Sunshine!

WOW - Today we saw the sun! It managed to come out around 10 AM and it turned out to be a pretty nice and warm day. Since I have been waiting for a non-rainy day to accomplish some crack filling on the driveway - I spent several hours outside today accomplishing that task. Now - if the weather will cooperate for 24 hours or so the filler stuff can settle and dry so I can put on a second and final coat.

The FedEx man did arrive in the early afternoon today and brought my new cellular based wireless router and the outside antenna that I intend to mount on the motorhome. I managed to get the router powered up and working wirelessly with my laptop and networked by hardwire with our home desktop PC and networkable printer. So far everything is working the way it is supposed to and I have disconnected the cable modem and wireless router that we previously used.

Like I have said many times before - I love it when things work the way they are supposed to!

New Wireless Internet - Initial Test

Now I know what folks who live in Seattle must feel like. Days and days without seeing the sun and constant on-off rain/showers/drizzle. But I'm not complaining - not me! I understand we may get all the way up to partly cloudy by this time next week. We got a few hours of less-than-really-wet weather yesterday and I did manage to mow the lawn. Other than that - I have been sticking to inside projects for the last several days.

I received my first delivery from the 3G Store today. Actually the delivery was the USB760 Modem from Verizon that was ordered through the 3G Store. After opening the package and giving the operations/installation manual a quick once through - I plugged the device into a USB port on my laptop and it automatically loaded all the necessary software drivers and Verizon's VZAccess software. My first attempt to connect to Verizon's Broadband Network was unsuccessful - but a quick call to the Verizon folks helped me "activate" my account and I was in business. As I had expected - I am able to access Verizon's "best" wireless broadband system here at home (EVDO - Rev. A). One of the first things I did was run a speed test to compare with previous speed tests I have done using my tethered cell phone and Verizon's "NationalAccess" system and tests I have run using my present cable modem. Without going into all the numbers - the bottom line is that the new system is about 10 times faster than either the "National Access" system or our present cable modem (recognizing that we pay for the slowest speed available from the cable provider). So far I am pretty satisfied with new service. I should receive the new router tomorrow so we will get to see how the WiFi to Router to Wireless Broadband system works. Once I get the new system checked out and working well for a week or so -I'll go ahead and cancel the cable internet service.

In preparation for swapping to this new internet connection and cancelling the cable service - I set up a new email account on Google's GMAIL service. So anybody out there who wants to email me might as well start using mevringham@gmail.com. If you want to email Peggy you can continue to use mpevring@aol.com. I'm sure this will only take a year or so get straightened out! Isn't technology wonderful!?

Who'll Stop The Rain!!

OK - I get it! If I complain about the wet weather - it will get worse. No more complaining from me - JUST MAKE IT STOP!

I think it rained at least a couple of inches today and more is forecast for the weekend - although it is supposed to slow down to "showers."

Yesterday, before the rain started, I managed to chisel out about a 5 square foot section of my driveway and refill it with asphalt cold patch to repair a pretty significant pothole. After that - Stacy and Eric treated me to a fun round (9 holes) of golf as an early fathers day present. Needless to say I slept really well last night.

In spite of the constant rain today I did manage to accomplish a few small projects inside the house and I assisted Peggy with some grocery shopping. But the big accomplishment for today was actually getting the 3G Store to process my order for Wireless Broadband! It's hard to believe - but it took them 2 full weeks to be able to process an order - and it's still real unclear to me what the big hold-up was. Their website has been modified a bit but the basics of the online ordering process looks pretty much the same and their discounts on the equipment provided by them (the router and the antenna in my case) are the same as they were a couple of weeks ago. About the only thing I found changed was that the wireless modem gadget (supplied by Verizon)was free without the need for a mail in rebate where before you had to pay $50 up front and then send in a rebate application to get your money back - and the other thing - Verizon has waived the $35 activation fee. So I guess I did save the $35 and the rebate hassle with Verizon but still - 2 weeks!

But all that is passed now and I'm looking forward to receiving the equipment some time early next week and seeing how well it works.

Hope everybody is having a great day ... without rain (but I'm not complaining).

More of the Same

The more things change - the more they stay the same. Several days have past since my last entry - yet what has changed? Although the weather was pretty nice today - it has been raining, on-and-off for the past 2-3 days. Although 4 days have passed since my last entry - the 3G Store still isn't taking any Verizon orders !?! The latest email from them tells me it will be the "end of the week" before they will be ready. I've waited this long so I might as well wait till the end of the week - I can't wait to see what great improvements (and savings for me) will result from this 2 week delay. Arrgh - I dislike incompetence! I guess I like saving $$ more than I dislike incompetence.


Meanwhile - back in somewhat soggy Maine I did manage to complete the construction and installation of the TV shelf I described in the last entry. I think it came out looking pretty good! The final fit and finish looks very much like it was installed from the factory. While I was at it - and since the final (hopefully) change to Digital TV happened this last weekend - I installed the Digital TV Converter along with a video selector switch that I happened to have laying around so we can either use the rooftop antenna for watching DTV or we can select the other switch position to watch cable TV. Some DTV converters have this analog "pass-through" feature installed - but the ones that I purchased did not - so the switch performs that function. By the way - I am able to receive 10 DTV Channels now with the rig sitting in the driveway and the antenna in the down (stored) position. ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and UPN come in great. If I ever decide to give up the junk on cable - there is a lot on the air for free - and in digital quality. I'm sure there are folks out there living in fringe areas using antennas that have lost stations since the move to DTV but the signals and quality look pretty good here in the big metropolis of Topsham, ME.

Tomorrow the rig goes back into storage for a month or so. One of my next projects is to repair a couple of big "dents" in the asphalt driveway caused by parking the rig in one place too long without something under the front tires to help spread out the weight. After that I need to fill some long standing cracks in the driveway and do a complete re-sealing. Another one of those chores that us owners of "sticks and bricks" homes (as opposed to those living in their homes on wheels) have to deal with every few years - and mine is at least a few years overdue.

More Ramblings

I think it has rained, at least a little, every day since my last post. The grass is growing quite well but everything around us will start getting a bit moldy if we don't get some extended sunshine pretty soon! I did manage to make a few trips to the local solid waste facility on Tuesday, in spite of the rain, to get rid of all the limbs resulting from my logging activities last weekend. Although my little bit of tree cutting and limb maintenance did open things up a bit - I still want to go ahead with removal of all (or at least most) of the trees in our back yard. They really don't look that great, the big pine tree manages to drop pitch all over the deck and Peggy's swing, and I guess I'm just tired of looking at them! Unfortunately - those that remain are taller than I want to deal with and the pine tree is BIGGG. So that means I need to find a local arborist/tree maintenance guy that will do the work for less than the life of my first born son. Actually - if I could get my first born son to get his butt up here to climb/cut down the trees I wouldn't need the tree guys! For that matter the second born son could do the job!! Nope - on second thought I remember how upset Peggy got when they climbed the trees when they were youngsters and I doubt she would be any calmer today. Even worse - she would be madder at me than she would be at them! So it's back to the arborist plan ... I have been getting estimates this week.

Also on the list for getting estimates is replacement of the windows in the first floor bedrooms. They are the only original windows left in the house (except for the double pane picture windows) that we haven't replaced with modern, energy efficient, vinyl windows. Since the feds will be providing a tax credit this year for doing such upgrades, and since the price of heating oil isn't getting any lower - I think it will be in our best interest to get this upgrade done before winter. Based on the estimates I've gotten so far - I think the window suppliers have simply raised their prices so that the consumer does the paperwork and the window suppliers end up getting the $$ from the government.

You may remember from my last post that I was getting ready to order new wireless internet hardware and service. Well - I tried. I called the "3G Store" on Monday to place the order and was told that they "were updating their website and couldn't take any orders that would include Verizon Broadband activation." I guess it's just me - but I don't think I would put my business in a position that would prevent orders from being taken/filled - just because a website needed to be upgraded! I was told on Monday that they would be taking orders on Wednesday. I was sent an e-mail on Wednesday telling me that the work was still ongoing and that orders couldn't be filled until "next week." The good news (remains to be seen/realized) is that the cost for what I need is supposed to be lower when they do start taking orders. I'm really not in a big rush to get this done - but these guys are supposed to be the "best" when it comes to wireless broadband customer service. We're not off to a good start.

When we do finally get the new equipment it will need a place to "live" when installed in the motor home. I have decided that the bedroom area in the back will probably be the best place to put it since it will be out of the way and closer to where I plan on installing an outdoor antenna to improve the transmit/receive range. We already have a digital converter box for the bedroom TV back there and that's also were we keep our weather alert radio. I have been contemplating building a shelf under the back TV to house the converter/radio - so this seemed like the perfect time to accomplish this upgrade project. Yesterday I picked-up up a piece of oak and today I built the shelf and managed to get it stained pretty close to the shade of the oak cabinets that are already in the rig. Tomorrow I plan on getting the polyurethane on and should have this project behind me before the weekend is done.

Oh - I guess some of you (probably most of you) are wondering what Peggy has been up to! She has remained busy planning/preparing to teach VBS (Vacation Bible School) and is still working hard at her full time job - supervising me.

Ramblings

We made it back home on Friday after an uneventful drive from the Cape, around Boston on I-95, and up the coast to Maine. "Uneventful" is a relative term - it would be more accurate to say that I survived the crazy eastern Massachusetts drivers - in spite of their efforts to wreck every car on the highway. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate driving in MA?

Now that we are home again and have removed all the stuff from the rig that needs to be removed for now - it's time to put the rig back into storage for a couple of months. I had a couple of small maintenance items to take care of today (put the heat shield on the new starter and clean the LP Gas orifice on the refrigerator) and I'll see if I can get the rig washed tomorrow.

Yesterday I was putting things away - including the pole saw I took to NJ to help Brian trim some branches on his trees. Since the pole saw was out I decided to trim a few branches in the back yard. After I started on the first branch I decided that it was pretty thick and the chain saw would probably be a better tool in this case - so out came the chain saw. The good news was that the saw started up pretty easily - the bad news was that the chain was so dull it wouldn't cut a thing. So I swapped to my spare chain. Yup you guessed it - the "spare" was "spare" because it too was dull. At this point I could have 1) simply given up on tree trimming, 2) sharpened one or both of the chains, 3) gone back to using the pole saw, or 4) headed over to Sears to buy a new chain. After opting for door number 4 - the new sharp chain was on and the saw was running and that branch was cut in no time. Since the saw was running and sharp - I decided I might as well cut down a couple of trees that I have been threatening to cut down for several years - and then I might as well trim a bunch more branches that are keeping the sun from ever making to some areas of the back yard. After several hours of work I ended up with a small woodpile of hardwood for our neighbor, a large pile of trimmed branches, several sore muscles, and more sunlight in the yard.

All this from just putting a few things away! How did that happen!

Internet Speed

Is anybody out there old enough to remember communicating using a computer and a "Bulletin Board System" using a modem running about 30 baud. Baud was a term used in the old days when computer communications was done at a speed where the characters would appear on the other persons screen at just about the same speed as you could type - if you were a slow typist. "Baud" or Baud Rate (short for Baudot) is a term that is roughly equal to one character per second. A good typist could type faster than the modem could transmit the info.

Well 30 baud gave way to 60 baud and then the 1200 baud Modems came out followed by the really fast 2400 Baud modems. Today - folks using standard dial up service communicate at roughly 56,000 bps. Without going through the math ... 56 kbps is roughly equivalent to 8000 baud so I guess this means that the slowest internet connection today is roughly 250 times faster than we were able to communicate by computer back "in-the-day" (only about 25 years ago). SO WHAT - you say!

When Peggy and I travel we communicate on the internet by either using a wireless connection (WiFi) provided by the campgrounds where we stay or we connect by using my cell phone hooked to my computer. When we use WiFi - sometimes it is very fast and sometimes it is excruciating slow, sometimes it's included in the cost of the campground, and sometimes it costs more. When we have to use the cell phone connection the speed is about what one would experience using a home based dial-up connection (can be frustratingly slow). No matter what system we use on the road - I end up paying for our home based cable modem system as well which is making less and less sense.

I have been researching the various options available to us for accessing the internet and it looks like we are going to change to a broadband wireless system offered by Verizon Wireless. I plan on using a USB based wireless modem and a compatible router so we can have more than one device "on-line" at a time. We will use this system at home as well as when we are on the road so I won't have to pay for something at home that we can't use while we are traveling. The speed of the connection will vary depending on where we are and what type of signal is available from Verizon but it looks like our speed at home will actually improve! We have a cable based connection at home but we have the slowest (and cheapest) connection they offer which is only slightly better than dial-up (around 130 kbps download and 56 kbps upload). With the Verizon Wireless Broadband system I expect to see at least 1000 kbps download and 500 kbps on upload when we are home and similar speeds when we are on the road in a "good" signal area.

So tomorrow I will order the hardware and service plan and get it running when the hardware arrives (hopefully sometime late next week). After ensuring that it works the way I expect it will I will cancel our cable internet service. Unfortunately - when I cancel the cable service I will lose our e-mail address that we have used for the past 15 or so years (evringham@suscom-maine.net). We have been using a secondary e-mail address at mpevring@aol.com for a year or so now that was set up anticipating this kind of change and many of you already use this address when sending e-mail to us. Assuming the change goes ahead as planned I will probably set up another internet based email account for me and leave the mpevring@aol.com account for mostly Peggy. But more on that later!

Stay tuned to see if Mikee actually improves his internet connection speed and reliability or find out if the experiment fails miserably!

Plymouth, MA

Yesterday Peggy and I continued our visit to the Cape by taking the short drive up to Plymouth, MA. I have been to Plymouth several times over the past 30 years to consult with the folks at the nearby Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant and one of my past vendors – Bartlett Nuclear Inc. But Peggy has never made the trip with me and I never took the time to play tourist so we played tourist yesterday.

We started the day in downtown Plymouth near the bay by visiting Plymouth Rock and the other monuments to the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower that landed here in 1620. For those that pay attention to the news – you may have heard that some elderly lady accidentally drove her mini-van into a crowd of folks paying tribute to Vietnam Veterans at a park in downtown Plymouth yesterday. Well we were right at the scene of that fiasco – but fortunately it happened an hour or so after we left. While we were down by the bay we visited the Mayflower II – a replica of the Mayflower that was built in England in 1956 by craftsmen using 1600s technology and was sailed here in 1957 without escort. We had a very interesting tour and gained a perspective on what life would have been like aboard a very small ship in the early 1600s along with a hundred other souls spending a couple months at sea traveling to the new world. The Mayflower II and the nearby Plimoth Plantation are museums that use actors in apparel of the day and using language of the day to answer the questions of us tourists who visit. It was fun to talk to the actors who are very good at staying “in character” while answering questions.

After our visit to the downtown attractions we found a nice restaurant on the bay to have a leisurely lunch before heading to our next adventure at Plimoth Plantation. Plimoth Plantation is a re-creation of an early 1600s village in New England – built using the technology of the day and is presented as a working community with more “actors” who not only dress the part and talk the part – but actually work in the village doing the chores people would need to do – building buildings, tending crops and tending to animals. All this while cheerfully talking to us tourists and answering our questions (which they probably have heard hundreds of times) and staying in character the entire time. Not far from the “Pilgrim” village is a recreation of a Wampanoag settlement. The Wampanoag were the natives that befriended the Pilgrims and helped them survive their first months/years in the new world. The Wampanoag village is also inhabited – but this time the displays are manned by native Americans dressed in native garb and doing activities that they would have been doing “in the day” like making boats, cooking, building their housing, and making clothing. The Native Americans that inhabit the Wampanoag settlement are not actors and do not “stay in character” but are glad to answer questions about their culture and history.

We had a great time while in Plymouth. Although the admission fee to the Mayflower II/Plimoth Plantation is a little steep ($28 each for both locations – good for two days) – both of us felt the experience was well worth the $$ and we would definitely do it again!

We plan on staying here for one more day and heading home tomorrow. Today we plan on driving down to East Falmouth/Woods Hole to check out what’s down there and then maybe we’ll head up to Hyannis/Hyannisport to see where the Kennedy’s hang out.

The rain has stopped and I think the sun is scheduled for an appearance before the day is out – so off we go …

Playing with the Pilgrims

We had a great few days visiting with Brian, Nicky, Alyssa, and Emily and the annual big dance recital on Sunday was a success as always. The girls were beautiful in their costumes and make-up although Grandpa prefers the normal little girl look – but I suppose once a year is OK to pretend they are grown-up (the third dancer on the right is Alyssa’s friend Morgan – daughter of Brian and Nicky’s good friends Tom and Dawn). After the recital we all (Brian, Nicky, the girls, and Nicky’s mom and dad) had a sort of “after party” at Applebee’s and then we had to say our goodbyes since we would be leaving in the morning. Goodbyes are always tough but we feel fortunate to have spent time with all the NJ Evringhams for the third time this year before the end of May! It looks like they have plans to visit Maine in July so hopefully it won’t be long before we see then again.

Peggy and I left New Jersey on Monday and traveled up the I-95 corridor to around Mystic, CT where we stayed for the evening. After a lazy morning we hit the road again this morning and drove the relatively short distance up the coast and arrived here at Peter’s Pond near Sandwich, MA on Cape Cod where we plan to stay for a couple of days before heading back home. Although we have lived in Maine now for 29 years – we have never visited “the Cape” – so we thought we would take this opportunity. Actually – I think the timing is great … the weather is pretty decent and schools are still in session so the traffic and crowds are down – a great time to play tourist.

After arriving here and setting up camp in a very nice RV “Resort” we started out to take a short drive and see a few sights. The short drive ended up to be a trip all the way to the end of the Cape (Provincetown) and back. The drive up the coast along Route 6A was really nice and we got to see many very nice old homes – some that I’m sure date back to the 1700s. We stopped along the way to visit the Cape Cod National Seashore and Nauset Beach Lighthouse. The Nauset lighthouse is still a working navigational beacon.

Tomorrow we plan on driving over to Plymouth and do some touristy stuff including a visit to Plimoth Plantation and the required viewing of Plymouth Rock. Although the Rock was clearly not the stepping off point in the New World for the Pilgrims – viewing it still has some tourist lure and the best part – it’s free!

Remember – You may not be able to change history – but it can change you.