The road ahead

Man - finding the time to do everything is tough. Finding work/life balance takes me to the limit, and I can't let myself get stressed out about it, ya know? After all, I have to enjoy living my life, right? Anyhoo - I'll keep doing what I must. Sure is nice to spill beans once in a while :)

Verizon and Protecting Their Bottom Line with Prejudice

So I use a Sony Mylo and Skype, which costs me about $160 per year for unlimited world calling, and I've been looking for a new phone that will let me continue using Skype as my main phone service. After much research, I decided to check out the Droid X by Motorola through Verizon. I wanted to purchase the unlimited data/messaging plan (about $35 per month) and use Skype Mobile, as it handles my needs just fine. So I selected the plan and proceeded to try and check out. Guess what? This plan was "not available at this time," which kinda bites. So I proceeded to the chat window with a service rep, and here's the conversation in its entirety:

Please hold for a Verizon Wireless sales representative to assist you with your order. Thank you for your patience.
A Verizon Wireless online pre-sales specialist has joined the chat. You are now chatting with Lisa
austinblakecook: Good morning Lisa
Lisa: Hello. Thank you for visiting our chat service. May I help you with your order today?
Lisa: In an effort to better assist you, are you an existing Verizon Wireless customer?
austinblakecook: Yes. I am interested in buying the Droid X, but only with the unlimited data/messaging service, as I pay for a Skype account and will be using that as my continuing phone service. Why is this plan "not available at this time?"
Lisa: I would be happy to assist you with plans.
Lisa: Are you deaf or hearing impaired?
austinblakecook: no
austinblakecook: just thrifty
Lisa: That messaging only plan and data is for the deaf or hearing impaired.
austinblakecook: I am only interested in paying $34.99 per month for the unlimited data/messaging plan - I have and pay for a Skype account which i plan to access through Skype Mobile. I am not interested in a voice plan, as Skype handles all my needs.
austinblakecook: Why is that only for deaf or hearing impaired? That seems rather exclusive.
austinblakecook: I don't think i should be excluded because I don't have an impairment.
austinblakecook: I am financially challenged, for sure. Does that count?
austinblakecook: Who can I talk to about this?
austinblakecook: Hello?
Lisa: The number is 1-800-922-0204.
Lisa: Now that I have provided you with the number to customer care is there anything else I can help you with today?
austinblakecook: Is there no one there that can help me?
austinblakecook: No, thanks. Have a great day.
Lisa: Thank you for visiting Verizon Wireless, I look forward to speaking with you again. Have a great day!

What really gets me is that no matter what way you slice it, the free market seems to want to enslave me. I have very little money, have found what I deem to be a reasonable and affordable way to have a phone line and not be slammed by hidden or incidental charges. The system doesn't seem to want to let me be smart about my choices, and wants to move me into a relationship that is unhealthy for me and my ability to live. I guess I'm stating the patently obvious, but still... ..why punish me for being clever enough to see an opportunity to be free of slavery? Anyways, I'll keep trying, or maybe do one better: design and market a phone that has 3/4g and uses an unlimited data plan to give me what I want - a Skype phone that works for me - forever. Thanks for reading. Don't give up on beating the Kobayashi Maru. Make Kirk smile :)

Beginning the day with a blessing...

Good morning world, and may all your heart's desires be fulfilled. May you see a path filled with opportunity instead of obstacles, and please believe when I tell you your life can only get better when you focus on the virtues instead of the faults. I have been working to open my eyes to the truths common to us all, and am starting to see what held me back in the past: my own stubborn decisions to shut myself off from learning paths of wisdom and character. Today, things are vastly different. I can listen, feel, understand, assist, and console. How valuable is that?!? I cannot begin to say. All I know is that my life has become so much richer since I allowed others in, and offered in turn myself to others. Awesome. Have a great day, y'all :)

Challenges, Setbacks, Realizations, and Propulsion

Again, it's been a minute since my last post. Things are going great; gratitude serves me well as I choose to stay focused on long term goals and the baby steps that lead to them. The challenges I face need not be such big deals, as long as I don't forget where I've come from and what I've been through. A walk in the park, as they say :) Taking a setback to my expectations and trusting that in some way, greater than I can appreciate, it is for the best, really makes things easier, and that is a welcome realization that propels me forward so I can focus on baby steps, all the while believing more everyday the long term goals are not only possible, but patiently there and waiting for me. That is the kind of patience I must continue to develop, and encourage others in, so that we may all be better for it. And I'm spent :P

Moving forward with faith

Hi. It has been a while, but I'm not giving up. I imagine God, lately, as being the most patient being ever, and here's why. We are created in His image, which means much, but in part, that means, to me anyways, that we have been given power to affect change in our lives and the lives of others. This could be something simple and basic, like acting on impulses. Discipline, and of course morals, ethics, etc., reign our impulses in, and also provides patience. Where I'm going with this is that people often act on impulses without even being aware, and thank God we don't have power rivalling His! Think about how many people act rashly, out of selfishness or fear, causing destruction to self and others. Now think about God. He has ultimate power, and could change everything He finds distasteful in the blink of an eye. But He is patient. I must learn to be patient, and trust He is dealing with everything in good time - His time. Instead of acting on every impulse, trying to avenge every wrong, manually adjusting the world in real time, I will spend my effort on going with His flow, and moving forward with faith. That's all I got.

Are discipline and passion mutually exclusive?

Can you be so disciplined in a relationship, refusing sexual intercourse, without killing the passion necessary, for some people, that gauges whether someone wants to be together for a lifetime? In today's world, with divorce rates so high, is the pleasure seeking quotient also so high, as to make one's decision based solely one sexual compatability, even if it is taken at the beginning of a relationship, without eyes on the horizon on what dreams may come? What role does faith and belief that the one you're with will get better at loving you, or are people so jaded and selfish that they can't wait for something like marriage before they start learning to truly enjoy learning to love one another in what essentially is the beginning of the next level of intimacy? For me, it must be something I feel, and while I believe discipline, and waiting for something makes it much better, I don't believe that discipline and passion are mutually exclusive, because we are dynamic creatures, we humans. The trick is finding someone that loves to dance just as much as you do (or as little) and then playing music you both enjoy and can spend time together appreciating. There must always be more, and I feel patience, and true care, reap the greatest rewards regarding real and lasting intimacy, and that's way better than sex that suffers because it peaked too early in a relationship, or was the sole basis for wanting to be with someone (i.e. what they can do for you) That's my take - what's yours?

The Art of Getting Back Up...

Okay. So all men, or people, reach and fall, reach and fall; it's the nature of learning. The trick is, for me anyways, to not allow myself to stay focused on the ground, as if I belong there. While my feet may be firmly planted there, in me is the desire to climb, and climb high. I must not let the fear of falling trick me into believing the ground is where I belong, for I surely we be in it soon enough.