I received a text message from an unknown UK mobile the other day, with the number +44 7797 806021. This person knew who I was, because it just so happened to be a response to a text message I’d sent to a friend in the USA. I thought it strange that a reply would be coming from a UK number I’d never seen before, so I did a little investigating.
It turns out to be the result of issues with US carriers having to redirect through a European server due to technical issues at their end. Which is quite a poor set-up in this day and age if you ask me, but it does go to show how bad the US mobile user has it. In the UK we take for granted unlimited this and free access to that. But for once it seems the US are well behind the times when it comes to their cellular network.
My recently emigrated friend has to pay to receive calls as well as make them. She also has to pay to collect her voicemail and had to wait before she could use her pay-as-you-go phone so that it could be activated. In such a vast country it is perhaps seen as necessary to pay for the huge network’s upkeep. But surely in such a vast country, it’s also important that those out in the sticks are able to maintain their connection with the outside world? Maybe I’m looking at this too simplistically, but it does seem our American cousins are being ripped off; that certainly makes a change!
There was an extra bonus to me from the error which led to this UK number being used, however. Although it’s a generic number used by the UK server, the system was smart enough to direct my reply to the correct person. Which meant that as I was replying to a UK number, the message came out of my standard allowance and I wasn’t charged an international rate. Woooo!
This post is syndicated from the Driving Across The States blog
Today I’ve added a map page to the site to show the general route we’ll be taking and some of the sights we hope to see along the way. This is dynamic and will change whenever one of our group makes alterations to the map on Google.
Once we’re on our way I hope that I’ll find the time to make regular updates of our location, which will hopefully match up to the posts we make.
You’ll find a link to the map at the top of the screen, or you can get there by clicking here.
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To comment on this post, please visit the Driving Across The States blog
This post is syndicated from the Driving Across The States blog
Hello. Welcome to the blog for our little trip across the USA. Given that this is a brand new site, I’m guessing there won’t be a great many people reading this first post. But that’s OK; we have to start somewhere. If you have managed to stumble your way across this blog though, I do hope you’re well.
I imagine much of what I’m writing here will at some point be repeated in the About section of the site so that future visitors will know what’s going on. But this is the plan so far.
There are currently five of us from various parts of England and Europe planning on taking a road trip across the mainland United States. We have nothing set in stone, but hope to go at some point during 2010. This blog will be used to chart our progress through the planning stages and then the journey itself, hopefully updated by as many of us who wish to. There will hopefully be photographs and videos of what we’re up to as well.
So although there’s not much on here as yet, subscribe to the RSS feed to keep up with what’s going on. You may also like to follow the blog on Twitter to be kept informed when we have new posts.
To comment on this post, please visit the Driving Across The States blog
I’ve been trying to think about where I would like to go on holiday for quite some time, but nothing ever really stood out for me. I’ve got my days away and the potential for the odd long-weekend in Europe somewhere. But I’ve wanted to think of doing something further afield, though nothing that entered my head really stuck there. Until last night.
I decided what I wanted to do – I want to drive across the States. No details as yet, but I’ve got a couple of people who’d like to come too, though I’d still go alone if they each decided it wasn’t for them. Now it’s a combination of planning and a huge amount of saving to get done. I’m hoping it’ll take place at some point during 2010. I’ll keep you all posted. 
