off to the South-Wet

[julesjones]

Sending a wet Bank Holiday weekend in the South Wet. I think if any writing gets done it'll have to be whatever I can manage with fountain pen and dead tree, because I can tell there will be protests from my tendons if I use a flat keyboard for more than looking at my email.

It occurs to me as I type this that it might actually be worth my while buying a duplicate keyboard to stick in my travel kit. Of course, it would be useful to actually finish and sell something this year so that I have writing income from which to deduct business expenses... In fact, it might make sense to do that anyway, and use the new one as the primary, so that I have a UK keyboard at home as well as at the day job. It gets annoying on occasion to not have the pound sterling sign on this one. Then I can put the old US keyboard in the travel kit.

I'd spend some of the free time this weekend looking at the short story markets to see if there's a likely home for a couple of things already on the hard drive, but I will be bandwidth-challenged. I should probably add a PAYG broadband dongle to that list of things I can and should buy as a business expenditure item. Must ask heleninwales for details of hers, because my usage pattern is that it would get used quite intensely for a few days every 2 or 3 months, and no use in between, so I need a tariff geared to that.

Comments

[llygoden]

My usage pattern is exactly what you describe: I can go for months without needing the dongle and then I'll have a couple of days out or a weekend somewhere and want to be able to access the net while away from home.

After researching the different options, the only one I found that would preserve your credit and not wipe out unused credit at the end of each month was Vodafone. I was a little worried about it working with the Eee because Linux wasn't one of the supported operating systems, but it was fine. Coverage seems reasonable too. It's not actually very good at home, but of course when I'm at home, I don't need it!

(PS This is me, heleninwales, but I have a different username over on Dreamwidth.)

[julesjones]

Thanks for that. I thought from what you'd mentioned that you had the same sort of usage pattern I envisage needing it for, and it saves me poring through the fine print for them all. :-)

[kalypso]

Oh good. Then you can tell me what to get!

[julesjones]

If and when I actually get one, I shall haul it round to your place to see if it works in your kitchen.

[jhall1]

Enjoy your break! The weather is supposed to improve, and from Saturday onwards could be quite good.

[julesjones]

It was foggy and wet last year, but I enjoyed the steam trains anyway.

[threeoutside.livejournal.com]

This isn't as handy as an English keyboard with the pound sign right there, but I stumbled across this site a few weeks ago:

http://symbols.typeit.org/

Note it's got keyboards for a lot of difference languages, too...

[julesjones]

I tend to pull up the character map and check the alt code, but I'm getting sufficiently middle-aged that I'm having trouble *seeing* that when I'm tired. That website looks as if it could useful.

[waveney.livejournal.com]

I have an O2 PAYGO dongle - there was a fixed charge up front for the dongle (~ £20) then its either £2 a day, £5 a week or £10 a month (up to limits I have never exceeded). It is unused for months then gets 1 or 2 days use.

[julesjones]

Ta for that -- does the credit expire at the end of the period, or roll over? Helen uses Vodaphone, where the credit doesn't expire, which may suit me better most of the time, but the O2 one might be better if I have any more outbreaks of 3 weeks away with work.

[waveney.livejournal.com]

It does not roll over - since I have had it I have paid for 2 or 3 single days and 1 week so far

[vaughan-steph.livejournal.com]

"Of course, it would be useful to actually finish and sell something this year..." In case you need reminding that others are hoping for the same thing for you, albeit for different reasons. "Ooh!" she cries.