How's It Going

... a report

Who am I reporting to ?
There are 3 of you
someone might be interested or wants to compare
the ins and outs
Yings and Yangs

The VoIP. 
This service is via the computer via DSL  ( or phone line from the jack ). The adapter plugs into the router. The adapter is the connector to the phone. 
The cordless phone plugs into the adapter. We have 3 cordless phones as a set on one plug in line. 
The other cordless phone set ( there are 2 in that set ) would need a splitter to connect off the   ' line 1 ' plug.

Down side: the router needs to be on for the phone
                   the adapter needs to be plugged in to the router
                   power outage or internet down means no phone
                   callers say we sound hollow or echo
                    our security service needs a cell transmitter from the 
                    control panel ( cost extra )

Up side    cheaper ( you can imagine how this appeals to me )
                we monitor the message centre via the computer from                       anywhere

We have cell phones for emergencies unless the cell service goes down too !

We haven't got the final bill for Bell service ending 
and we haven't paid the first month for internet or phone

the verdict !  Dunno   Okay

We shall see said the Zen Master
he always says that

Guess what. A neighbour reported visitors asking if our cottage was for sale. What does this mean ?   Dunno
This year , was ' lets decide year ' as in keep or sell the cottage
Timing is everything , my friends

For a champion second guesser - this is real fodder for going crazy

M said , leave out the money

Sure ! like never
dude

I couldn't stand losing on the sale ( vs. what we paid )

No Way , Jose  

This development could get interesting !!!

" May you live in interesting times "   old Chinese saying





                   

Friday's Tale of the Rash

... sorry , but its the topic

definitely , fading to a dull colour
Very little pain and the ultra sensitive area is gone

Weather got sultr -ier - high humidity and good breezes

BTW , got my money. There is a lottery game called Lotto Poker.
The machine plays out the deal in front of you. Three weeks ago , w/ M watching , the display flashed $ 350 . 00 for ' 4 ' 4's.
Unfortunately , most vendors won't pay above $ 200 , thus I had to mail in the tix. The cheque arrived in yesterday's mail.
we celebrate to - day.

My students are gathering to cheer someone's 50 th Birthday. This student ran track and field for the school in 1980 or so.
So old , goodness

Fading ............ fading

my contact dermatitis

Sounds way better than ... some infection of the neck

Over the past few days , the burning and size of the affected area has shrunk. I'm off the anti - histamines but still smoothing on the beta derm cream . 2 x a day.
I can still feel the same kind of pain but its faint. As well . the ultra sensitive area has disappeared.  The major area still looks ugly but the eruption is blotchy pinky red and not fiery looking.

weather , got sultry and threatens rain
everything is shooting out of the ground

Some Relief .......

the progress is slow
but , last night was an almost pain free sleep
the anti - histamines make me groggy and the burning keeps me awake
a see - saw situation
however ,groggy won last night

Visual inspection seems to indicate a slight improvement in appearance and no spreading

The actual locus of the pain is the size of a soda cracker but the ultra - sensitive area ( to touch ) is about the size of slice of bread

Finding comfortable tops is the hardest. I'm getting by w/ a long sleeve zipper top w/ the neck open wide
I've got to find an alternate option - as of now , its 2 possibilities

Weather is glorious - blue sky ans sun. Rain does threaten but should not amount to much.

In late fall , I bought a ' plancha ' or cooking steel. You might recall that I mentioned that all the ' lets visit ' a restaurant shows , Triple D , You Gotta Eat Here etc. have the cooks using a flat top griddle.
Burgers , steaks and seafood.
Well ,haven't tried the plancha on a gas BBQ yet but commercials on tV are offering the ' Cookina ' or roll out sheet that sits on top of the barbecue grate and acts like a flat top. This cookina even puts grill marks on the food b/c it is thin.

I guess for once, I was slightly ahead of the curve
Not often but it does happen

Raising Welts

.... or in full bloom

I'm doing everything that I can ,anti - histamines and beta derm cream applications. The irritated area is still irritated.
The anti - histamines make me feel  ' loggy '.
I even skipped exercising last night. M says that me skipping exercise is a sure sign , something is wrong

The weather is fine and supposedly getting finer

Re - Hash Rash

A little ahead of the usual time , the contact dermatitis or its relative is back, Its starting at the collarbone area. the familiar burning.
I'm prepared - gallon jar of good old ' derma cream ' and anti - histamines up the wazoo. 
Of course the trick is to keep it localized. How ? Dunno. Its not a substance moving but the irritation. 
One needs to wonder how I touched a plant up there on the collarbone - scratched myself while out whipping the  lawn edge ?

Well , I'm as ready as I've ever been . fully loaded as it were

The weather is decidedly spring - like. Air has a bit of cold in it but the air is warming

tFA is coming down to the wire. A SUPER lazer cannon powered  by a sun annihilates planets , sounds very DeathStar - ish , doesn't it ? You knock out the oscillator first and then the shields come down . Bingo bango ! All you gotta do is mega hit the cannon.

The Force Awakens

or should have

In a fey mood ( thats my only defence ) I purchased ' tFA ' in BluRay.  The cheapo issue ( plain Jane DVD was $20 ) but I skipped the special Walmart Edition w/ tokens ( tokens ???? ) for some game.
Got back to the Q and remembered that the DVD player up there is also , plain Jane.  We'll watch at home

The weather has made a turn of sorts - its warmer and getting warmer still. The wind remained cold yesterday and cool to - day but that should change over the next few days. Very warm by the week end

Addendum :

tFA : Harrison Ford is so old that his jacket looks young
Its like Star Wars all over again
I mean like at the beginning
way long ago
in a galaxy ............................................


STAR WARS !

Doing It All Wrong

is there any other way ?????    

... ' the LG G5 - the first phone built for fun '

I'm using mine to talk to people
Little did I know about the fun part

the weather b/came soggy and soggier

the wind died down to a dull roar
cool to come

VoIP and the Hollow People

Voice over Internet Protocol is in its 2 nd day after proper wiring to the house and in house. As well , as mentioned the telephone cord was shortened to conform to normal rules of conductivity for your basic braided copper.
I will assume w/ a higher quality copper core , that the telephone cord could be longer (b/c resistance is less in better quality wire )

Reports from callers say that the hollowness is marginal.
The tech guy said that w/ the longer telephone cord that he noticed some blips in the signal ( not good , I guess )

And based on speed tests , we ping very well at 9 ( sub 30 is good )
and Download speed is 7.7 Mbs and upload is 0.7
We are using 7 / 1 , thus , not bad

The big tests will come when we are away and accessing remotely
The system worked from S NY state
We shall see said the Zen Master

Rain came in buckets over night and early morning up to 9 A
We've been sunny since
Wind is up though
Temperatures will fall over the next few days

The long range for E Canada is cooler than normal temperatures
Apparently ,some weather patterns are establishing a cycle of cooling
I'm not making this up , comments at Brett Anderson - long Range all seem to indicate the pattern

And , it appears that the latest change to AVAST Anti Virus or something has over whelmed the baby laptop. I've been nursing BLT along but trying to use gmail is a pain
Windows 7 Home needs 2 Gb and thats all BLT has - its running on the ragged edge.
Gmail was always very slow w/ the BLT.
Up til to - day , gmail was non functional but I excluded gmail from the Web Shield and got a response but it was poor at best.

The move may be to Apple ( for $1100 )
but the new machine would be more powerful than the main laptop at home and thus could eventually replace it.
Meanwhile , we would have a super typewriter / emailer on the road.

Done and Won

We are fully functioning internet and VoIP , now

as at 5 / 5 we had internet and phone
but TekSavvy called 5/6 to say the tech couldn't contact us
on 5 / 5

to - day , an efficient Bell tech came 
-    wired us up to the house
-     sorted out a rat's nest of phone connections at the junction
      box in the basement
-     got us wired inside

Bingo !!!    all good

In Perspective

as in keeping things in

Ah , crackerjack box philosophy

Lets look at the big picture.
Snoopy knew , staring up at the heavens
' Beats me '

Life returns to normal - humdrum


'coming out  , hands up , the dice are moving '

Give me ' Big Red and Yo ' , love that call

At the craps table

Updates and the Week End

an omnibus entry

This week end or the week wrap up. Our entry into the world of VoIP is settling down. We were able to remotely access VoIP from S NY state. We used the internet and heard a recorded message ( from , Me ) but we had to try. works great

As well ,gambled on the week end end ( Sun - Mon ) w/ mixed results. The bones were productive , the slots , not so.
4 out of 6 tries at the craps table were positive - overall up $500 U.S.

The total cost for the week end gambling spree was 40 dollars in gas and one meal on the way home
Hotel and meals got covered

The Saga Will Not Stop

Everything works w/ the new internet and VoIP phone

We get a call the day after the internet starts working

TS : The service could not be completed
Me:  But we have internet
TS:   Oops ! I'll call the tech
 TS:  Customer wasn't home
 Me : B*** S**** ( didn't say it , but she knew )
TS:    He'll have to come out and verify that the work was done
          for warranty purposes

Meanwhile , all systems are go

the anti - virus ?
??????????????? seems OK
I'm checking , frequently 

To - day , seems rather dull c.f. yesterday

Popcorn

............ popcorn ??? Huh

A priest once said that confessional in a convent was like getting stoned to death w/ popcorn.

About the change over. Landline and internet to 3 rd party internet and VoIP.   Mostly as depicted , yesterday.
The biggest anguish or frustration was setting up wireless.
Followed the instructions............. kinda
You see , I can't copy , correctly
Yepper left out a number in the password
Sorry , Tek Svvy -- Mea Culpa

Our other problem , when outsiders call , the greeting for voicemail is often an automated pre record. When , we the insiders access the system , the greeting on file is the personal one.
See popcorn
B/c the system works
Speed , no difference from before
Security , who knows
We down loaded a free anti virus called AVAST
Avast is rated fairly high but not the top 2

OK smarty , why not the top 2 ones
Avast uses , the Windows firewall , and accompanies the built in security for Windows  Good ..... Bad  we'll see
And other freebie AV programs have pop up ads
So far , none
We shall see said the Zen Master

And the last piece of popcorn , the callers suggest that there is a hollowness to the sound of our voices

' We are the hollow people "     some famous poet

Addendum : Crap !!!! 

All the problems regarding the voice mail , occurred b/c the new handset has its own answering machine
solution  -- turn the answering machine in the handset ' OFF "
Called the manufacturer and the agent said ' did you turn the answering machine to " OFF " ?
Duh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Waddaya Expect

Not much

do things in this world work ..................   as in function ???

NOOOOO

Well ,Tek Savvy promised service 5/5/ by noon

We waited , nobody came , apparently , they don't need to.

on a lark tried the internet at 1 PM ( noon was the window )

Yepper , raring to go

We have teething problems
the phone 's recorded message is the generic #1 pro forma option
we recorded our message but its blowing in the wind

The password for wireless is a Harry Houdini creation
Sometimes Yes mostly NO

Turmoil in the Burbs

.. minor , really

To -day is change over day.
We lost phone service , an hour ago

we won't have a home ph # til the new internet comes on line
to -morrow between 8 and noon ( maybe )

this internet goes down before 5 P

As well , my cheese came in the mail
freezer  pack by Canada Post

Twice , I opened cheese and found mold
The store took it back 
but I called the company
gave them the lot #
and they promised a replacement cheese

it arrived
its very good cheddar

VoIP Day

no , not National , very local , as in our house

We get cut off from the big 3 to - morrow. No phone or internet

Thurs, AM , we are hooked back up
Then we  will have internet  ( XXXXX please ) and phone

We bought a 3 phone wireless telephone set at CostMore for $49 

We shall see said the Zen Master !

Beutii day , sun etc and etc

Baby Day

what is this , National Baby Day ?????

Like Mother's Day , I'll have to see if the greeting cards are in for this one.
Looking at babies in general , I think every day is Baby Day.
Well ,they look happy , more or less
Way more than I do

The weather is indiscriminate , grey and cool looking
Haven't been out
and to - day , the company comes to seal the drive
I envision black running down the gutters as the paint washes off

BTW - on Wednesday , we switch internet providers. We lose the free McAfee that comes w/ the current provider.
Supposedly , one of the  poorer Anti - virus programs out there.
So , go on line.
For every positive comment about an AV program , you can count on another comment that is dead set against the one that you 're thinking about.
I'm pretty sure that I'll go for a ' free ' AV program.
Still researching the ' bytes '  out of this problem.
Recall , I'm saving money by switching
I'm sure , there is more to follow