Finally…

In my last two Blog entries I’ve described frustrations associated changing out my defective modem here in our motorhome. The day before yesterday involved three hours of frustration. yesterday was an additional three hours of frustrations. During 1.5 hours on my cellphone with the router technician since it was not recognizing the new device…I took this self-photo…

You can see just how much fun I was having by the expression on my face! Since I had borrowed a short ethernet cable to use during the process…I had to sit in the passenger’s seat so I could connect to the router which can be seen of the shelf below the curtain. While there I had to balance the computer upon our large bread board atop my lap while the cellphone was on speaker so I had two hands to balance everything in addition to doing the typing associated with the functions.

You probably know a little about interfacing the modem and router. Download updated software, restart the computer, figure out new configurations, restart the computer. Nope…didn’t work…set a new configuration…can’t remember passwords, restart the computer. Etc……..

So…FINALLY…after six hours of frustrations…the system seems to have settled down and appears to be functioning correctly. When I began this process three days ago I was fearing that I was going to have this kind of experience. The system didn’t let me down. It was every bit frustrating as I was expecting. Hopefully it will be some time before I have to deal with a like matter in the future. Now to get back to my normal life. Today we expect to move the motorhome south  of Tucson, Arizona for a few days of seeing and doing attractions of the area.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
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SPREADING THE SEASON

With logistics in large families, its not always possible to get together on the actual holiday. It matters little when the really important element is just to get together once in a while. This week was siblings week. Three out of five brothers and my sister managed a holiday dinner that included brother Clark’s daughter, Melissa and her daughter Stella.

Sweet Stella brought cookies she decorated for the occasion.

Norman, far left, last visited with family members 19 years ago. Far too long we decided.

Clark’s family is complete, so of course we posed for pictures.

Brother Bill has been a bachelor for a long time. When his wife Sandi was alive, he teasingly called her Loni which stood for Little Or No Ironing. Now he demonstrates the way a bachelor can heat up leftover pizza if he doesn’t own a microwave.
Catching up was fun. We looked at old family photos and enjoyed a lot of humorous stories of a life we shared long ago.
Since I haven’t had a signal I spent over an hour on the phone with technical support and finally got back on -line this evening. Even so, its with a catch. I have to stay plugged into my office attached directly to the modem. No wireless for me. It reminds me of the days when you had to stand within five feet of the phone to speak to anyone while the kids plundered the dresser drawers knowing you were tethered.  But, it was fine for its time. Now, wireless is the way to go.