Smart Bro Unlimited and the cost of productivity

Wow, this will be the very first time that my PC, a 2 year-old Pentium 4 gaming rig, would ever be connectecd to the Internet, thanks to no less than Smart Bro. Not that I’m praising them for getting my connected but the apartment my brother and I are renting could not be reached by any landline. I’ve tried getting an account from both PLDT, Globe, Digitel and even the dreaded Bayantel but they all turned me down. Apparently, they all ran out of free lines within my area here in Rosario, Pasig. Funny they would say that because the neighboring apartments all have telephone lines. Oh well, that’s what we get for being the last unit in a housing compound. But then again, at least we have a nice firewall (the real one, stupid) and no one passes in front of our unit. That said, I could practically walk naked in our living room with the windows wide open. Besides, I like my balcony and my little garden.

 I’m digressing. Ok so I finally have Internet. What’s the benefit? I don’t have to get out of my house, walk to the nearest Internet cafe, which happens to be a smelly and noisy gaming center half a kilometer away, and do my online stuff. Can you just imagine the need to do so many rituals like taking a bath and choosing apparel just to check on my email? I’d rather stay at home and remain naked, thank you.

So what to do with Internet at home? Finally I can install and play the latest online games! Hah! what’s a game reviewer without an Internet connection? That’s one of the main reasons why I wanted to have Internet at home in the first place, to play games, apart from checking my email, browsing the Net for the latest news, downloading music and that kind of stuff. Having Internet at home means not having to wake up so early in the morning, do my morning rituals, take an early ride to Makati and connect to the Internet. I can do everything at the comfort of my home, finally! 

But I suddenly realized that having Internet at home means having to use another appliance, which translates to additional electricity. So if I spend an average of 4 hours a day x 7 days a week, that’s 28 hours of electricity. Based on my own calculations, my average electricity usage just for this PC is about 225 watts per hour x 28 = Php 217 per month. I already consume Php 1300 per month and so that means I’ll be spending Php 1,500 a month. Sheesh….

So there would be some sacrifices to be made now that I have Internet at home. But does it mean I’ll be a more productive person now? I spend an average of PhP 200 per day, which includes transportation and food. Hmmn… let’s see what’s going to happen this month. If I do better than what I used to do, then that’s a good sign. If there’s no increase… well, we have to do something about that, don’t we?

~ by lordalessi on May 20, 2006.