with a side of wifi

Tonight I signed up for Starbucks Rewards. This is what allows you to use the free WIFI by AT&T, now available at most Starbucks stores in the US. If you sign up before Bastille Day (July 14), they will send you a coupon for a free drink.

Before you begin, be sure you have a Starbucks card that has been used/reloaded in the last 30 days. If you haven't, you need to do this before signing up. You can enter a card while signing up for an AT&T account, as long as it is not a Duetto Card - you can only add your Duetto Card from the Starbucks site. if you don't have a card that has been used in the last 30 days, you can reload it (for as little as $5) to sign yourself up.

I had some problems because of this. It probably didn't help that my Starbucks account is pretty old and hasn't been updated. My Starbucks account showed that I still lived in Chicago, despite that I have a Duetto Card and the info that popped up on the AT&T page had my current address.

It took me over half an hour to fix this. Some of it was that I should have been using FireFox. It was just very frustrating. I was trying to save myself time when I went to use the WIFI for the first time. We were planning on checking it out tomorrow. It is probably good that I did this on my own network, or I would have wasted many minutes straightening this out.

You can sign up while you are at Starbucks. Technically you have to click on a link that is sent to your email, but B reported that by some sort of magic he was able to use the WIFI to check his email and click on the link.

Also note that to keep your AT&T account active, you need to use your registered Starbucks card at least once every 30 days. Let the surfing begin!

Edited to Add: We went to Starbucks in Irvine and B couldn't use the WIFI. He called customer support and there was nothing they could do. He got a message saying that he had used his alloted time for the day, when that was not the case. Sounds like things were not set up well. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.


on the night stand :: The Importance of Music to Girls

so much for that turkey

Today went something like this:

1. Get up. Pack. Take Stuff out to car. {Requires three trips.}

2. Decide maybe a side trip to the Ferry Building in downtown SF isn't the best idea. We were about 2 hours behind schedule.

3. Head due east and then south.

4. Realize that we know someone traveling the same highway in the opposite direction. Decide it would be fun to meet up. Flashbacks of Algebra 2 as we figure out where two cars traveling in opposite directions will meet up.

5. Make plans to meet up at the In 'N Out. Only I thought it was Starbucks. Didn't realize it until B packed up his stuff and left the Starbucks only to return to the door and give me that look like, you really need to learn to follow.

6. Meet up with friends at In 'N Out. Friends also have another friend driving Interstate 5. She meets up with us too.

7. Continue on the drive.

8. Arrive at the house and realize the power must have gone out while we were away as the microwave oven is flashing.

9. Opened up the freezer to find it covered in ice! No idea how long the electricity was out or if the 18-pound turkey (the free one) inside is still good.

on the night stand :: Nini Here and There

the 37 days of starbucks

D i d y o u g e t t h e m a l l ?

In case you missed it, Starbucks and iTunes ran a promotion over the last 37 days. Every day you could get a free iTunes song at your local Starbucks. Of course it was not any one song you wanted, but one specifically chosen by Starbucks.

Here is the track list:

Jokerman -Bob Dylan
One Day - KT Tunstall
Night of the Iguana - Joni Mitchell
I Told You So - Keith Urban
Moon - Emily King
We Shall Not Be Moved - Mavis Staples
Roda - CEU
No One's Gonna Love You - Band of Horses
90 Milas - Gloria Estefan
You Picked Me - A Fine Frenzy
Show Me - John Legend
Gunslinger - John Fogerty
Looking For Elvis - Patti Scialfa
Maiden Voyage - Herbie Hancock
Happy Being Me - Angie Stone
Dark Road - Annie Lennox
Turpentine - Brandi Carlile
New Religion - Alice Smith
Lake Michigan - Rogue Wave
Hurry On Now - Alice Russell
Grace Is Gone - Dave Matthews
I'm In Love With You -Sonya Kitchell
Heaven - Bitter:Sweet
Got To Be Love - Greyboy With Sharon Jones
Sacal Bailar - Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Country Girl - Rissi Palmer
Pick Somebody Up - Raul Midon
Tell Me 'bout It - Joss Stone
Maria Jose - Federico Aubele
Love Song - Sara Bareilles
Consider Me Gone - Hilary McRae
Dreaming With A Broken Heart - John Mayer
I Got It (What You Need) - Galactic
Frank & Ava - Suzanne Vega
Day Too Soon - Sia
Only Momma Knows - Paul McCartney

The music comes from a wide range of genres and mixes old artist with new. Of course what they are trying to do is get you to buy the Hear Music CDs they sell at Starbucks and/or use your iPhone or iPod Touch or laptop to download iTunes while you are visiting a Starbucks. Many Starbucks have a special setup where you can see what is currently playing. One of the nice features is that it shows information about the previous song played for a few moments while the next song started.

We managed to get all but one (ironically we missed the John Mayer one, which turned out to be quite popular), and boy did it take some doing. We didn't go to Starbucks everyday, but almost. We visited some of our favorite Starbucks, along with some new ones. Thankfully we are big fans of the iced black tea, unsweetened.

p.s. If you have a bunch in your wallet or purse, be sure to redeem them on iTunes before December 31, 2007. That's when the codes expire.

on the night stand :: How Starbucks Saved My Life