Your suggestion of buying a prepaid T mobil cell for my upcoming road trip worked well.
Of course, I had to enlist the aid of a tech junkie neighbor to use the thing. I can now place calls and receive voice mail. All I wanted to do.
The instruction manual assumes prior cell phone ownership. Not good.
Imagine a time travel thing...some guy pulls up next to an 1840's cowboy, tosses him the keys to a car, and says: "Here...take it for a spin".
That is how I was, initially. Thanks to neighbor David who told me which keys to push and in what order.
The party on this board can begin soon. Beginning sometime early next month (no real start date from the contractor) I'll be offline for 2 weeks to a month...maybe 6 weeks.
I'll miss you guys (and girls) while the chaos of a kitchen remodel goes on. But don't feel sorry for me....I'll be on a search for the perfect pool table at various locations throughout the Northwest...
First stop probably here. Rumor has it that there are a couple of antique Brunswicks in one of their bars:
http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=98