Why I Left #Cricket After 10 Years

Today marks a milestone for me.  As complicated as I can be, at times I can be quite simple.  For example, I can be extremely repetitive.  I can eat at the same restaurant every single day if I chose. I can do the same things over and over and it not bother me, etc. Thus is the case with my cell phone company.  Or should I say my former cell phone company.

I had been with Cricket for over 10 years.  In all my years, I had rarely experienced dropped calls or reception issues.  While others may claim the opposite, for me, it had always worked.  Aside from that, the price was right too.  I was always amused to hear people complain that their phone bill was over $200 or even $300.  I would always tell those people the same exact thing.  "Why?  I only pay $60 a month for everything unlimited with Cricket."

If you had read my previous blog you would have read about my recent experience with my phone woes.  To make a long story short I tried to do a workaround from having to buy an additional data plan.  The idea was to copy my SIM card and put it into a USB hotspot I bought online.  I purchased an additional SIM and it did not work with the hotspot.  I did not know buying a new SIM deactivated the old SIM.  I was defeated so I gave up.  I then put the new SIM into my phone and the phone would not recognize it  There is a more detailed description in my previous entry.

Basically, I felt the gentleman at the Cricket store did nothing to help me.  Granted the company did not put me into this predicament, however if I buy a new SIM card and it doesn't work, a good company would do everything within their power to make sure I did not walk out without a working device.  The man I dealt with did not seem to care.

So I went 3 days without a working cell phone- each day growing more and more upset.

I had spoken with a friend of mine about the entire ordeal and they brought up a good point.  They said "You were with the company for over 10 years, and they treat you like that?  That would be unacceptable to me and I would have left them."

I thought, "You know what?  He's right."

As much as I did not want to leave the company I really had no choice,  I needed a phone and it was clear that they could not help me.  The phone I had been using worked just fine and had been using it for almost a year.  If I had never bought a new SIM card it would have still worked so there was principal to not buy a completely new phone cause Cricket's SIM card did not work with it.

I had gone to T-Mobile and explained my situation.  The man whom I spoke to was amazed by my story and that I had spent 10 years with the carrier.  He told me that T-Mobile would not treat me the way Cricket did.

So all-in-all I left Cricket.  I did not want to but like I said, I had no choice.  I am a man of principal and of course, of habit.  I like the service but I deserved better.

I guess I am too loyal for my own good.  Knowing me, if they offered me a good phone (not the cheap ones) I would go back but that is unlikely to happen.  I could chalk up as a misunderstanding IF they at least attempted to make things right.  However I am sorry to say that did not happen.

On to new avenues.

Talking Car Project Entry #7: Temporary Failure

Today I had a package come in the mail I had been waiting on. To sum it up, I wanted to try and prevent having to tether my phone to the car for internet access.  I wanted to give the car its own 3G access.  I purchased a 3G USB stick that has a slot for a sim card.

I got the idea in my head to buy one of these devices.  I figured I would just buy another SIM card from my carrier so I can essentially give my car 3G access without being tethered to my phone.  I ordered the device and waited.  In the meantime I had gone to my carrier and asked them a few questions.

They told me that they did not allow that sort of thing.  I noticed that this carrier is kind of touchy when it comes to their SIM cards.  It was really odd.  When I say touchy I mean they are not quick to give customers new SIM cards and ask for the old SIMS back if they can get them.

Having said that I had an idea of just going in and purchasing a new SIM without providing my older one.  So when the 3G USB device came in the mail, that was exactly what I had done. However when I bought the new SIM card and put it in my phone, it did not work.  The employee at the carrier told me, "It probably won't work with this phone since this phone is not originally from our company".

To be honest it annoyed me because he was talking to me as if I did not know anything.  I told him "Interesting, I wonder how in the world I have been using it for the passed year."  He did not say anything.

He then said "Sometimes it doesn't work with rooted devices.  You have to bring your phone back to it's original state".  That equally annoyed me and said "Yeah, that isn't happening."  I took the phone home to try and figure it out for myself.  Upon arriving at home I couldn't get my mobile network to work with my new SIM card in my phone so I decided I was just going to chalk it up as a loss and popped back in my old SIM card.  It appears that SIM did not work either.  So even if I had gotten the new SIM to work, it deactivated the old SIM card so the initial idea would have been doomed to fail from the beginning.

I took my phone back to the cell phone store and asked them to reprogram my old SIM card.  The condescending employee informed me that once a SIM is deactivated, it can never be reactivated again.  So I said "So now what?  I am left without a working cell phone?"  He gave me a "It isn't my problem" kind of looks.  By this time, my annoyance was really high and the employee did not make matters any better.  I would have been understanding the situation being what it was, but him being condescending to me really made me angry.

I will have to figure out my phone situation tomorrow.

So I have temporarily failed and now instead of spending the little time I have working on the project on a weeknight, I am fixing my phone issue.

This project is delayed but not dead in the water.  I figured the risk of doing all this was worth it.  In the end, I am out $10 and a working cell phone at the moment.  Still, had the idea been successful, the risk would have been worth it.  I will no doubt resolve my phone issue tomorrow, it is just an unnecessary thing I have to do.  Oh well, that's what I get for thinking outside the box.

Talking Car Project #6: Stereo Rooted With New Rom

I knew once I hit my stride that things would be flowing at a more steady pace.  The stereo is going to be the brain of the car and how it will be able to speak, accept, and execute commands.  The way this works is by using specific apps within the Android platform.  However the version of Android that it came with the stereo from the factory was not very good.  Aside from that, for my needs I needed the device to be rooted so I could take full advantage of the device and how it controls my vehicle.

I knew what I had would not work since the system had many app crashes.  So, I did what I have done countless others of times.  I did an absurd amount of reading on how to root the stereo so I would not brick it.   Finally,  I learned that I had to root the stereo a specific way with a specific firmware.  If I was off in my calculations or firmware version, it would have bricked it.  If I choose the correct firmware but had the incorrect resolution, I would brick it.  Needless-to-say that was not an option since I have been waiting to pull off this project for a very long time.

I guess you can say I figured it out.

Talking Car Project Entry #5: Ready To Begin

I have reached a much-needed milestone.  This project became an idea in my head well over a year ago.  Little did I know that one day I would be proactive in making it a reality.  I have to admit, I have had many trials and tribulations to get to this point.  However I know that was nothing compared to what lies ahead.  Hell, technically I haven't even made one line of code as of this moment.

No worries though, I have worked most of it out inside my head.  I just had to get everything squared away first before I could begin.




Up next, now I have to root the stereo so I can put the apps I need on it.

Talking Car Project Entry #4: Frustration And Delays

If someone were to ask me my greatest weakness, the answer would be simple.  I want things to swiftly happen and at my pace.  I have always said that the world move entirely too slow for me.  If my brain functions 100 miles per second, it is understandable that I also want life to move at an equal pace.

I have been delayed on getting started with the actual coding and programming of the project until i get the cosmetics squared away.  For the first 2 weeks after getting the stereo installed (which will be the cars brain so-to-speak) I had ran into issues with my reverse camera and also my front-facing camera as well.

I had finally gotten those issues squared away and resolved, and my last cosmetic task was to get the dash kit installed to make it look the right way.  While I waited for my dash and bezel to be shipped, it has an awful gap on both sides of the stereo.  The first bezel I purchased on Amazon did not work. Aggravated, I went to Custom Sounds and purchased the correct one.

The man told me "This will fit, it fits all double din radio."  Needless to say, when it arrived 2 days late, it did not fit.  So naturally, I was upset.  The fabricator suggested that I deal with it and leave the gaps in the dash.  I sternly gave him a "hell no".

So now here I am again, waiting.  I reached out to the manufacturer whom I purchased the stereo from and asked them to send me a different model.  Told them I would send back my stereo and pay the difference.

The problem is, this company is in China and I have already experienced a mass amount of incompetence from this company.  I. Am. Not. Happy.

I refuse to get started on the coding and programming of this project until it looks right.  I am quite relieved I did this because had I jumped the gun and rooted the stereo, and began... it would have been a loss to be since the warranty would have been voided.

I am here, and my project is delayed another few weeks until I receive the new head unit.

Again....

I.  Am.  Not.  Happy.

Talking Car Project: Entry #3 External Sound

I had purchased an external PA speaker that came in the mail.  I figured, in theory this should work.  The goal of this is to get the car to talk outside the car upon command.  To accomplish this I purchased a PA speaker with a 3.5 jack at the end of it.  I would then plug in a bluetooth adapter that would essentially make the speaker have bluetooth capabilities.

I also wanted it to where I would also speak through the microphone array I have connected to my stereo to also come out the external speaker upon command.  It is obvious that I would not want all audio from stereo or my microphone to come out externally, this is why giving it bluetooth was ideal so I could control what comes out the external speakers.

Granted I still have much work to do in regards to this project and much coding/programming however this is way cool.  I have other priorities so I cannot test, mount, and configure it just yet.

This is getting interesting.

Talking Car Project: Entry #2

I cannot say just how surreal this is for me.  I am slowly gaining traction on a project I have wanted to do for what seems like years.

If anyone has read my previous entries or have followed me on social media, you will probably know that I have been adapt in making my home smart.  I have demonstrated my smart home on numerous occasions.  One day, I was showing a friend of mine a famous video of a guy who is demonstrating what his smart home is capable of.

This video served as an inspiration for me and what I wanted my Smart Home to be able to do.  However by the time I was showing my friend the video, it wasn't so impressive to me since my home can do almost everything in the video.  I then had a realization, why can't my vehicle be smart?  I am not always at home.  What if I could have a vehicle that could be automated and smart?

The idea swirled in my head.  After all, the notion of a smart car is nothing new.  In fact the hit TV show Knight Rider had a smart car in it.  So the notion of a smart car is nothing really new, however oddly enough not many people have ever attempted to make one.

So I decided I was going to get me a smart car.  The main question I asked myself before I proceeded any further from the planning stage was, "could I pull this off?"

I did some research and to make a long story short....

yes.

More details to come in future post.

Talking Car Project: Entry #1

Something I am always thinking about is how can I do something cool that most people do not have.  I don't exactly remember how or when I came up with the idea that I wanted a talking car, however that is somewhat irrelevant.

Subconsciously it was probably when I was a child watching Knight Rider.  I have an upcoming project that will give me, a real smart talking car!

I have kept this project under wraps for the most part because I lacked the proper hardware to accomplish it.  That will soon change since the main component I am needing to pull this off is being shipped as I type this.  Needless to say I am beyond stoked.

KNIGHT RIDER:
I had told a coworker of mine a little about what I planned on doing and his first reaction was a Knight Rider reference.  He asked "You going to have David Hasslehoff's voice in it?"  I want to make this abundantly clear that my talking car project will be nothing like Knight Rider.  Perhaps than I should have not used the K.I.T.T. graphic at the beginning of this post.  Oh Well.

The technology that made K.I.T.T. what he was did not exist in 1984.  Hell, a lot of it still doesn't exist.

K.I.T.T.'s artificial intelligence was completely fabricated for the TV show.  This is reminiscent of the movie Iron Man with Tony Stark's assistant Jarvis.  That is another case of Hollywood making it seem A.I. is more advanced that it is in reality.  That kind of A.I. will not be around for several more decades.

K.I.T.T. was bulletproof, could jump over obstacles upon command, and even drive itself.  I am not bulletproofing my Mitsubishi, there is seriously no point to justify that nor the cost it would take to do that.  I cannot have the car jump over obstacles upon command as well.  Even if I could, I will go on to assume that the frame of the vehicle wouldn't like it too much.  And finally, the car will not be able to drive itself.  Granted, self-driving cars are something that is rising in popularity however the technology is no where near what K.I.T.T. could do in the TV show.  So no, my car will not be able to drive itself.

WHAT WILL IT DO?:

To be continued.... you will have to stay tuned to this blog to see.

What Have I Been Up To?

So it has been a very long while since I have blogged.  Can I be excused by saying something cliche like "I was busy"?  Probably not.

What can I say, my life is completely different than it was a year ago.  Since then I have endured a staggering amount of life changes.  I have a good job, my marriage is on the up-and-up, and probably most important, I am genuinely happy.  My life has done a complete 180.  A year ago, it was the complete opposite.  I couldn't find work, my marriage was in the toilet,  and I had slipped into a deep depression.  Things I had once done that brought me joy, no longer interested me.  This is usually the effect of depression.

To be honest, I somewhat feel born again.  For a little while there I was at the bottom of the barrel and to see myself come out to the other side of it all is a humbling experience.

I will once again make my best effort to contribute to this blog.  Stay tuned because I have something in the works that could essentially be HUGE!

 

NEW CHANGES NEW LOOK

So I have been away for a while.  Well, not really but still, I have not blogged on here in a while.

I am resurrecting this site with a new look, new URL, and new stories, articles, and product reviews.

This should be exciting.