We’re ditherers here in the Musings from Me household. Well, I should clarify by saying that depending on the issue one or both or all us will dither and cogitate and mull over an issue. If it is kid-related, I am the one who will tie my stomach in knots thinking of all the permutations of a decision. If it tech, my husband will do the same. My husband is a man on a mission when it comes to gadgets and gizmos and anything internet-y for our home. He devours Consumer Reports for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He researches, researches his research, and finally researches his research of his research. Once a decision is made…that’s it for him. No more questioning. And, if he reads this post…which he has been known to do…he will object strongly to the use of the word “dither.” But on with the techie issue he researched so thoroughly…
FIOS. Yes, after much research he made the decision to switch us from DirecTV to FIOS. I followed along as I am “notatechie and tend to botch up or leave a pile of broken techie stuff in my wake. I use a computer, but don’t have the foggiest notion about what goes on inside said computer. Ditto with FIOS. I can see the TV, answer the phone, and log on to the computer…therefore I am a true believer in the power of FIOS, but I haven’t a clue about how FIOS works. I’ll be honest when I say that my brain is so full of deadlines, kid issues, family issues, household tasks, and other stuff that I don’t have the memory space for a “how FIOS works” section.
FIOS works for our family, my Kid, my Tween, my Teen, my husband, and even for little ole me. That’s right, this #notatechie mom could not live without FIOS. Why?
Well, I wouldn’t be writing this post right now without FIOS. I’m down in my dungeon-like basement office freezing to death typing away on my laptop. Back in 2001 when my husband and his dad finished the playroom, office, and laundry room in the basement, the terms “wifi,” “wireless internet,” and “fiber optic network” were unknown to me. Accessing the internet required drilling a hole in the wall, fishing out a wire, and screwing in a jack of some sort. With FIOS, I can access the internet from my pre-wifi office. No cables, jacks, or drilling required.
With a Kid, a Preteen, and a Teen in the house, computer access is a constant conversation topic. 7 years ago none of my kids were online. In 2004 or 5, my oldest was the first to try out online games on our desktop computer. She would boot up the computer, log in to the internet, wait, wait, and wait, before finally logging in to the game. Sometimes our internet back then was so spotty that she would give up. FIOS lets all three kids play a different game on any of the computers in our home.
We’re not computer device poor these days. Back in 1991, my husband and I splurged on a custom-built desktop computer. It was way before Best Buy opened. There was no Dell back then. Or the computer company with the cow on the box…you know the one I mean. The only way you could buy a computer was by having someone make it with memory cards, disk drives, and all. Our computer was a monstrous behemoth with an 80 meg hard drive!! Can you imagine anything so small? Now we have another more recent, but still ancient, desktop as the main FIOS connection point. All other computers access the FIOS wirelessly. Laptops, netbooks, itouches all work on our FIOS system.
The Tween, the Teen, and I use laptops to go online while upstairs in bedrooms, downstairs in office the dungeon, or even sitting at the kitchen table. No matter where we are…FIOS is there. FIOS lets all of us access the internet from anywhere in the house. My son can even access the internet from the Litl computer — it’s a netbook that relies on cloud computing — no hard drive. He likes to lie on the couch playing a game online, Webkinz, Yoursphere, or another kid-safe gaming site while watching a show on the TV…he’s double dipping in to the FIOS pool!
As a mom, I rely on my calendar. Without my online calendars, I would most assuredly drown in a vat of missed appointments and late arrivals. My “Mom wall calendar with columns for all five members of our family” is the central hub of family goings on. On the wall calendar mounted on the kitchen wall, we post volleyball tournaments, birthday parties, lax games, and school festivals. I use the wall calendar as a central place to post all events, but in addition I use my online calendar for family events, while my husband uses an Outlook calendar for his work events and I use a Google calendar for my deadlines and blogging conference dates. While sitting at the kitchen table, I can log in to one of my calendars via FIOS and handwrite all of the dates on to the wall calendar. It’s cumbersome, but it works. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone invented a wall-mounted-calendar-that-is-a-computer-that-you-could-hang-on-the-kitchen-wall? A cheaper version of a tablet?
Being a mom is not easy. Fun? Most definitely I enjoy being a mom. Easy? Absolutely not. In fact, as my kids get older, my life becomes exponentially more complicated. Computers. Laptops. Social media. Netbooks. itouches and smartphones. wifi. FIOS. All of these make my life as a mom a little easier.
The 411 on FIOS
FIOS gives customers the ultimate digital lifestyle at work, home, and play through Verizon FiOS advanced and integrated TV and broadband services. Through the nation’s largest all-fiber-optic network, FiOS customers create personalized, integrated entertainment, and information experiences that connect them to everything they care about — anytime, anywhere, on a multitude of devices. FiOS helps make life easier, more productive and more fun. For more information on FIOS, go here.
Connect with Verizon FiOS on Facebook.
I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Verizon FiOS blogging program for a gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.
