“Can you hear me now?”

Pam and I are getting new cell phones. We have Nextel models that have worked well for us for a long time. I upgraded mine sometime last year but Pam has the original phone she got when we signed up about 3 years ago.

Lately, Pam’s phone has been acting up so I thought we would just upgrade it to another model. I went to Nextel’s web site and discovered they charge a bunch of money (over $200) just to get a new phone. They offer little incentive for people to purchase a new phone and stay with their service. We stayed with Nextel for this long because of the 2-way radio. It’s very cool and I’ll miss it. But you pay for it in higher monthly payments and a crappy selection of bulky and heavy phones.

With all the cool, new phones and great service plans we decided to switch to either T-Mobile or Sprint. They both offer unlimited mobile to mobile calling, shared minutes, free roaming and long distance. We’re getting a bluetooth model for Pam to use with her Palm Tungsten|T. I just want a basic model that can easily fit in my pocket. The smaller the better.

We ordered carpeting for the basement. Installation takes about 3 weeks, then we’ll finally be done with The Basement Project. I’m holding off taking pictures until the carpeting is in.

Last night, I hooked up the big TV and surround sound in the new media room and we watched a movie. I threw an old rug on the floor, got out some lawn chairs and we had a great time watching a DVD in our unfinished room. The sound is way better than I could have imagined and the atmosphere down there is great. As Pam said: “it’s like a whole different house down here.”