out my phone…the crystal had cracked. Of all the times I’ve put my phone in my pocket, this was the first time there was any damage from it. So Thursday morning I went to the mall and upgraded to a SK3. I’m extremely annoyed that I’m expected to pay to re-download all of my applications, especially since the guy at the kiosk in the mall said I wouldn’t have to. But I have already created a Gallaudet Sidekick 3 theme - I was surprised I didn’t find any immediately so I just made my own. I haven’t found any Hello Kitty themes either, I will have to make some of those.

Eeee! My favorite skin makers, MyTego, are having a darn good sale for February. You can see the reduced pricing here, and it’s already reflected on the website. They’re the ones who did my Sidekick skin, which I have been very happy with - and I get a lot of compliments on it!

A says she doesn’t see the need for one because her Nano will be in its case all the time. But she doesn’t object to me designing one for her anyway, so maybe when she sees what I come up with she’ll want it. If not I might design one for my video iPod even though it’s in a white case that’s only semi-translucent. I just want more device skins, what can I say?!

Holy crap! My new phone is here! ALREADY!

My Sidekick has been slowly falling apart for a couple of months. It did great for a long time, no nicks or scratches or broken parts even though I dropped it a few times. Finally, a couple of months ago, the scroll wheel quit scrolling. Then a tiny scratch appeared on the screen. A couple of weeks ago, the scroll wheel stopped clicking, too. This was a pain, but I could still use all functions, so that was okay. Finally, two days ago, the Back button fell off; it had been loose from earlier drops, and I was fiddling with it (like a loose tooth) and it came off. I was able to scotch-tape it back on so the button still functioned, but I knew the end was coming.

I needed a replacement - there was no chance I would go back to my wimpy Nokia 3390. (I keep it as an emergency phone.) I asked around online and checked out eBay, and called T-Mobile to ask how much it would cost to upgrade. They said that with a two-year contract I could have it for $140, because I’ve been with them for three and a half years. I was leery at first because I’ve been out of contract for a long time, but then I realized: I’m not going anywhere anyway. I like my Sidekick, I’ve been happy with T-Mobile for a long time, and I have no desire to switch. I talked it over with A and she said $140 seemed reasonable for the upgrade.

So yesterday morning on my way to work I called Customer Care and said I wanted the offer they had given me yesterday, which had been noted in my account. I went through the contract agreement process, decided to hold off on insurance, and chose free seven-day shipping rather than paying $15 for three-day shipping.

It’s here. Already. I have heard people say how long it took them to get their Sidekick, how warranty exchanges took forever…not for me. It’s here! I have a Sidekick II! It has a built-in camera with twice the resolution of the Sidekick I’s plug-in camera! It will have a working scroll wheel! All I have to do is swap my SIM card and activate! Once I get the firmware update, I will have Javascript and I can choose my own wallpaper! The letters won’t rub off the keys! Eeeeeeee!

Well, it finally happened. I bought my Color Sidekick off eBay about eight months ago, and it has functioned beautifully since then. Unfortunately it seems to have broken for the first time: the wheel no longer reacts to being pushed. It will still scroll up and down, but it can’t select anything anymore. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem - I usually use the Sidekick with the screen open anyway, so I will just have to train myself to push the Return key instead of the scroll wheel. I don’t know of any way to get this fixed cheaply, so I’ll just deal with it. If you know anybody who’s looking to get rid of a Sidekick, though (free or sold cheaply), please pass along my name.

Added: The good news is: my wheel is functioning again. The bad news is: my right front tire blew out. I am presently on the shoulder of I-95N, about a mile before exit 169 (Franconia-Springfield Parkway), waiting for AAA to show up. The lady said they’re be here within two hours but that she’d mark it “priority” because I’m on the interstate. I have no idea what happened, the car just started pulling to the right and wobbling so I pulled over and sure enough the tire is flat. I keep watching my mirrors to see if a CVS/Samaritan truck might show up…I’m crossing my fingers but I doubt it will help. The poor kitties at Petco will be hungry by the time I get there - heck, I will be too.