I support Republic with the “eyebrow” on the back of my bike. Shout-out to the Bike Commuters!I switched to Republic Wireless from AT&T back in January, and laid out a hefty sum to do so ($300 each for two no-contract Moto X phones) but now, in late July, I’ve already broken even.
I was spending $140 per month on two phones with AT&T. One of those was not even a smart phone.
I am currently spending on average $40 per month on Republic wireless: I’m on the $25 plan for two phones, and people keep using my referral link that gets them (and me) $20 off of service. (Interested? it’s http://benlikes.us/republic )
So, even with dropping $600 on the top-end phones, I’m already making money from switching to Republic.
When I initially switched I was having some mild annoyances and dropped calls. That hasn’t happened in the last few months (I suspect the Android Kit Kat firmware update fixed most of the issues.)
If you are interested in joining the party, I’d appreciate you using my referral link, and saving us both some coin! Also, you no longer have to drop $300 on your phone to switch, because they released the capable Moto G as a $150 alternative.
To be clear, I’d still go with the Moto X if I were switching today: it’s worth an extra one-time fee for a better phone for me. But as a bargain-basement smartphone, the Moto G is nothing to slouch about.
When it comes to flexible work, allow me to recommend a career path: you should aim to be an elementary school gym teacher.
“But wait,” you might say: “Don’t you have to go to the school every day if you are a gym teacher? Doesn’t that make it not flexible? Flexible jobs have drinks with umbrellas on a tropical beach, always with an Apple laptop somehow featured in the selfie. I’ve seen the blog posts!”
And you’d be correct. I’m not describing the job, though—I’m describing the new selfie.
I have a very small class some days.
The introduction “I’m a homeschool dad” makes some folks turn their head like a labrador in a whistle factory, but it’s OK.
With the removal of Theodore’s training wheels two weeks behind us, it was time to step it up a notch. We packed the bikes into the back of the van and headed northwest to the new American Tobacco Trail bridge over I-40.
As they rolled over the bridge the first time, we officially tallied our 70th mile since the journey began at the end of July.
You’ll note Benjamin’s flawless use of the Lightning McQueen-esque “Ka-chow!”
Jumping off the corporate ladder (from the bottom rung!) has meant some relatively major sacrifices in the short term, as we’ve fought to make the ends meet. It’s a fight that’s not even over, if I’m honest.
If you’d like to help us in this flexible work venture, there are 3 things you can do:
Hire us or refer us to your friends for web development, plugin design, WordPress optimization, or digital strategy.
Sign up for web hosting through Blue Host (for smaller sites) or Media Temple (for higher traffic needs). (If you use those links, we get paid a small commission for referring you, but it doesn’t cost you any more than it normally would.)
Tell all of your church leader friends about our site Church Web Help, and challenge them to join.
Here’s the bottom line when it comes to work: who do you do it for? For me, I do it for my wife, my kids, and ultimately my God.
And at least for this season of life, I’m pretty sure God’s calling me to be an elementary school gym teacher.
I love Republic Wireless. Give me 10 minutes of your time to convince you why you should switch from one of the “big name” wireless companies, and I will work hard to do just that. I’ll take 30 minutes if that’s what it requires.
The only frustration as a participant (active!) in the refer-a-friend program is that every few months it feels like they shut down the program and overhaul it. I’ve missed at least two referral bonuses because they recently (as of October 31st most recently) shuttered the program.
So in light of the program being shut down, and me missing some referrals, I have now transferred my link (http://benlikes.us/republic for those keeping score at home) to a simple affiliate link. This means, dear reader, you no longer get $20 off for using my link. But you’ll still get $1000 off per year, so that’s something.
I get paid a small commission for every person who uses my link and signs up for service, but it doesn’t increase the cost to you at all.
They’ve recently announced that they’ll be releasing the new Moto X (2014 edition) as an option, which is phenomenal. Reading the reviews around the web, you’ll soon see that the new Moto X is an upgrade in every way from the already-good first generation X.
It’ll be available for order on December 10th. Why not use my link to start saving $1,000?
When I place my phone on the little sticker on the top of my bicycle saddle, I hear a pleasant little “blu-doomp!” that tells me the following sequence has been triggered:
Send my wife a text that says “Just got on my bike”
Open the Map My Ride application.
Tap the “start workout” button.
Once I hear the “blu-doomp!” indicator, I watch my phone for 1.5 seconds until the workout starts, then put the phone back in my pocket (or my amazing Novara Gotham Rack Trunk from REI) and take off.
That little beauty there on the seat works all the magic.
The smartphone in my pocket (a Republic Wireless 1st generation Moto X) has an astounding amount of computing power. The one in your pocket does, too.
The one thing that computers do better than anything else is speed up repetitive tasks. You can tell a computer using one line of code to copy the paragraph you are currently reading 1,000 times, outlining each paragraph with a different-colored box, and it’ll be finished before you get done reading the paragraph the first time.
Computers are good at repetition.
App developers seem allergic to harnessing that power as it relates to end user experience and NFC, most likely because geeks like me are the only ones who put in the time to get it set up.
(As an aside, the market is ripe with need of an open-source standard uniting the internet of things with the internet in our pocket. I doubt any of the Googles or Apples or Microsofts in today’s world could pull it off. It’ll have to be a newcomer. But that’s another post entirely.)
The magic of NFC (Near Field Communication, or the technology powering the little sticker on my bike) has not taken mass-market hold as I’d imagined it would by now, apart from Apple Pay and Google Wallet with their 45 minutes of fame earlier this year.
You can do a nearly infinite number of things with NFC stickers. Here’s my top-of-the-head starter list:
A sticker in your car that sends a text to your spouse that says “just got in the car” (I use that one), while opening the navigation app and beginning to play music from your most recent playlist.
A sticker on your nightstand that puts your phone on vibrate, turns off cellular data, and opens the alarm clock app for you to confirm wake-up time.
A corresponding sticker placed on the way out the door to turn on cellular data, launch your podcast app, or load up a live traffic app.
A sticker on your desk at work that toggles between “Home” and “Work” profiles.
A sticker on a keychain that automatically toggles you between “on the clock” and “off the clock” for an app like Freshbooks for freelancers.
A sticker that places a call to your mom in a spot you see about every other day, to remind you you haven’t talked to her in a while.
I recommend the Trigger app, to make even a newbie Android user into an automation guru, if you’re willing to put in the minimal time.
Or, if you’re local, I’m more than happy to get your automation set up. Contact me for an estimate on what you want automated.
You should start using that super-computer in your pocket like it was designed to be.
Screams “I like to save money, but I still like nice things,” dontchathink?
I just got a new Retina MacBook Pro last month. The only sticker I put on it (so far) is the Republic Arc due to my love affair with Republic Wireless.
It’s a pretty simple decision, given that they’re the ones who paid for it.
Didn’t think so. ‘Bout time you switched to Republic, banked the difference, and bought yourself a MacBook Pro about 18 months from now, to say thank you for being so thrifty.
PS. You’re darn right those are affiliate links in this post. If you sign up, I get even more money. I’ll use it to put Republic Wireless stickers all over my yacht.
