Anyway, I found exactly what I wanted and on sale. $50 and no contract because it was with Koodo, I was all set. Or so I thought. The options I chose were available for $35 a month, no contract. So far, so good. Then the salesgirl asked me if I wanted the store’s warranty plan. At any time for the next three years, I could bring the phone in and exchange it for another one without the hassle of sending it to the manufacturer. And it was only $6.77 for the warranty. Of course, I said yes, and that’s where the story starts to go sour.

This wasn’t my first time getting a warranty. I got one at Staples for my ebook reader – no problem. Got one at the Source for my headphones and printer – no problem. But with this Best Buy warranty, there was a definite problem. You see, every other warranty I ever got was a one time fee for the length of the warranty. Not so with the one for this cell phone. That was a monthly charge, for three years!

I know, I should have looked carefully at the invoice, but I didn’t. I took it for granted it was a one-time fee like all the others. In fact, I called the other stores to make sure I wasn’t mistaken and they had never heard of a monthly charge.

So now I have a three year warranty for a phone with no contract because I didn’t want to be locked in to a monthly fee of any kind. Since I didn’t realize I was paying monthly, by the time I noticed, the 30 days to change my mind had already passed. I called customer support and was told that the warranty was transferable, so if I didn’t want a cell phone anymore, I could get someone else to take it over and pay the warranty. Or I could stop using the phone altogether and simply pay the remainder of the warranty period upfront.

Now I don’t know about you, but having to pay over $200 to get out of a warranty for a $50 phone does not appeal to me. And I doubt anyone else would be dumb enough to take it over, nor would I want to try to get them too. So I’m stuck. But I have learned my lesson and will not be getting another warranty anytime soon.

I hope my experience has helped you too. Don’t take anything for granted and read before you sign.

Technorati Tags: warranty, Best Buy

The image on the left shows some of the options available on your right Google+ sidebar.  You can send invitations to others, start a hangout, or create a Google+ page. I didn’t even notice the create a page option until today, so haven’t tried it yet. I imagine it’s Google’s version of a Fanpage, but can’t say for sure.

What I can say is how much I’ve been enjoying using the hangout feature. You can invite up to ten people for an impromptu video chat. The quality of video and audio are both clear and if you don’t have a webcam, or are in a don’t look at me mood, you can still participate and your photo will show instead. There is also a text chat feature.

Here’s a look at the first screen you’ll see once you start a hangout:

Underneath the green ‘Hang out’ button, there is an option to use ‘Hangouts With Extras’. If you do, you’ll have the ability to share your screen – great if you are trying to explain a concept to someone.

The only problems we’ve had so far are that the share screen can be a bit finicky and doesn’t always work, and once in a while one of the five people in our hangout gets booted off the call and has to re-join. For a free service, I can live with those things.

Have you tried Google+ yet? And the hangouts option in particular? Would you like me to do a video tutorial for it? Let me know by commenting below.

Technorati Tags: Google+ hangouts, Google+ features, using Google+

Besides all that, I’ve been taking a great course about creating professional looking CD’s and DVD’s and although some parts are a little too techie for me, I’ve really been enjoying it. One of the highlights for me was learning about a program called AutoRun Max that makes your disk look terrific. The instructor, Cindi Dawson, created a video to explain some of the benefits of the program, and I wanted to share it with you.

I’m planning to get the program and start my little media empire. I’ll keep you posted how difficult I find the process. And if I can do it, you should be able to as well. Does it look like something you might find useful?

Technorati Tags: AutoRun Max, Cindi Dawson, creating discs

I suppose if I had never used any other version of Word, I’d appreciate the program more. And maybe there are a lot of useful features that I haven’t discovered yet. But for now, I’m glad I can at least use the Help files. Although a little question mark icon in the corner isn’t nearly as noticeable either.

I did learn one thing though. I can go to each of the tabs, find the features that I miss, right click and add them to the short-cut bar on the Word home page. Then at least I can find some of my old helper tools.

Maybe the best thing is for me to find a book to help me wade through the changes. Any suggestions?

Technorati Tags: using Word 2007, Word problems

No, I think I’ll keep you guessing for a day first. I like gadgets, non-techie ones, that is. So this is a non-techie gadget I can take anywhere, use anytime, looks great, it’s easy, and it wasn’t very expensive – well, more than a dinner at a restaurant, but comparatively speaking – I was a good shopper indeed.

It’s not too big and not too small,
Just the perfect size is all.
I’ve looked for months to find a deal,
With the perfect look and feel.

There was just one left at my local store,
I checked around, there were no more.
So I made a decision on the spot,
Would I risk not buying? I sure would not!

I’m no Doctor Suess as you can see
But I enjoy being geeky old me.
Now if you can guess what I just bought
I might get you one – but probably not!

See if you can guess and I’ll tell you tomorrow!