Revelations... In wifi connecting

At times, I am called upon for assistance in the utilization of computers.  I am what is often referred to as a power user.  In non-computereze, that mean that I am a computer equivalent to a backyard mechanic. - no formal tech training, but have an aptitude and general understanding of how it runs "under the hood", both in hardward, and software.

On this particular day, my neighbours wanted to learn how to forward that spring-deer piece I posted yesterday.  (They are new to email, and wanted to go beyond the basic composition).  Once I demonstrated the process, we then moved on to discussions of other things that can be done in the ever-increasing rv pads that include hard line, or wifi access.

I have a skype account which allows me to have video calls with others I know that have skype as well.  (free to sign up) It allows me especially to keep in touch with my parents when they "fly south for the winter" because I don't have long distance US minutes.  I digress...

So my neighbours were curious what skype was, and for sake of ease, I just brought my laptop next door and launched it on the off chance that Mom was home.  She was, and they were appropriately impressed.  However, so was I.  The reception at their place - 30 feet from my own, was the clearest it has ever been.

At my own place, I often have voice and picture break-up and we now have figured it out.  We have always had on again off again service, and just figured it was the site's router letting us down.  That combine with my parents' sporadic connection, we just resigned to its status as sketchy at best.

So here is the key to good reception at wifi sites at rv parks - try to have a direct path between you and the building housing their router.  Our reception is encumbered by the fact that our absent neighbour's fairly large and tall 5th wheel is providing a signal block for our receiver.  A few feet make a phenomenal  difference.  Next door, reception is between 4 and 5 out of 5 bars.  Ours on a good day is 4, but most often, rides around 2 - 3.  Downloading can be slow.  We get as low as 1 - 50 kb/s and on rare occasions, can have as high as 300 - 400 kb/s.  

We are a bit slow, but now we can see if there is any way the park can compensate for the shortcoming.  I will let you know if there is any solution short of changing our site. (not practical - we are rather trenched in until moving day)

Anyway, dinner is required in the home, and it just isn't doing itself. (Dash it all!!)

And so I bid you,

Adieu

I couldn't resist the humour of this email I received...

Hang in there Canada, 

Spring is almost here...

We can now see the deer wandering around.

Thoughts Out For A Meander...

Today is pleasant enough. The sun is out, but there is a thin veil of cloud preventing a full and proper blue to the sky. The temperature is hovering just above 0, my walking pal and I have finished the stroll, stretched out, and returned home. Amazingly enough, we are only on day 2 of the yoga, and are already bending a bit more than yesterday. I still find my belly is my biggest interference on some of my bending, but that should take care of itself if the program works as it should.

I am endeavoring to keep my boys' lives separate from my blog life in respect of their space and privacy, but I am gearing up to a spring get together, and can't help but say it will be truly wonderful to see them.

On other fronts, Ken is now lubing and prepping the generator, and I hear him attempting the first turn overs. (I haven't heard a full firing yet, so an holding my breath, and trying not to be obviously staring while whispering quite prayers). I have no doubt that it will fire and run well, but being its maiden run, the fluids must work in, and the familiarity with settings, chokes and what-have-you need to be given time.
SUCCESS!!! Yeah, I knew he could do it!! It sounds... well, like a generator... Not stunningly quiet, but then again, it is a diesel. At least it sounds no noisier than any of the other ones I have heard run on occasion. I am content, and Ken will putter some more. He likes outside business, which is why we have the utility trailer. It acts as a portable workshop, and although it is still quite cool, it is better than it has been for a couple months, and he is making the best of it.

It lets me get the housework done anyway. The new washing dryer does an awesome job. Today I ran my first load with an item that I had to remove before the dry cycle, so I set it to wash only. I have to say that the 1200 RPM spin out of the rinse does an awesome job on extracting excess moisture. Hung in the shower stall, it should be dry in no time. I quickly broke out the manual to figure out how to run a dry only cycle to complete the rest of the load. It was easy enough, I just set the wash dial to PermaPress dry, set the timer, and turned it back on. The book notes that on other dry settings (4 different wash types) it does a rinse first, so the Perma-press dry will go straight into the drying. It is happily spinning now.

I glanced over at the couch where I was hearing sounds of mischief, and apparently Voyage Critic II (Glory) had dug up some residue from the previous occupants of this home. They must have had a granddaughter visit, because extracted from under the bedroom slide, under the washing dryer compartment, she had retrieved the greatest treasure any cat could glean. A 3" plastic Polly Pocket-ish looking figurine with a kind of rubbery removable dress. She looks quite pleased with herself, and has packed it around quite a bit. Currently, she sits in her kennel, giving said dolly a motherly review, and repositioning. It is too cute, I have shot her. :-)
Sharing shot in 3,...2,....1.

I digress...

So back in reality, the driver for the pick-up of the old washer is 20 minutes away, so shortly it shall drift into the oblivion of the forgotten past, replaced shortly with a cheque for appropriate compensation for the hassles and chaos that it provided in our life. (insert satisfying sigh) and all was good it the slightly chilled, but pleasantly bright valley known as Oliver.

The day has been satisfying enough to post. ...and I think that is just what I will do. :-)

And so to you weblanders, I bid you,

Adieu.

A New Day

Today was definitely an improvement.  The sun shone brightly, and it was fairly warm too!  (I began to doubt that both could be accomplished at the same time here) We went for a 2 mile walk and then changed into some stretchy clothes and met a couple other gals at the club house for a new experiment - yoga for weight loss.  

The gal that suggested the program has a disk that she follows, and says that after a year of using it, she was nearly able to do the splits, and fold practically in half.  More importantly, she lost a fair amount of weight as well.  The disk is easy to follow, and has 4 gals modeling different levels of skill.  What I really like about it is that it doesn't require a lot of space, so I have ordered a copy so that when we reach spring break-up, I can continue with it on my own.

As for the rest of the day, I was out chipping ice off the driveway.  Currently, the ice has build up so much in front of the red truck that we can go anywhere in 2 wheel drive, but for the last 2 feet, we need to go into 4X4.  If we can just get a couple days above 0 we can break it up and clear it.

We were also supposed to have the Majestic washer picked up today, but we got a call from the shipper around 3:30 saying that the truck is encountering difficulties down around Omak Washington.  He will be here tomorrow, apparently.  We weren't going anywhere yet anyway.

The final accomplishment of the day was to unload and uncrate the generator.  It is pretty :-)   It was shipped dry, so Ken is reading the manual thoroughly before adding any oil and fuel.  We had a group of guys gather to unload and observe the new gadget. (You know boys and toys...)  Ken has promised them that he will assemble all to demonstrate it's inaugural run.  I did note that it has 2 remote starters.  I have to admit that I am somewhat "wow"ed by its appearance.  We shall see when it actually goes 'vrmmmm'.

The sun is starting to set, and the temperature, as usual, is dropping dramatically.  Any puddles that formed from melting are now resolidifying, but tomorrow is hopeful, and I plan to do a bit more on ice removal after the walk, stretches and lunch.

For the first time in several days we have just heard the geese fly over.  (apparently, between fog and cold, the squadron was grounded).

  All that fresh air and what I have now come call "making ice butter" has definitely created an appetite in me.  (Making Ice Butter - I figure it is an appropriate term for it, the motion with the ice chipper is quite similar to the old fashioned butter churn - don't you think :-)  ??)  So now, my thoughts have turned to the next round of caloric input on the schedule, supper.  

With that I bid you,

Adieu.

And now for the final chapter...

Just dropping a quick blirp.  The dealership co-owner is about to talk to his partner. 

(I'm back)

Yeah!!!!

So the final deal is that we ship the Majestic back, C.O.D. and once they receive it, they will send a cheque or direct deposit - whichever we prefer - the sum of $900.  (If we brought it back, it would be $1000, but as Dunmore Alberta is the side of Alberta that we are not likely to return to, the loss of $100 is acceptable.

Finally, a resolve.  Like I said before, don't ever accept "no" from someone who doesn't have the authority to give you a "yes".

Nuf sed.

I may be back later with other thoughts, but for now,

Adieu.

Brrrr!!!

Since the New Year, my neighbour and I have gone for daily walks with only a few exceptions.  Today was one.  The temperature was a cool -6 and the sun was out for the second in 3 days.  We are sturdy, and not easily detoured, but the wind was brisk, and the bite in it was just beyond our range of tolerance.

Tomorrow is supposed to match today, and I think we are going to brave it this time, but in an abridged form.  Fortunately, due to the necessity of catalog shopping when living in the isolation of Cereal Alberta, I discovered Sears carried (in men's only of course) a line of thick denim jeans that were lined with polar fleece.  My husband and I each have some, and they are wonderful when the weather refuses to be snowbird friendly.  When I forget to wear them, I return home with legs that are numb with cold.  When I do wear them, I fair much better.

I continue to be extremely please with the new washing dryer.  I still have a final verbal duel to endure with the dealership, but whatever they do decide to contribute will now just icing the cake.

We are waiting until about Wednesday (predicted to actually break the + temperature range) to remove and uncrate the new generator, as we really don't want to play in the cold.

It is not overly pleasant to deal with the drop in temperature again, but I have to say, seeing the sun again has an undeniable uplifting affect.  I just want to be able to go out in it!!  Oh, and we have a bit of snow forecasted.  Apparently the current stale stash of it (which, apparently up until now, never lingers more than a couple days, or a week at the most - but hasn't left for over a month...) needs to be freshened.

Well, enough for tonight, I bid you,

Adieu

Flying Photography in Canadian Rockies.

As promised, I am uploading some of the On The Fly photography as we blazed  through the Rockies along Highway 1.  But wait, if you click now, we will add for no added cost, today's shots of our trip to Kelowna.  (Okay, we got sun crazy.  It was gorgeous, and we couldn't resist going for an outing.)

It was fun, and we had a good day.  It was still cool, but the sun made an amazing difference to the mood and atmosphere of the day.

Now, off to make dinner.  So I bid you,

Adieu