I have always been someone who goes out of my way to save money. I can stretch a dime into a dollar easily. My mother was a child of the Depression, and she taught her children how to make do. Which is why, when I went through financial difficulties many years back and had to give up my internet connection, I learned to live without it.
I remember my laptop went kaput, and I ran out and bought a new one. There were even a couple of times when I had to drive to McDonald’s and utilize their Wi-Fi because I needed to send an email. Later I got a smartphone, and it pretty much satisfied all my online internet needs.
There were times that I wanted to again have an internet connection within the house. My printer is Wi-Fi enabled, and it pretty much has gone unused because there was no internet. I was debating which internet provider to go with when I saw an ad for T-Mobile’s gateway service. I remember a couple of years back, T-Mobile told me about it, but it wasn’t available in my area. So they put me on a waiting list to be notified. Responding to the ad, I was surprised when I put in my address that service was finally available. It literally took less than five minutes to install.
Unlike the internet that came in through the phone line, the small gateway box has to sit by a window. That’s perfect because I have it in my bedroom and it’s near the patio door.
The problem now was my printer could not pick up the signal. What is a senior to do? I ordered a router extender. The instruction sheet was a little difficult to understand, but I did manage to figure out what to do. And when I plugged the extender into the outlet near my printer, I was able to connect the printer to my internet. I was so proud of myself.
I’m not a big TV watcher, but I did manage to get a huge flat screen TV for 50 bucks from a man who had it in his work office and was now going out of business and selling everything. I was amazed that nobody wanted to buy the TV, but I later learned why. It’s a flat screen, but it’s not a smart TV.
I spent an additional 50 bucks and had a guy come out and mount the television on my basement wall. It is only when I’m in the basement that I turn on the television as background noise. I had heard about a fire stick, but was not familiar with it. In doing some investigation, I learned that was the only way to bring the internet to the television. Once the fire stick arrived, I managed to install it and added all my online streaming service accounts, and have been enjoying my movies on a big screen as opposed to my phone screen.
I love technology!
