Keyboard Test

Hell...yeah... I just bought a $10 keyboard at K-Mart. And by golly it works like a charm on my Thrive tablet.

Yes, I'm excited.... can you tell?

.....so I just started hitting random keys and found that none of the F-Keys are functional. But the Delete, Home, End, Insert, Page up and Down, Tab, and such all work. I can use the ten key pad as well. Plus this cheapo keyboard has a sleep, wake, and power button, but only the power button does anything. It puts the tablet into sleep mode and wakes it back up again. Although I have to actually touch the screen still to unlock it.

I am thrilled that this keyboard works. Now I have no doubt that life will be much simpler on the road. I can use my fingers either on-screen or with the keyboard for getting things accomplished. I don't have to lug around that 10 lb. laptop and bag anymore. I can tuck this little bugger in my purse or backpack, but keyboard will only stow easily in the backpack. But that's no big deal.

Right now I'm still considering changing my cell phone plan to allow myself the ability to turn my iPhone into a wifi hotspot. Doing this, however, would forever remove me from the unlimited data plan I have been grandfathered in on. The plan to add the tethering would limit me to 5GB a month for a small increased data fee.

Now people have said, "you're nuts if you do that". But you have to see it from my perspective. Before, when I was on-the-road I had one of those subscription service cellular USB thingies that I just plugged into my laptop to use the cellular network for internet service. Which was simply awesome when I was in a strong service area. But stick me in the boonies and I couldn't get a signal strong enough to do more than the bare basic internet surfing. No videos, no streaming, and SLOW load times. And don't forget that there are a LOT of places where there is NO cell signal at all... so that means no service at all.

When I did have that little device I kept track of my usages pretty regularly and I never EVER went over 2GB in a single month and those few months that I came close to that 2GB was when I was streaming XMRadio while sitting inside truckstops and company terminals. So really, I can't imagine that I would use anywhere near 5GB, even given the amount of data I use with my iPhone (which is usually around the 1.25GB range).

So I'm seriously considering forfeiting my unlimited data plan for the tethering option. I am gonna wait, though. Give myself a month or so to see how I do with catching wifi hotspots and such. If it's not a big issue then I won't bother. But if I find myself in search of internet service on a regular basis then I'll be making the change as soon as I can.

So anyway.

I made some headway on my trucking preparations today. I went to Pilot and bought a spanky new 2012 Motor Carriers Atlas. I went to K-Mart, as I mentioned before, and got this keyboard and a couple of pillows, including the body pillow I'd been debating earlier. I also went to HoBo Freight and got a safety vest, some zip ties, and some gloves for fueling and such. I needed to get a hard hat as well but apparently they stopped selling those. So I'll have to find one somewhere else.

Right now I'm putting off laundry and dishes by playing with my new toy and watching some X-Files. And since I'm getting distracted, I'll end this post with a friendly farewell.