Sprint Mobile Broadband

Yesterday Todd called me and told me he was pissed at Mediacom and wanted to get rid of every service he had from them. He told me he ordered Direct TV and asked me about Sprint's Mobile Broadband service. I gave him some information including that the service was going to be slower than his cable modem and that it was likely more expensive but he would be able to use it everywhere. So there was some upside and some downside to making the switch. I told him that when Sprint launched the new Rev A service that I was going to get rid of my cable modem. Later in the day Todd called me again and told me he bought a Sprint mobile broadband card. It turns out that when he called Mediacom to tell them he was canceling the TV service (because he purchased Direct TV) they told him the price of his cable modem was going to go up to $70. The Sprint Mobile Broadbad service starts at about $60 and with Todd's corporate discount was much less than that. He told them to cancel the cable modem too and went right to the store and bought a mobile broadband card.

After talking to Todd about his situation I realized it was time for me to make the switch to Sprint mobile broadband at home. I turned off my cable modem and access point and purchased a Linksys WRT54G3G-ST mobile broadband router. I am amazed at how well this works. It feels very much like a DSL connection--and this isn't even the higher EVDO Rev A speeds!

Sprint launched the EVDO Rev A service in San Diego, CA today. It won't be long until the Rev A service comes to a town near you.

I will be canceling the service from Comcast by this weekend...

-Paul

Keisha's Surgery

So 1 week ago Keisha had to have surgery on her right rear ACL. She tore it on a jog home while we were on a walk last week.

It's tough being 13...

Theresa and I didn't know how seriously she was injured so we didn't do anything about it at first. It appeared that she just was favoring the leg and that she wanted to keep her weight off of it. She has done this in the past when one of her legs hurt her because of arthritis. But after about 3 days of her favoring this leg Theresa and I decided we needed to take her to the vet. The vet looked at her and said "Looks like a torn ACL to me". We needed x-rays to be sure. The x-rays showed that she had arthritis and a torn ACL. So last Thursday she had ACL surgery...the doctor says she will run marathon's again....kidding. She also had a skin tumor removed that the doctor said wasn't likely cancerous....it was...so I thank God that we were able to get her in to get that removed.

It has been very trying for Theresa to watch her baby go through this and it has been hard on me too. I want to help out but I don't know how much I should do for her. I don't want to give Keisha too much help for fear that I will lengthen her recovery, but I don't want her to get injured again either. It's tough when she can't tell us what she wants or needs.

So the recovery is supposed to take 10 weeks. We are 1 week into this and she is starting to use the leg for balance and to put some weight on it. Stitches come out on Tuesday--if they last that long.

ATV Rides

So Jay, Rick, Mike, Andy, Mark and I went on an ATV ride last weekend. 6 guys out in the wilderness. It was great. When we arrives at Spider Lake there were alot of people there. More than I had seen before. We saddled up and took off for a ride as soon as we arrived at about 9am. I had gotten a new set of Mudlites on Castle Rock wheels. They are awesome. It was my first ride at Spider Lake with them. I had them during another ride we had in Park Rapids and I noticed how much more traction I had and how much more stable the machine felt. it was awesome.

So 5 miles into the ride we were bombing down this trail and all of a sudden my handlebars jerked to the left and into the woods I went. I grabbed the brakes and the next thing I knew I was getting kicked off the machine to the right as it started to roll. I made an attempt to leap from my machine to ensure it didn't roll over on me. When I hit the trail my tailbone hit a large rock shaped like an egg and my helment hit the ground a couple of times. But the machine didn't roll over on me.

I survived with a bruised tailbone and a bruised ego and the machine was fine too. Just broke a mirror. It turns out that my big wheels and tires hit a stump at the edge of the trail that caused my wheels to turn hard left. I am still not 100% sure why my machine rolled. So the thing I learned was to be careful and be prepared for anything--even when you are on trails you know. The safety equipment helped me and I will always wear it. I will also be more careful on the trial. new equipment changes the way your machine rides.

So be careful out there and remember to ride with respect and remember:
"Ride as if everyone is watching. Talk as if everyone is listening."

-Paul

Perceptions of the Police

Most of you that know me know that I was a Police reserve for the city of Bloomington, Minnesota for 9 years. The experience that I gained through that job were some of the most rewarding and eye opening in my life. It is an experience that I wouldn't trade.

Because of my relationship with a police department I have many people ask me questions about the police and want to tell me about their situation. I have found that there are people that have very skewed perceptions of the police and what the police can and cannot do. Some of the stories that I am told are far fetched at best--stories in which the person telling the story has done nothing wrong but the police treated them without respect or actually were verbally abusive. These stories suprised me because every cop I know is a regular human being who uses the appropriate amount of respect in every situation. The difference is that a police officers job is to remain in control of the situation and they will only exert just enough "force" to remain in control of that situation--no more.

Most police officers I know will put up with an attitude from someone for a short period of time then they will put a stop to it. Imagine that while you are working some of the customers you deal with are treating you poorly simply because you are doing your job. How long would you let that continue?

The police have a demanding job. Remember when dealing with the police that they are normal human beings. My experience tells me that if you treat a cop with respect, they will treat you with equal respect. If you were speeding or ran a red light just pay the ticket and get on with your life. Cops don't pull people over and give them a ticket unless it really happened--they have better things to do!

-Paul