Good Golly Gosh (1)

Vodafone have loads of posters up advertising 3G ‘mobile broadband’. This sounds useful, especially since BT have yet to connect a phone line at the new place & it may well mean that we’ll be connected while we’re in the marina & out & about. Google tells me that I can buy a USB modem for between nothing & £79, pay £15 or £25 a month for plans between 12 & 24 months & download limits of 3 or 5GB. Not wishing to commit for too long I opt for a £79 modem & 3GB & £15 a month for 12 months only to be told that 3 have just brought out a 12 month contract for £15 a month, 3GB download limit & a free modem. Sold – all I have to do is plug it in when I get home & it will work. I support computer systems for a living so know how likely that is, but ever the optimist I spend the afternoon touching my shiny new USB stick & thinking how pleased Debs will be when I present her with a Google-enabled laptop. No surprises, it didn’t work. The helpline breaks the good news that the account takes 24 hours to become activated, which immediately eats a third of my 72 hour ‘take it back if you’ve got no coverage’ promise.