GV – what’s the big deal
28 Oct 2009 Leave a Comment
in reviews Tags: ATT, google voicemail, GV, international calls, iPhone, landlines, skype
i had to ask two people for GV, i.e., google voice mail. but what’s the big deal? i have an iphone already. i already get as much info out of voicemail as i need to, namely who called at what time and how long the message is. i haven’t gotten a voicemail yet since i activated my GV so i am not sure how the transcription of voicemail works. what will GV do with my mom’s voicemail? my mom leaves messages in korean. don’t think GV transcribes voicemail left in korean?
so i’m wondering, is the big idea of GV not so much replacing some function on iphone, but rather eliminating the need for a skype account? so far that’s the only think i think i can gain from having a GV. i’m not going to renew my skype online number if this GV works well. and oh yes, international calls. right now, GV has good rates to korea landline and cell phone. and it has good landline rates to germany, but horrendous mobile phone rates to germany. i only call korea or germany. so i have not put the rest of the international rates to other countries. so anyway, so long as i’m not calling a cell phone number in germany (but who has landline anyway that they use more than their cell phone now adays anyhow?), GV might be better than skype. and on those occasions i need to call mobile phone in germany, i might still have to call using my skype account.
another triumphant moment! i signed up to pay about 3 or 4 dollars on my ATT account to get better international rates. well, forget that! no need for using my iphone att account to make international calls paying extra 3-4 dollars a month to get better rates. i will just use GV or skype to make international calls.
and as for my calling card? well, i wish my calling card would just die on its own without my having to call them up and cancel the account. come on. hmmm i was going to say calling access number before dialing the number you are calling is a pain in the butt. but same applies for GV without Google phone number. so maybe phone card is worth keeping.
oh and lastly, one thing GV is definitely better than skype for making international calls (except when you call mobile numbers in germany!)!! when you pre-pay for your phone calls, your credit card company won’t charge you some kind of fee for converting international currency. hello, folks at skype – it’s really a pain to see extra charge appearing on my credit card bill only because you don’t take us dollar without converting it to currency rest of the world might care about. don’t you know? things may look, feel, taste different in the rest of the world outside good old united states of america. but if you live in this country, the thought that when you use your credit card to pay for something and that the money has to be converted to another currency and you have to pay extra for conversion fee, well, that just doesn’t go down so well.
ACELA – money money money
28 Oct 2009 Leave a Comment
in new york, reviews Tags: ACELA, amtrak, boston, comfort, money, new york city, nyc, penn station, south station, value
i rode not regional north west train from nyc to boston this morning, but ACELA the more expensive all business or first class express train from ny penn station to boston south station. boy, talk about money money money. what about money? well, for paying double the price of what you might pay for regular speed ticket two weeks in advance, you get much cleaner, even seems brighter, and nicer environment. each seat reclines further back, seemed like more leg room, and faster, smoother train ride. if i didn’t have other places to spend money, i’d rather ride ACELA on any given day, than the normal north east regional train.
i have to ride the “regular” train back. while i’m saving about 45 dollars in about 4-5 hours, well, that’s just it, isn’t it? in the past month and a half, north east regional has come in late to penn station. instead of its usual arrival time, i mean, come on, no rush hour traffic jam on the train tracks, right? so for reasons i can’t figure out, north east regional trains have run late of about an hour or so. this means instead of getting back to my home in time to watch the clock pass midnight, after i have taken a shower, rested, and whatever else, i am just getting off train from penn station to home around mid night.
you know, there is a song called around midnight. i never really listened to the lyrics. but if the song writer were to write about my around midnight experience coming home from train station about an hour after i was supposed to arrive home because the train i was on ate up an hour of my time for no good reason, the song would not be a happy one i tell you! around midnight can be a happy song if you are enjoying your time off, if you own the time you have.
if you are rushing home to try to make it back home by midnight so you can try to get enough sleep for the next morning train back to the city (yes i have thought about just camping out in penn station on nights i end up returning to the same station in less than 8 or 9 hours!) showering becomes a great sacrifice to make – i mean if you take a shower it’s at the cost of less sleep, and if you don’t take a shower after such a long day of traveling, then it’s at the cost of feeling yucky. so anyway, yes! travel ACELA if your wallet allows you to. because ACELA makes your commute from nyc to boston so much more pleasant, bearable, and something one might even look forward to. well, one might look forward to it, except on the night world series starts for baseball. 
