I created and uploaded the below little movie about Saturday’s dancing in the street festival.  It samples about half a dozen of the many acts that we saw there.  The two pictures with this post are of the Continental Building and the Grandel Theater, two landmarks in the Grand theater district.

Sunday was a rest day, or at least it turned out that way.  Anne and I didn’t go for a bike ride, but at least she got out of the house for a walk with Joanie.  I sat at the computer playing Civilization most of the day.  To be fair, I was uploading the movie to YouTube most of the day.  It took six hours.  I think that our DSL has gotten slower with time.  The fact that I get weekly solicitations from AT&T for their new U-verse product only makes me more suspicious.  U-verse in my mind is just the newer faster version of the DSL that I already have.

I’ve toyed with the idea of upgrading to AT&T’s U-verse, but I can’t get away from the feeling that it will cost me more money.  Currently, we use three services from AT&T, the DSL, a mobile phone plan that covers four iPhones ($$$) and a landline.  I only raise this issue because our telecommunications bills unlike the rest of our utility bills are going up through the roof.  Since Dan moved out, our electric bill dropped by a third.  Gas is relatively flat and water and sewer are still the cheapest. 

I can hear what your thinking, “Mark, you just bought four iPhones this year, what did you expect?”  I know, I know, I love my iPhone and the rest of the family loves theirs too.  It is a great little device, at least when the AT&T network does its job, but there are a number of instances where AT&T does not do their job: Yellowstone this summer, hiking past a cell tower, Ashlan has five bars, I have no service; The balloon festival last weekend, with all those people in the Park, I could not get any good service; Finally, there is the service at work, day in, day out, with its always slow 3G network.  Don thinks that it is due to other employee’s illicit activities, I think that it is just AT&T.

So here is the kicker, AT&T is offering a new service to its iPhone clients, it is called FamilyMap.  Basically, for about $10 a month AT&T will allow the service plan owner, that would be me, to track the where about of  other iPhones covered under my plan.  Dan and Dave are you reading this?  First off, I am not in any frame of mind to be wanting to cough-up another $10 per month to Ma Bell.  Second, my sons are adults and have the right to their own privacy.  Third, why should I pay extra for what the government probably gets for free.