Archives for July2008

Rogers Caves

July 9, 2008 by Peter in Apple, Mobile, Rogers | Leave a comment

Didn’t think it would happen, but it did.  Rogers has now announced that they will offer a $30/month data add-on option to their plans that provides 6gb of data.  It’s not unlimited, but I actually think it might as well be as that’s a pretty big chunk of data per month.  I heard from a source that AT&T’s “unlimited” plan is actually soft-capped at 5gb (whatever that means ;)) so it could even be looked at as better than the US offering.

In order for them to spin it, though, they’ve announced it as a “limited time offer” that expires August 31st.  Honestly I think the (much) more expensive plans will fade into the darkness and this one or one like it will be the real plans for the future.  Rogers couldn’t just change their plans, though.  That’d make them look…well…WRONG.  Funny that.

I was on the phone with Rogers CSR last night for close to an hour discussing options on upgrades etc. and of course this did not come up – but then he probably had no idea it was coming.  What he did tell me, though, is that based on my family plan and the fact that Marilyn had bought a Motorola phone about 6 months ago I am actually not in the Hardware Tier that would allow me to pay the advertised rate for the iPhone.  Apparently the $199/$299 rates are for new customers – you know, the ones that flip from Telco to Telco.  Another brilliant display of customer retention.  To make it even more ridiculous – I’m shortening the conversation considerably – if I pay my current bill now instead the of automatic payment in 2 weeks I would somehow magically then be in the proper hardware tier for the advertised price.  I kid you not.  It never ceases to amaze me how companies try so hard to get new customers yet make their loyal subscribers bend over and take one to get anything.   But that’s another battle to come.

Ironically, a story was leaked yesterday that both Bell and Telus will be charging for incoming SMS messages soon.  $50 says it was a Rogers zealot that leaked it – great attempt at deflection, guys.  But it’s not entirely ridiculous, imho.  That charge is only put through if you do not have a Text Messaging plan of any kind on your line.  Most people that expect SMS messages have a plan of some kind, so they won’t really notice any difference.  Others, tho, can still receive SMS messages – unless the Telcos offer the option to block them.  Clearly, if it’s a spam SMS there’s no way people should have to pay for it, so good luck Bellus on enforcing a charge in that situation.  Rogers, of course, has publicly stated that they’ll never charge for incoming SMS.  You know, because they’re so sweet to their base.

So yes, I’ll be getting a new iPhone with this data plan – hopefully one for Marilyn as well but if not then she’s OK with data + existing iPhone.  Now to try to navigate the no-doubt big line-ups on Friday morning.  Wish me luck.

Renovations Have Begun

July 4, 2008 by Peter in Featured, Home, Renovation | 1 Comment

[flickr]photo:2639622427[/flickr]

Finally!  For those that don’t know the drawn-out saga, it has been about 2 years since this idea first began in our brains.  Truth be told, we always wanted some kind of usable garage at our house (there is currently a very narrow single car “closet” attached to the side).  At first we had thought we could build a detached unit, but there was not enough room.  At the end of the planning, a two-car garage became a two-storey addition to the back east end of our home.  Huge job, considering it’s basically a box with a roof.  But we’ll get a nice double garage as well as usable space above it, so hopefully all worth it in the end.  But what a saga so far.

First pass was to get the City of Poco Board to grant us a variance.  As it turns out, our home is zoned perpendicular to its address.  With the lot being essentially wide, not deep, the zoning was actually for the street around the corner from our home, even though our address was at the front of our house.  This turned out to be in our favour, as building the extension would no doubt have been turned down as too close to the rear-lot line.  But thanks to the wacky zoning, our rear-lot line is actually our side-lot line, allowing us to extend much further “backward”.  Long story short, the variance was actually for the side of our home closest to the lane, and for maybe 3 feet.  The Board passed us rather easily so we figured we were well on our way.  That was about 14 months ago.

Then came the permit applications.  HUGE hassle, frankly, and according to our Contractor and Engineer much more difficult than anything they’d ever encountered before.  After MANY back and forths, redrawn and re-submitted plans and even a face-to-face meeting we finally got our Permit late last year.  I won’t get into the details, but our engineer was literally coloring in walls on the plan to appease the City of Poco.  Advice: NEVER build in Poco unless you do it in the dark under a big tarp.

So after winter delays and countless other delays (weather, overbooking by our Contractor, etc.) he finally showed up this morning with a crew and a small digger.  The plan now is to dig the hole, prepare it with gravel and forms, then pour the foundation.  After that I’m guessing we wait a bit then start to actually build.  We hope to be done before the end of August – I’ll keep you posted on the progress, in words and pictures.

[flickr]photo:2636332425[/flickr]

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Wake Up Rogers

July 3, 2008 by Peter in Apple, Mobile, Rogers | Leave a comment

Your so-called lack of competition just kicked you in the privates.  Bell Mobility has announced an unlimited data plan with the Samsung Instinct.  It’s no iPhone but it’s close, and at monthly voice and UNLIMITED data plans starting at $40, that’s a pretty big slap in your general direction.

Your move.

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