Cingular AT&T increase revenue at my expense

I've always been amazed how the cellular phone companies will get you. Last month, we accidentally discovered that we had exceeded our 1250 minutes for the month to the tune of $200. We also found out by accident that the cost for text messaging went up by 50% to $.15 each. "Accidentally" because Carrie had gone to Cingular to inquire about something else.

I know... 15¢ doesn't sound like a lot of money, but considering a text exchange can incur up to 4 charges, it can get expensive.

For example...

If I send Carrie a text message, I get charged 15¢ for sending and 15¢ for her to receive it. If she replies, then it doubles. What this means is for me to write "I love you" to Carrie and then for her to respond, "I love you too." It just cost me 60¢. Since I like to tell her how much I love her a lot; well a second mortgage may be required.

Okay, perhaps I jest just a little about the content of the messages, but my point is without notification, the new Cingular/AT&T bumped up their price from 10¢ to 15¢ and I didn't even know it. Maybe I missed the memo.

In all fairness; we have a new Cingular rep who hooked us up! Since we have four cell phone accounts on the family plan, we were "allowed" to buy a bigger package of shared minutes and not get charged for the overage. At the same time, we purchased the text message packages which offset the new price per message. No harm no foul right?

Wrong!

I'm still mildly torqued about the whole deal and am thinking about paying off my contract going with Bluegrass who has unlimited packages for long distance, local and text messaging. The only reason I left Bluegrass 10 years ago was because of my travels with the Air Force and the national package available through Bellsouth... no no no... Cingular... no no no... AT&T. Oh whatever.

Mid February 2007 a very eventful month so far

I know I should post here more often but with the new Google log on and the new Blogger, I'm not entirely comfortable with it. I've made a number of updates to the www.davidfrancis.org website as well as www.soky.biz. I quit updating Yahoo 360 but have implemented my own "blast" message on DavidFrancis.org for daily status messages as well as a digest for older ones.

February been a very eventful month so far. Some unexpected motivations as well as some disappointments, but it's all good. The following is kind of an brief overview of the status with as much information as I'm comfortable sharing in public.

Bid2Hunt.com: The auction website was presented to the partners this month and they seem to be happy so far. I foresee another week of tweaking and testing and then we can begin inviting beta testers. I'm very excited about this project.
Update: This was a total waste of time! I got stiffed though I have options that I am exploring. Can't write too much but it's not over till it's over. One thing is for certain, I'm out of the auction business.

Soky Solutions: If you read www.Soky.net, you will notice a new "brand" we have introduced called "Soky Solutions." This is an offshoot of Soky.net and though I have not decided if it will be a dba, it's own company or just a division of Soky.net, Llc., Tim and I have had some exceptionally good meetings that would indicate this effort could be very rewarding.
Update: Due to my key person in this effort taking another job and the restructure of Soky.net, this too has been suspended indefinitely.

Manufacturing: I'm hanging onto a hope that the factory deal will come through but recent delays have caused me to start to doubt. It actually involves two distinct companies/products and is not only complicated, but has become somewhat emotional. I'll just have go with the flow on this one because so much is out of my control. It looks very promising if we can get over this little speed bump.
Update: Nope, this one didn't work out either. I did everything I could but the seller backed out without even a phone call. Nothing like trying to help a guy, improve the lives of the employees and working double time to do it right only to have it fall through without even being told by the principal. Coward.

The Carried Away Vacations travel website has been growing a good bit this month. I've added a few new vendors and even a couple of new pages. Because of the continued encouragement by friends and associates to expand this and other recent events/opportunities, this once neglected website received an injection of enthusiasm in February. I intend to add to it at least once a week as time allows. Who knows where it will lead and we've even made some money on the site... so with the flow I will go.
Update: This one is going better than planned. Revenue from the link is unexpectedly high and we have become a full service travel agency. Plans continue to evolve but it looks like a retail office location is back on the table.

Soky.net: I haven't had a chance to work on the site too much this month. I finished testing a weather module for the portal and have confirmed the data for the listings but other than that I've been distracted. The main issue on this effort is the corporate structure of Soky.net. With Soky.biz, Soky.net and now Soky Solutions, I'm going to turn to my (yet to be formed) advisory council for their thoughts and ideas. Fact is, I've invested so much time and effort into the auction and client websites that I have not had time to think about Soky.net much less work on it. Another influence has been the upgrade of the server control software as well as the pending upgrade to ASP.NET for all client websites.
Update: This too has evolved differently than expected. The Soky.net domain will become a community portal and sister site to the new magazine. See more recent posts regarding the new project.

Other events for the month? One of my best friends spent the whole week in the hospital and it bothered me greatly. I was very concerned for him. He's home now but I worry that he will not rest enough to heal properly. I have not "been able" to go to Kung Fu all month nor have I exercised at all. I've lost 10+ pounds but I think it's due to poor nutrition more than anything else. I've been working night and day to get the coding done as well as give the projects listed above the attention they deserve.
Update: My friend is doing fine, but I still have not resumed training.

Which leads to "Dave2.0"... I've posted on Soky.biz about the need to clear the clutter and work on my own organizational skills. I have made great strides in this area in February. With all I have going on these days, even my closest friends have expressed concern that I have over extended myself. While I feel that I can handle it, I must listen to the people who care about me and not discard their advice. As a result, I continued the process of clearing the clutter that distracts me and have started documenting a tangible plan for managing, monitoring and yes, delegating the many responsibilities that are placed upon me. Fact be known, I have already begun working on a short list of possible employees that are potential members of my core team. A few more weeks and I'll have a working budget that will allow me to extend an offer to a few people I think will be able to assist me in my efforts and ensure those who rely on me are not disappointed.
Update: How things change. Dave 2.0 part three has been posted which should shed some light on the changes and why.

A snowy Saturday on top of a nice Friday night with my Baby Doll has me reflecting and willing to share. Wish me luck, keep the good ideas coming and if you have a suggestion, please keep sharing.

Updated on April 27th 2007

Focus and/or Laser Vision

What a day! It's not even noon?

I was looking forward to a white February 1st... darnit! Oh well, slight chance of snow tonight.

First of the month is busy around Sokyville with invoices, stats and website updates, it tends to be a little overwhelming. There is a good chance the internal staff will be growing soon and I'm hoping to be able to find the perfect person to take some of the load.

In preparation for a long party weekend; which starts tomorrow night and a groundhog day celebration and a friends house and ends with Super Bowl Sunday... I've turned off the phones and hung the do not disturb sign on my door. Focus or "Laser Vision" is needed to get'r done.

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I wrote the above on another blog this morning at 8:00; since then I've had more visitors to my office than I have had all week. To top it off, I went over my minutes (to the tune of $200) on my cell phone plan. Boy I must talk a lot. (grin) I guess it does prove how incredibly busy I have been.

Just proves my point that a small business person must be willing to accept the daily challenges of life and learn to adapt and overcome them willingly. No worries, good meetings, good lessons and I'm still in my P.J.'s LOL