Another Revolting Development

The world of computers can be SO complicated and confusing sometimes.  Why is it that some people just go thru their life never having to give their computer, or what they do on it, a second thought and yet it seems that I am always in a jam, of sorts?

A month ago, I was delighted to be changing over from DSL with my phone company to WildBlue Satellite Internet service.  It was a package deal with DirectTV and the end result is that we are saving $50 a month.  The part about replacing Dish Network with Direct has been awesome.  The thing with WildBlue??  Not so much. 

Now, trust me when I say, I research the living crap out of things before I make any changes or decisions or buy much of ANYthing.  So......yes, I read that WildBlue has limited bandwidth usage {due to fed regs regarding satellite usage..blah, blah} but I was getting the Pro Plan, which has the highest speeds and usage, so surely little ol me wasn't gonna come close to the limits and certainly not exceed them,  right??  Wrong!  Oh, I was so very wrong.  I hit my download limit in a week!  They gave me a one time courtesy reset back to 40%.  I watched my usage like a hawk and it mysteriously creeps back up daily.  As we speak, I am at 99% which means that before the day is over, I will be on "dial-up speed" until my usage drops. *Sigh*  A lot "should" drop off today, or tonight, or whenever.  It's on a 30 day roll over thingy.  At the end of your 1st 30 days, they take an average of your usage for the last 30 days and adjust your totals accordingly....every day.  So, 30 days ago today I downloaded {in my ignorant wisdom} 2,997,738 KB which is 2,927.47 MBs.  My limit for MB downloading is 17,000 MB {which I NOW know is freaking unbelievable!}so at some point, in the next 24 hours, my level will drop and free up some space. 

Most of that 3 GBs was from downloading a trial of PhotoShop Elements 9.  I was, at that time, totally ignorant of the 'rules'.  I download programs all the time.  No big deal, right?  Order a disc for 'just in case' and go on about my business.  Won't be doing that much anymore!  I love the new version of PS 9, tho' and can't wait until I have enough bandwidth so I can watch the tutorial videos....ahem.

The 1st thing I found that I can no longer use, is my beloved Carbonite for online backup.  I love Carbonite and it has been a God send on 3 or 4 occasions!  But, my last back up was 41 GBs.  SO....even tho my daily backups of whatever pictures and documents I might have would still be doable, there's no way I would ever be able to restore my backup!  Had to go buy an external hard drive for backing up everything and I don't trust those.  I had a defective one once and lost everything, which is when I switched to Carbonite.  And of course, I just paid my annual membership a couple months ago :(.

So I am now suffering from BSD {Bandwidth Stress Disorder}.  Not reading emails, not reading blogs (there are 233 unread blogs in my Google Reader....eeeep), not looking things up at random, not doing much of ANY thing!  I'm afraid that every little thing is going to put me over the edge! 

I guess I can't even watch the TV shows on my computer that I have recorded on our new DVR from Direct!  But I'm not SURE because I don't wanna waste the usage to research it!!  I know I could call, but I feel really stupid asking.  Not sure why.  I am thinking that since it is all tied together via my router, that it wouldn't actually be 'downloading'  and therefore not using any bandwidth, but if it counts as 'file sharing', then it will.  AGHHHHHHHHH. 

So, Chuck saves $50 a month and is pleased as hell with his TV and I am totally screwed with my computer!  And, no, I haven't told him about all this yet.  I'm pretty sure his head would explode if I tried to explain it and the explosion would be followed by a reprimand for not checking it out more carefully.  {Like I haven't beat myself up enough over it!}

Oh, yes.....one more thing.  Please DO beware of contracting BSD {Bandwidth Stress Disorder}.  It seems that it causes an unnatural craving for Skittles, which leads to a serious addiction.  It's BAD, people.  Very, very bad!!