Sunday, August 2, 2009
It was cool last night and I slept very well. I needed to make up for my poor nights sleep from the night before, so I didn’t get up until 10 AM.
Although there were a few clouds, it was relatively clear and sunny. The wind was blowing, but lightly inbetween the gusts, so as it became warmer, it felt good to open the doors and windows and let the breeze blow through.
I was able to get online and when I checked, I wasn’t slowed down under the FAP like yesterday, so that was some fluke probably caused by Hughes and had nothing to do with my equipment or usage. I still had a yellow blinking light on my Airport, but managed to remove all the previous settings and reset it as if it were new. This turned the light to green and allowed me access to my mail program and a relative fast download speed for a Sunday.
I managed to collect and correspond with several people regarding their earlier emails, and then began doing some research online. I have found that I can order all of the supplements that I use in Zack’s dinners online, cheaper than buying them in town, so ordered them. I also watched some videos and read some more reports about the Obama care health plan and the immunization plans overseas. I put together a separate email with links on all of that, which I’ll send later for those that are interested in it.
It is now 4:30 PM, and besides playing with Zack, fixing and eating a nice brunch, and a bit more cleaning, I haven’t done much else. I have been trying to get all of my data backed up on my external drive, after yesterday’s problems, but found I didn’t have enough room on the external drive. I had to update the software for it and then reformat the drive to give me the necessary room, plus I have the new Time Machine backup program on this newest system, so had to read all of the information about it before trying to use it. It is backing up my data as I write this, so I am hoping all my data will now be safely stored on the external drive if I need it.
Zack is begging to play again and it is close enough to his dinnertime that I’ll stop and deal with him, sending the update as it currently is. If any exciting things happen between now and bedtime, like a UFO landing in the yard, I’ll include it in tomorrows update.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
It is a bit cloudy and cool this morning, but I am hoping it will clear and warm up as it did yesterday. NWS is saying it is to be warm and a zero chance of rain, but then they don’t actually have a weather station at my location. Their forecasts are predicated on data gathered in Great Falls, so I take it with a grain of salt and hope they are in the ballpark.
My day started off poorly as I had a lousy nights sleep, tossing and turning with leg pains and a general sense of not being able to relax. After about an hour of that, an Alka-Seltzer and walk around the cabin, and I was able to get some sleep.
After getting up, I made my coffee and turned on my modem to sit down and read my emails and do my usually morning routine. Good plan, but it wasn’t going to happen. Everything on the computer was taking forever and some things, like my mail program, never opened at all. I double checked all my connections and settings and decided to restart the computer after I emptied my cache and trash.
When I restarted the computer, it didn’t recognize my wireless Airport, so I reset it and restarted the modem again. It didn’t help, so I took my laptop to the modem, which is in my dining area, and connected it directly using the cable. I still had no internet connection. I reset and restarted everything and when that didn’t help, I switched to my old Airport. Nothing I did seemed to help, so I shut everything off and had breakfast.
After playtime with Zack and a general picking up of papers and moving them from one place to another, I turned the modem and computer on to see if I could get a connection. When all was up and running, the light on my Airport wireless was blinking orange, not a steady green as it should be. I was able to open Firefox, but loading a simple 1:02 video took 8 minutes. At first I blamed the weather, but then thought to check my FAP setting. Sure enough, it was amber, not green. A check of the site showed I had exceeded my download limits, but I knew I hadn’t as I couldn’t even get online. It was also amber instead of the usual red for exceeding FAP limits.
The whole thing pissed me off so I decided that rather than fight with it; I would just spend my time doing other things. I shut everything off and began cleaning. I started to clear a few papers from my dining table, which is where paid bills, receipts, and important papers get laid until I can properly file them. Well, as you know, one thing leads to another and I ended up spending the majority of the day filing and going through files, throwing useless (which are few as I keep everything) papers away.
This task, plus taking breaks to play with Zack and moving around to keep from getting too stiff, took up the entire afternoon. At 7 PM, I played one last time with Zack and then fed him and Zoey their dinner. I took a shower and then roasted a game hen for dinner.
My evening went pretty much as usual until at 10:30 PM, a large truck slowly drove by the cabin, coming from the Dog Creek area. Usually people travel in the opposite direction because not many know how to get to the old logging bridge over Dog Creek. It stopped, just out of sight, behind my garage, so I turned Zack loose to let him bark, letting who ever it was know that someone was home and watching. With just the sunroom lamp on, and the reflection of television, they may have thought no one was home.
After Zack barked a few times they moved on. It was too dark to get a description of the truck or any occupants, but before they were out of ear shot, I fired a gun a couple of times to let them, and anyone else know, they would be up against an armed individual if they tried something.
I am usually not paranoid about occasional vehicles coming by, but that late at night and stopping near my garage, made me think that they may have been up to no good, so a couple of shots might make them think twice.
I finished watching a pre-recorded television program, the one I mentioned before - The Colony, and then went to bed.
It is a bit cloudy and cool this morning, but I am hoping it will clear and warm up as it did yesterday. NWS is saying it is to be warm and a zero chance of rain, but then they don’t actually have a weather station at my location. Their forecasts are predicated on data gathered in Great Falls, so I take it with a grain of salt and hope they are in the ballpark.
My day started off poorly as I had a lousy nights sleep, tossing and turning with leg pains and a general sense of not being able to relax. After about an hour of that, an Alka-Seltzer and walk around the cabin, and I was able to get some sleep.
After getting up, I made my coffee and turned on my modem to sit down and read my emails and do my usually morning routine. Good plan, but it wasn’t going to happen. Everything on the computer was taking forever and some things, like my mail program, never opened at all. I double checked all my connections and settings and decided to restart the computer after I emptied my cache and trash.
When I restarted the computer, it didn’t recognize my wireless Airport, so I reset it and restarted the modem again. It didn’t help, so I took my laptop to the modem, which is in my dining area, and connected it directly using the cable. I still had no internet connection. I reset and restarted everything and when that didn’t help, I switched to my old Airport. Nothing I did seemed to help, so I shut everything off and had breakfast.
After playtime with Zack and a general picking up of papers and moving them from one place to another, I turned the modem and computer on to see if I could get a connection. When all was up and running, the light on my Airport wireless was blinking orange, not a steady green as it should be. I was able to open Firefox, but loading a simple 1:02 video took 8 minutes. At first I blamed the weather, but then thought to check my FAP setting. Sure enough, it was amber, not green. A check of the site showed I had exceeded my download limits, but I knew I hadn’t as I couldn’t even get online. It was also amber instead of the usual red for exceeding FAP limits.
The whole thing pissed me off so I decided that rather than fight with it; I would just spend my time doing other things. I shut everything off and began cleaning. I started to clear a few papers from my dining table, which is where paid bills, receipts, and important papers get laid until I can properly file them. Well, as you know, one thing leads to another and I ended up spending the majority of the day filing and going through files, throwing useless (which are few as I keep everything) papers away.
This task, plus taking breaks to play with Zack and moving around to keep from getting too stiff, took up the entire afternoon. At 7 PM, I played one last time with Zack and then fed him and Zoey their dinner. I took a shower and then roasted a game hen for dinner.
My evening went pretty much as usual until at 10:30 PM, a large truck slowly drove by the cabin, coming from the Dog Creek area. Usually people travel in the opposite direction because not many know how to get to the old logging bridge over Dog Creek. It stopped, just out of sight, behind my garage, so I turned Zack loose to let him bark, letting who ever it was know that someone was home and watching. With just the sunroom lamp on, and the reflection of television, they may have thought no one was home.
After Zack barked a few times they moved on. It was too dark to get a description of the truck or any occupants, but before they were out of ear shot, I fired a gun a couple of times to let them, and anyone else know, they would be up against an armed individual if they tried something.
I am usually not paranoid about occasional vehicles coming by, but that late at night and stopping near my garage, made me think that they may have been up to no good, so a couple of shots might make them think twice.
I finished watching a pre-recorded television program, the one I mentioned before - The Colony, and then went to bed.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
It rained much of the night and into the morning, leaving about a quarter of an inch of new rain. It stayed cloudy and cold all morning, with the outside temperature hanging in the low 50s. I built a fire and read until noon, and then had a bite to eat.
Zack and I played outside, by 1:30 the sun broke through, and it began to warm up. Although the clouds were ever present, it turned into a nice day. I decided to clean the cabin in preparation for a BBQ that I invited my friend, Marcy, and her family to. She works in the Safeway Pharmacy and is one of those outgoing, always happy people that remembers everyone’s name and greets them whenever they are around. She was my inside connection to get my refills while I was snow birding last winter. I would just call and ask for her, tell her what I needed and the address to send them and she took care of the rest.
I have been trying to get her and her husband to just take a Sunday drive and come up my way to see the beauty I live with everyday, but she is always so busy with family, relatives and work, that she never makes it. I figured the sure way to get them up here is to have a BBQ for them and then they can’t back out.
Last week I made up an invitation and menu and gave it to her. She is to discuss the best day to come with her family and then let me know. I have a feeling it may be this next Sunday, or the one after it, so thought I’d better get this place in order.
I started in the sunroom, but when I took something to the dining area, I started cleaning there, but as I got a coke from the fridge, I started there and ended up cleaning out and organizing my kitchen drawers and then the entire kitchen. I’ve never said I wasn’t easily distracted.
By the time I finished the kitchen, it was 6 PM, so Zack and I played and then I fed him and Zoey before sitting down to work on the computer again. I finished up writing and posting previous updates, researching Zack’s food supplements, and watching a couple of videos and before I knew it, it was 8:30, so showered and ate some dinner before watching a program on television.
It rained much of the night and into the morning, leaving about a quarter of an inch of new rain. It stayed cloudy and cold all morning, with the outside temperature hanging in the low 50s. I built a fire and read until noon, and then had a bite to eat.
Zack and I played outside, by 1:30 the sun broke through, and it began to warm up. Although the clouds were ever present, it turned into a nice day. I decided to clean the cabin in preparation for a BBQ that I invited my friend, Marcy, and her family to. She works in the Safeway Pharmacy and is one of those outgoing, always happy people that remembers everyone’s name and greets them whenever they are around. She was my inside connection to get my refills while I was snow birding last winter. I would just call and ask for her, tell her what I needed and the address to send them and she took care of the rest.
I have been trying to get her and her husband to just take a Sunday drive and come up my way to see the beauty I live with everyday, but she is always so busy with family, relatives and work, that she never makes it. I figured the sure way to get them up here is to have a BBQ for them and then they can’t back out.
Last week I made up an invitation and menu and gave it to her. She is to discuss the best day to come with her family and then let me know. I have a feeling it may be this next Sunday, or the one after it, so thought I’d better get this place in order.
I started in the sunroom, but when I took something to the dining area, I started cleaning there, but as I got a coke from the fridge, I started there and ended up cleaning out and organizing my kitchen drawers and then the entire kitchen. I’ve never said I wasn’t easily distracted.
By the time I finished the kitchen, it was 6 PM, so Zack and I played and then I fed him and Zoey before sitting down to work on the computer again. I finished up writing and posting previous updates, researching Zack’s food supplements, and watching a couple of videos and before I knew it, it was 8:30, so showered and ate some dinner before watching a program on television.
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