Month: October 2003

Technological Advancement?

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I headed to the Verizon Wireless store this weekend to have my phone’s software upgraded. I took Denise‘s phone with me, as well, so I could get it all done at once. At 2:30, I handed them the phones (Motorola T720s). The helpful girl at the service desk said I should come back in one hour because each phone took twenty minutes to reprogram. This interesting interpreation of mathematics should have alerted me right away. I shopped a little, and I later came back at the prescribed time. At 3:30, I was told that I should go away for another hour and then come back. More shopping ensued. I headed back at 4:30, with the hope of finally being able to pick up my phones. Yes! They were finished.

But there was a problem. Although Denise’s phone was fine, my phone wouldn’t “take” the new software. I don’t know what they did to it, but it’s gone. So they replaced the phone with a refurbished T730 — a model up from my T720, but otherwise an identical phone. They weren’t able to salvage my telephone number directory or illegitmate ring tones (MIDI files) that I loaded to the old phone by hacking into it with Motorola’s own PST software, so when I got home, I reloaded everything back in.

When I woke up the next morning (okay, close to noon, I guess — I have to make up for all the sleep I miss during the week doing homework) I discovered the phone was screwed up. The screen stayed garbled, even after removing the battery and replacing it after a few minutes. I convinced Darren to take me to the Verizon Wireless store to have them take a look at it. They ended up replacing the phone again. It seems to be working now, but I’ll have to see how it holds up after being charged overnight.

All this was just to have my Motorola T720 upgraded to the less-buggy T730 version of the software. I wish I could have just done it myself.

Car Buying

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I’m looking to by a car, and I’m trying to keep my expenses down. The other day, I visited a Toyota dealer and a Honda dealer to see what they had available in the “used but less than 50,000 miles” category. I’m looking for something that’s going to last ten years. I may not keep it for all of that, but I don’t want to worry about its reliability, and I don’t want to spend a fortune in repairs.

My old car, a Honda Civic (1997, not the 2004 linked) was really great, but so far I have a better feeling about the Toyota Corolla. I talked to the AAA auto insurance agent to get an idea the price of insurance. The problem here is that since I racked up a bunch of points, I’m considered a “high risk” driver, and will be for the next three years. Ouch.

If I were to own the car outright, without any loans, then I can get liability coverage for $2,150 a year. The price for high risk drivers is set by the state, so I can’t shop around for a lower price. If I were to take out a loan to get the car, I would be required to also purchase collision and comprehensive insurance. I’m not sure of the total, but it is likely over $4,000 a year.

I was set in my mind that I would pay for the car out of the cash I have saved up, thus not needing to bother with the loan. My father seems to think that I would be better off getting a loan instead of using all the money I have saved up, getting the extra insurance so I don’t have to worry about setting money aside for car emergencies, and buying a new Hyundai for about the same price as a used Corolla.

I’m not sure that his advice makes the best sense. So, this is one of the rare occasions I’m looking for thoughts (not advice) and opinions (not correct answers). Anyone?