Sachin Agarwal: June 2007

I tried to switch to AT&T a few days ago, ahead of the iphone release, but I was unable to port my phone number. That's because my phone number (and Tmobile account) first originated in California, but my new ATT account are in New York. I ended up not activating that AT&T account.

Yesterday when I activated my iPhone, I created my new AT&T account using my mom's California address. I was able to port my number over fine. So turns out you can't port a number into a different area. Here's a workaround for iPhone activations from AppleInsider:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/06/30/how_to_port_ineligible_mobile_numbers_to_att_and_iphone.html


Also confirmed a few other things about AT&T (the last time I was an AT&T customer was about 5 years ago):

• If you change your rate plan you don't renew your contract (good so I can adjust my rate plan until I figure out how many minutes and SMS messages I need). My minutes usage will change based on different mobile to mobile calls now. And my SMS message usage may go down since I have real internet.

• If you change your plan mid month, it takes effect the next billing cycle. BUT if you are mid month and you're like "shit I don't have enough minutes" ATT will switch you immediately and pro-rate the service fees. This is in the beginning so you can figure out the best plan for you.

• ATT costs a lot more for voice plans than T-Mobile. I was paying $50 for 1500 minutes. Now 1350 minutes cost $80. I'm hoping I only need 900 given mobile to mobile and rollover are included

• iPhone data is really only $15 for unlimited use. It shows as $20 online but that also includes 200 SMS messages which are worth $5. So it's actually less than half the cost it would be for a Blackberry or Treo on AT&T

• So far AT&T customer service has been incredible. I've made a few calls to Tmobile, AT&T and amazon in the past week, and I can tell TMobile and Amazon have routed me to India every time, but AT&T has always been local. They are knowledgeable and friendly. Not sure if this is going to be the norm or if I was lucky, because people usually complain a lot about AT&T

Earlier this month I was test driving cars with my mom since her Mini's warranty is about to expire. The Mini has been reliable, but since my mom wants to upgrade anyway it makes sense to do it before the warranty expires.

Some interesting things I learned about free maintainance:

• Mercedes discontinued free maintainance in 2004
• Audi discontinued free maintainance in 2007
• Lexus never had free maintainance, but they are known for reliable cars and good service so that's ok
• Mini gives you 3 years of maintainance (along with the 4 year warranty, a bit confusing)
• BMW still gives you 4 years of maintainance, matching the 4 years of warranty

Free maintainance (at least with BMW) includes brake pads and rotors, so it can really save you a lot of money.

Some things I learned about Certified Pre Owned:

• Lexus doesn't add 2 years to the existing warranty like BMW does. They instead give you a new 3 year/100k mile warranty from the day you buy the car. This works out better if you buy an older car, but worse if you buy a newer car

So I still hold that the best way to buy a car is to get a 1 year old certified pre owned BMW. You get a car that's pretty much brand new, with a full 6 years of bumper to bumper warranty and 6 years of maintainance, longer than you would get on a new car. And you pay LESS than a new car.

This is exactly how I got my BMW. And just a few weeks ago a coworker purchased a 2006 325i for under $30k. Under $30k for a BMW 3 series luxury sedan? And you don't put a single dime into the car except gas and tires for 6 whole years. Why do people even shop the economy brands?

Update: I would also buy a car european delivery since you get a nice discount and can pay just over invoice price (it doesn't count against a dealer's allocation so you get a better price)

Meena and I wandered the West Village on Thursday night looking for some good food. It was pouring rain which made it a pretty nasty trek. First I went to Waverly Inn, where I was quickly turned away. It's true, they are a bunch of snobs catering to celebrities. Then I went to The Spotted Pig. They put me on the list but I wasn't too keen on eating there again.

I kept walking to The Little Owl. After a 45 minute wait, we had one of the best meals ever. The food was incredible. The staff was friendly, the opposite of Waverly Inn. I highly recommend this place. Getting a reservation is hard but they have several walk in tables, so go and be prepared to wait. Get the sliders and the pork. Best pork i've ever had. Dessert is excellent too.

The far West Village is a great neighborhood with lots of character and awesome restaurants. It's the middle village near Washington Square Park that I really hate.

On Wednesday, Gary and I went to Mercadito for some tapas. Great tapas, great restaurant, great margaritas. Alphabet city definitely has some of the best food in the city.

In case you didn't hear, Jason Ahmad left for Alaska last Monday. He's starting out as a security guard at Denali National Park. Pretty incredible. Good luck, Jason!

I was in the Bay Area last week for WWDC. Overall it was a fun week. Highlights:

• Of course, lots and lots and lots of driving. I miss driving. So much fun. I love my Miata. Especially when I fly by cars that cost 10 or even 20 times as much. Freeway ramps are the best. I can slide the car with no problem at all.

I let Aki drive it back from Santa Cruz on Saturday. I think he was impressed. "It's very sticky." Well, it has cheapo $50 all season tires on it. So it's not about the tires but about a well designed, well balanced car. You can't beat front engine, rear wheel drive, 50/50 weight balance, low weight, low center of gravity cars with high red lines!

• Giants game. Lots of fun. I love AT&T Park. It's a beautiful park in a gorgeous location, great views. Much better than Yankee stadium.

• Wine tasting in Santa Cruz

• Best sushi I've ever had at Sushi on the Run. Tiny place in Los Gatos. Every piece of fish was soft as butter, and about 3 times the size of a cut anywhere else. The fish completely covered the rice. It was amazing. I couldn't even finish the sushi lunch special.

• Dinner at Delfina (yummy!) followed by SF Wednesdays. A huge turnout because of WWDC.

• Friday night met up with Alvaro and had dinner at Home. He's in the Bay Area for the summer so if you know him, call him!

• Saturday went hiking in Big Basin with Aki

• Had a horrible flight to LA. After 12 hours at the airport (which included 5 hours sitting in the plane on the runway), my flight was cancelled. Basically sounds like what happened to the JetBlue flights a few months ago. The quality of the American airline industry is a joke.

• Had a painful flight back. Red eyes suck. People who think traveling for work is cool have never done it. I don't think I know anyone who does and still thinks it's a perk. I just qualified for Silver Medallion on Delta so maybe it will get a little better!


Every trip back to the Bay Area makes me think about what it would be like to move back. And even though I had fun through the week, I still can't imagine moving back yet.

An interesting thing I realized is nearly all my Apple friends live in San Francisco. The few who don't, live in the Santa Cruz area. Nearly all my Stanford friends live around Mountain View. What is it about these two groups of people that makes them choose such different lifestyles? Do people who want a better work/life balance work at Apple? Or does working at Apple allow you to have a better work/life balance?

In any case, the time I spent in SF and in Santa Cruz last week was great. It's the parts between SF and Santa Cruz that I find incredibly depressing. If I moved back, I would have to live in the Mission. Maybe when I'm old I could move to the South Bay, but even then I see myself in Palo Alto or Los Gatos, definitely not Mountain View.

Castro Street (MV) may have a couple busy bars on Friday and Saturday nights, but the other 90% of the time it looks like a deserted ghost town. And though it is lined with restaurants, I can't think of a single one I would consider to be very good.

The last batch of pictures! Here are some random pictures from around New York in the past couple months.

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Random tandoor on the corner of my street:

After the zoo, Del, Nick and I went to Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem for dinner. They have a huge beer selection and great food. But be prepared to wait for a table.

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Last Sunday Del, Nick and I went to the Bronx Zoo. It's not as good as the San Diego, Portland, or Berlin zoos, but not bad.

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On Memorial Day weekend, Gary and I went to Coney Island to check out the NY Aquarium. Afterward we hung out at the beach and other parts of Coney Island; it was a beautiful day to be outside.

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I don't know how I survived, but after my birthday party Garry, Nick and I went over the Brooklyn Bridge to take photos of the sunrise over Manhattan.

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Last week I discovered Indian Taj restaurant in the West Village through Seamless Web. I was impressed that the menu offered Turka Dal, yellow lentils. Yum. All the phone was amazing. Even the rice (simple, boiled rice) were very well done. For $40 I got 4 entrees (including rice) and I had enough food for 6 meals!

I took my dad there this past weekend. The service sucks and the restaurant itself isn't very nice. But it definitely is authentic. They have another location in Jackson Heights, which is where all the Indians in NYC live. My dad loved the food as well. The chef from the restaurant used to work at a five star hotel in India. And some of the staff are from the same city as my dad.

The Chicken Tikka Saag (NOT MASALA, SAAG) is amazing. Don't miss it.

Highly recommended

In case you didn't see them on facebook, here are pictures from my birthday party. Thanks to Garry for being the party photographer.

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