I'm back!!

Since we moved, I've been out of the loop. We had to figure out what we wanted to do for phone and Internet since Qwest wasn't available in Pilot Rock. I talked to people around town and they were all spending $60-$80 a month, which sounded expensive to me. I went to the phone company in town and they said that to have local and unlimited long distance, it would cost me $61 a month plus taxes. That sounded a little high so I looked at High Speed Internet. They had broadband Internet which would be $53 a month but didn't include a phone. I remembered a friend of mine from Ontario who does her phone over the Internet using Magic Jack (it looks like a big thumb drive), which you only have to pay a one time fee of $40, and you get unlimited local and long distance calls. She's had it for a year and really likes it. Reviews of the Magic Jack were all positive, so I decided to try it. I mean if you divide $40 by 12 months, that's less than $4 a month, which beats all those other deals. I called the phone company, signed up for a month of broadband, to test things out and make sure it works well, and they told me that at any time I can sign a year contract and then instead of $53 a month, it will be $29! I got my modem today and everything works great, so I'm going to call them and sign up for a year and then my monthly phone/Internet bill will be just over $30 with taxes which beats the $70 + of all the other options. For any of you who have the option, I think this is the way to go. Other pluses of the Magic Jack is that next year, I can renew the membership for only $20, and you can take it with you anywhere. For example, if you go to a hotel that has free high-speed or wireless internet, you can bring the Magic Jack and your laptop, and make any calls you want without paying the hotel charges. Many people in the military use it because they can have a continental phone number on it and then the calls are free. I guess the only downside of the Magic Jack was that I couldn't get a local number. It is actually a Bend, Oregon phone number. But I figure if I'm going to be saving $30, I don't care so much. If you have questions, feel free to email or call me about it 541-508-3595.