I'm trying to figure out which give me more problems: the Twitter or the Verizon.
Right now, it's neck and neck.
Oh, I'm not stopping using either one. I'm addicted to the Twitter. And the Verizon has the best service in the area, based on where I am and where all I go.
So, I'm stuck.
But, that won't stop me from whining about things.
Like, recently, I became addicted to the Twitter. And, since there are Twitter applications for my BlackBerry, I can use the Twitter on my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry.
For many of the folks I follow on the Twitter, I decided to have it notify me of new "tweets."
Silly me.
Because I don't have an unlimited texting plan. It's a 250 plan. That is, 250 text messages a month.
Now, I don't text a lot. But, if I set up the Twitter to send me notifications when someone tweets off something, I get a text message. And, when someone began
following me, I got a text message.
Yes, you see where this is going.
Only, it struck me suddenly, last month. I logged on to my Verizon Wireless account, and looked up usage. In the first little bit of the billing cycle, I had used up 177 text messages. That meant that I was going to go over my allowance.
So, I did some quick math, didn't like what I found, and did two things.
First thing I did was up my text allotment to 500. Next thing I did was find where on my Twitter account I could stop getting notifications when someone followed me. Then, the third thing I did (yes, I know I said two, but once I got started, it was hard to stop, you understand) was to turn off notifications for everyone who I was following, account by account.
That slowed down the number of text messages I got. And, during the remainder of the month, I got just 18 more texts. Mostly, there were messages from Wife asking me if I was ready for lunch.
So, let's do some simple math.
I began the month with a 250 message allotment. I ended the month with a 500 message allotment. And, for the entire month, I used 195 billable messages.
But, that's simple math. Let's use Verizon math.
Because I said to them, "Hey, I'm not giving you enough money. I want to give you more. Move me over to a higher text message plan," they did. They prorated the $5/month charges and the $10/month charges, then prorated the number of messages per day, and determined that, despite the fact that at no time during the month was my monthly allowance below 250, and that my total for the month was 195, I had gone over by 94 messages.
Let's cover that again.
I began the month with a 250/month allowance. I upped it to a 500/month allowance. My total for that month was 195. And I was 94 over.
A quick call, a couple of smart-ass remarks by both me and Mr. Verizon, and Mr. Verizon adjusted things. He adjusted just the charges, not any associated taxes.
This is why I wanted to get an iPhone. And if AT&T had good service around here, I'd have one. But their service sucks, and the iPhones cost too much. So, I have Verizon and a BlackBerry.
Now, I need to put the blog down and get my BlackBerry. I might find something on the Twitter I want to read.
