Basement video tour, progress update

Here's a video of the basement in it's current state.

Verizon Droid Smartphone on Pre-paid plan

I recently inherited a gently used Verizon Droid phone and intended to use it to replace my wife's dumb phone on Verizon prepaid.

I diligently went to the Verizon site and plugged in the ESN for the new-to-me phone to port the phone number from the old to the new.

I was surprised to see a "Service Level" selection that did not include my pre-paid plan. So I tried the process again a few times and had the same result. I then googled it and discovered that Verizon does not allow smartphones on their pre-paid plans.

Oh the humanity. Really, Verizon. The phone has Wifi, and that how I intended to get the data on it. I don't need your megabuck per month insane talk + text + data plan, since the phone will generally be used only in emergencies.

But nooooo, you have to bulk-exclude smartphones on plans that don't have data. Learn a lesson from your competitor, T-Mobile, where one can buy a prepaid plan including data if one so desires.

So I searched a little more and discovered a second-tier wireless company that uses the Verizon network and offers both inexpensive unlimited as well as prepaid plans. The company is Page Plus Cellular and it's carried by equally second-tier cell phone shops such as Truly Unlimited Wireless, located on Culver and Parcells (across from the old Arlene's Costumes).

For a $10 activation fee, I got a phone number and for another $10, I got 100 minutes of service from Page Plus. So $0.10/minute for their most expensive prepaid plan. No data though.

I'm prototyping the service now, so I'll reserve critical analysis until my first $10 is spent.

Basement has turned a corner

After a little over a two weeks of putzing with around by patching problem area in the floor, moving electrical boxes and correcting some ugly wiring we finally pulled the trigger on the next phase of the basement remodel; reconstruction.

I decided to take the day off since I think I needed to be involved with a lot of decisions for this special day.

The first step was to have Mike the plumber come and correct some problems in the old laundry room. He had a bunch of low hanging water lines, and the bachelor Rick allowed prior plumbers to run supplies to the kitchen right in front of the window. See we went from this to that.




Additionally, I asked Steve the carpenter to come over and start insulating and framing the exterior walls. Lowes had delivered all the insulation, lumber and drywall the prior day.

We picked the west-facing wall, in honor of my Buffalo heritage and went from this to that:




Next steps are to continue insulating and framing the exterior walls, then work on the interior walls.

Things I'm thinking about

1. Where will the telephone/cable/internet center be?
2. How will I frame the walls in the laundry room, given the electric panel and plumbing?
3. When should I call the ceiling guy to come over?