Getting broadband and possibly a new job

[macleod]

As the "deal" that my wife and I worked out. In the unlikely event that I quit smoking (regardless of the reason), I would be "allowed" to get broadband. Well, as some of the folks here know, I had quit smoking awhile back, so I have signed up to get broadband (went DSL as they will have 5 megabit downloads in about 3 weeks).

I had signed up with Yahoo DSL about a week or so ago, but they farted around and then finally told me that I needed to have my phone number changed. I didnt want to change my number as my resume and all of my contacts have this as the home number. Long story short, after a week of waiting and learning that my "number" wont work, I called my local provider and signed up with them. I am real excited. I am trying to figure out what I can use it for. I do not do online gaming and have no plans to. I was hoping to host my own site and whatnot, but it would've been another $11 to have a static IP.

I also got a call today from an interview that I went on a few days ago that I am going for the drug test (which the recruiter told me is the final deal before they offer the position).

Man, this is the longest I have ever been unemployed (1.5 months). Starting to climb the walls. I love my wife and son, but being around them 24/7 has been interesting (sure they say the same things about me).

Anywho, would it be bad form to say that my first day will be a few days AFTER I get broadband going, ha ha!!!

If anyone has any good ideas for broadband use (aside from porn, online gaming, etc.), please post. I am already going to set my fam up on skype (and have been thinking about doing the vonage thing as well, however, with DSL, I am assuming that wont end my phone line that I currently have....

[ViRaL1]

Stileproject. Warning!!! May contain some adult material.

Download some distributions of Linux and try them out.

Perfect your own DoS attack. :P

Taunt all your buddies who don't yet have broadband.

More to come...

[macleod]

I am the last person that I know that is still on dialup. Everyone I know got broadband to check email and go to a few websites. They said that the cost of broadband was worth not having to tie up their phone line for X period of time and also they didnt like waiting for the dialup to connect.

[ViRaL1]

I know the feeling. I've had DSL for years and I've never looked back. I even upgrade mine to the 6Mbps plan. It's double what SBCs 768-1.5Mb promo is, but it's worth it.

[offline]

Sounds all good macleod
Congrats on quitting. How did you manage it?
Wish I could quit.

I got 10Mbps a year ago and I can't stand the
speed of dial up when I visit friends who have yet
to go cable or DSL. It's a whole new world - have
fun & make sure you protect yourself with a decent
firewall & consider using Firefox as your browser.

[ViRaL1]

10Mbps...

You must have downloaded the whole internet by now. :P

[offline]

I wish..

Unlike DSL and its ilk, cable has "issues" which
cause it to slow down. On some sites I get lower
than DSL speeds and on some others it screams
along at top speed. Plus if someone in my street
gets cable, they share my node, and they can eat
into my speed. In addition upload is limited
a lousy 128k.

It was a tough choice between getting cable
and DSL.

Still, I can download a linix distro or a microsoft file
at over a megabyte per second

[MackemX]

Still, I can download a linix distro or a microsoft file
at over a megabyte per second

I'm not jealous

[ViRaL1]

I can't say I've ever really felt a pinch with the speed I have now. I'm mostly limited by the download site's bandwidth. But if anyone would like to pitch in on my OC-48 fund, just PM me.

[jimmalenko]

Good luck on the job front ...

As for DSL, there's many uses aside from porn and gaming ...

For example, there's a bunch of public domain movies on P2P these days ...

You'll also notice that browsing is a bit quicker and downloading service packs/program updates/AV definitions etc etc will be much faster as well.

[macleod]

@Offline

The quitting smoking thing. I pretty much scared the snot out of myself. I am a hypocondriac (or so my wife tells me). On the "do you smoke" poll on this site, I happened across www.whyquit.com. I am 32 and seeing folks my age freaked me out a bit. Coupling that with quitting my job to move back to Texas and some odd pains that I got after personally loading up two rigs worth of our belongings, I just quit cold turkey and never looked back.

I did join www.quitnet.com and did some reading, but really you just have to get fed up with the whole smoking thing. I downloaded a freeware stop smoking counter and the $$$ really added up quit and it was a good motivator. I'll tell you though, for the first 3-5 days, you are going to feel lightheaded or basically an altered state of reality. I really wasn't grumpy (anymore than usual). I am Catholic by trade, and I know that religion isnt popular on this forum, but I did my share of praying when times got tough.

Quitting really is the best thing that you can do for yourself and your family. I haven't done "the hack" since a week or so after I quit. I spent $100 a month on cigs, I'll spend $40 on broadband and $60 on who knows what else.

I also use Firefox as my browser and LOVE it. I will never willingly use IE ever again. I notcied an immediate increase (dialup) in page loads with firefox over IE.

As far as the firewall, Zonealarm is doing pretty well for me.

@jim, thanks for the vote on the job front. I am pretty excited about it all. The missus will be able to ramp up her Joann and Michael's adventures again (she was forced to slow down a little while I looked for another job). I really dont think she slowed down any.....

I dont know too much about p2p stuff. I have used shareaza and WinMX, but I havent been able to figure out how to identify a public domain (or an uncopyrighted movie).

I'll probably have my son and his grandparents do video chat and stuff.

[Guest]

I wish..

Unlike DSL and its ilk, cable has "issues" which
cause it to slow down. On some sites I get lower
than DSL speeds and on some others it screams
along at top speed. Plus if someone in my street
gets cable, they share my node, and they can eat
into my speed. In addition upload is limited
a lousy 128k.

It was a tough choice between getting cable
and DSL.

Still, I can download a linix distro or a microsoft file
at over a megabyte per second

That needs to be clarified. Cable slows down with user numbers(transient-peak times)DSL slows with your distance from the nearest relay switch(constant). I've had cable since 1999 and never regret it. You dont have to do anything special with it. You will pull your hair out if you have to use dial up. Personally I have never been on a dsl connection that I thought was as fast as my cable. I also have never noticed any slow downs at peak times. The first outage happened yesterday

[stiltman]

Did ya get the job?

I've been unemployed for 4 months now

[macleod]

well, i went in today for the drug test. I was up a night studying. BA-DUM-BUMP.....

I spoke with the HR thing and dont want to jinx it, but it is in the bag. I'll let y'all know how it goes. I'll hear something mid next week.

[macleod]

Well, the final post is that I did get the job and will be starting this Monday. Its a great job and I will be dealing with telephony again, wahooo!! Its in a call center environment, which I really enjoy. Charting out the future of the call center and all that fun stuff.

Enjoying the DSL. Its been great.

[ViRaL1]

Congrats!

[offline]

Congrat's Macleod!!
I would not want to work in a "cube farm" but
I know many who do and love it.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Cheers

Enjoy broadband

Kevin

[the bomb]

Congrats on the new job!!

[sacajaweeda]

Broadband good. Work bad. Baaaaaad bad bad bad. Bad doggie. No treat.

[DVDDave]

Goodluck on the job--CONGRATS!!!!!!!!

[macleod]

Yea, I am already counting the days to my 1st paid holiday (2/21), wahoo!

Thank y'all for the words of congratulations. This 1.5 months of being unemployed was nice, but I am ready to get back to work and supporting my family (single income). I have had a lot of time to enjoy my family full time and to reflect on a number of things. Got a good foundation and now I am ready to go.

[Capmaster]

Way to go macleod. It's a good feeling isn't it? 8)
8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)