Monthly Archives: November 2021

I’m Thankful

Posted on by

I got to spend Turkey Day with all of four of my kids, and their mom. It was, without a doubt, a treasure. I regret not taking any photos, but I was having a blast just being IN the moment, you know?

My oldest was there, and we talked about his ridiculous work shifts, and his dog, and politics, and philosophy. He was handing me words when I was struggling to find them, and talking about how far he’d come in forming his own views on things. I was bubbling over with pride, and was so happy to be able to just talk with him.

My second-oldest was there, and while he mostly hid in his room and played with his new Switch, he and I shared some memories about him growing up, and he mentioned that I was still sort of one of his Dads. It came from him without prompting, and took me completely off guard in the best of ways.

My youngest son was there, helping out in the kitchen, and with the pets, and sliding in a snarky comment here and there. He landed several good roasts, and helped me assure his mom that the food was, in fact, going to be just fine, even if there were a few hiccups along the way.

My daughter was there, cuddling with the puppies, cuddling with me, making jokes and talking about the Switch she wants for Yule. She insisted on tickles, and showing me some of the gymnastics moves that she could still do, despite no longer being in class.

We all ate together, most of us way more than we should have. We barely scratched the surface of what had been cooked. Some leftovers came home with me, because no one loves marinated mushrooms as much as I do. Or stuffing. Seriously, I will fight you for stuffing.

The drive home was filled with both the warm glow of everything I’d experienced, and the dull ache of not having the kids coming with me. I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to it, and I kind of hope I don’t. As after-school-special as it sounds, I’ll let the ache remind me how precious every moment that I spend with my kids is.

Oh, and the smell of the leftovers. That was there in the drive home, too. Mmmm, leftovers.

A Fresh Change

Posted on by
Mint Mobile mailer

Let’s be honest here, my primary motivation to change cell carriers was to save money. I’ve been paying T-Mobile a LOT of money for many, many years. I’ve gotten advertisements for CREDO mobile in the past, and I’ve looked into GoogleFi and Ting. At the time, I was still part of a big family plan, and the other members of the family were not interested in trying out new carriers.

Mint Mobile mailer inside

Now, with the divorce coming down the pipe, switching carriers provides both for an easy billing split and an opportunity for me to try something new. Enter Mint Mobile, and their $15 per month plan. It seemed entirely too good to be true, so I did some research.

They’re on T-Mobile’s network. They use pre-paid plans, and after the introductory period (3 months), you need to sign up for a year at a time to get the $15 per month rate. There’s no contract. There’s no brick-and-mortar store. Ryan Reynolds is one of the owners. (I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t cool.) If you want to bring your current phone to their network, they have a compatibility checker so you can know ahead of time if it’ll work. In fact, they encourage it. Mine was fully compatible, despite its age.

So, how is the service, really? I can’t comment on their 5G service or coverage, because my phone doesn’t support it. Their 4G LTE service, on the other hand, is just as stable as T-Mobile was. That’s unsurprising, I guess, because Mint uses T-Mobile’s network. The app they use to make the switch, to track data usage, and to make changes to your plan, is simple, straightforward, and a pleasure to use. Did you hear that? An app! That’s a pleasure for this old guy to use! I might be overstating, but IT IS A MIRACLE! EXCLAMATION POINT!

I’ve nearly completed my first month of service, and I can say that the biggest drain on my data usage is using my phone as a hotspot. When the kids want to DJ from a tablet on a car ride, or when I’m outside the laundromat, the data gets drained pretty quickly. I’m not sure what exceptions were going on with my T-Mobile plan that allowed me to get away with less usage before, but I know they had a few labyrinthine “what actually counts as data usage” rules in place.

Would I recommend this service? Yes, if you’re trying to save money, I definitely recommend it. BUT, be knowledgeable about how much data you’re using beforehand, so you don’t get any surprises. Would I mind upgrading to the next plan up for more data? Not at all, as I’d still be saving a ridiculous amount of money every month in comparison with T-Mobile.