Special Post #18: No signal

sorry this post is almost 2 days late, I’m on a boat!

Some may say I’m a bit of a geek. OK, so I know my may around a computer, but there has always been a chink in my technology armour: mobile phones. Put simply, I never got them. I never saw the point of having a mobile phone on a day-to-day basis. They we’re only for emergencies and to let your parents know you were safe. All through secondary school and sixth form I never had a mobile phone, much to the confusion of everyone I knew who couldn’t see how it was possible. I simply didn’t need one. Anyone I wanted to talk to I saw at school everyday, and besides, we weren't allowed to take phones into school anyway.

Finally, at the end of my a-levels I saw the need for it. Once I’d finished school it was a way to get in touch with friends. But even then I hardly ever used it. In fact, my first £5 credit lasted me the rest of the year. 2009 has been an entirely different story. My phone has quickly become a vital lifeline to know what’s going on and where people are. Now I face the position next year when I’m living in my new house where we won’t have a landline, then my phone will be even more important.

I still prefer to talk to people online, whether it be using Skype, Facebook or Instant Messaging. But sometimes, like when you’re out and don’t have a computer, it’s your only choice.

So this week I moved from a Pay As You Go (PAYG) service with T-Mobile to an O2 contract that means I can use my phone more without paying more. Because I was changing my provider from T-Mobile to  O2 I had to unlock my phone because it was tied to T-Mobile so only their SIM cards worked on it. I don’t really know what I’m talking about, but this seems to be right.

So to unlock my phone I rang T-Mobile and they said it would cost me £15 and take 28 days. So I, not knowing any better, agreed. When James got up he told me the error in my ways and said I could get the phone unlocked at this shop in town for less money and it would happen instantly. So I did. It cost £8. Unfortunately I couldn’t then undo my T-Mobile request, so I still had to pay £15 for something I no longer need. But that’s life, I learnt a valuable lesson (literally).

By Monday my old T-Mobile number should have been ported to my new O2 contract, and I’ll be ready to roll! Until then I’m carrying around 2 phones, one with my old SIM and one with my new SIM. From no phones to two in just one year!

UPDATE: My contract is now all up and running with my old number, good times.

my next post is about my weekend in Scotland, stay tuned!