Technical Jargon

Today I wrestled out of my class…and lost. I don’t have a natural inclination to techie things and today my lack of ability brought me to my knees.

Yesterday I noticed something was wrong with my internet connection. I went to investigate. Hmmm, no lights were lit on my wireless router. I tried unplugging and replugging, switching plugs, disconnecting wires and reconnecting. No dice. After consulting with several of these “techie types” I determined my power supply was shot and needed to get a new one.

I mentioned this to Jason last night and he gave me an Apple Airport Express that he didn’t need anymore. “Great!” I thought. “I’ll set that up in the morning.” Ha ha ha…little did I know.

I started out by plugging it in and connecting the “Ethernet” cable. (I’ve learned that term in the past 24 hours) As you know, Apple products are designed for people like me. S-I-M-P-L-E. Apparently all you need to do is plug it in and you’re pretty much set. 14 hours later…I’m still without internet.

What is a LAN? A domain name? WEP? IPP? Why is this so confusing?!?! At one point in the set up, it asked for information that would have been supplied by my internet provider. Since I didn’t have this information, I called Bell. This did not help much!

The guy I was talking to didn’t realize until 15 minutes into our conversation that I had a wireless router. He assured me that the model of modem I have will not work wirelessly. This confused me as it had been working perfectly fine until yesterday. He then went on to say I had been using someone else’s internet. Ummmm, no. It was mine! Finally I made him realize that I was using a wireless router. Geesh!

It was then that I discovered Bell should’ve sent me a wireless modem in the first place. I didn’t even know that was possible. To add to the frustration, I had just gone through a back & forth with Bell about a month ago when a power bump knocked out my modem. It took 4 weeks to straighten all that out and now I need a different modem?

So, now I wait. Stealing internet from my unassuming neighbours ☺

Losing an Old Friend

Listening to someone talk about events that are now considered history is something that you cannot get from a history book, or even watching a movie. You get a perspective from someone that actually experienced the events themselves.

Last week I found out I had lost an old friend. Gord Parsons lived in Petrolia and we would often meet for coffee and I would listen to him. He would talk about the war, his childhood in Wales, being a radio operator in the war, his hobby of HAM radio, his buddies from the war. Gord liked to talk about the war. Maybe it was therapeutic for him to talk about those horrific experiences all those years ago. Maybe he just wanted someone to listen. But, I enjoyed those times in the coffee shop.

In some ways he reminded me of my grandpa. He was also in the war, but we never really talked much about that. Unfortunately I lost my grandpa before I realized what a treasure of stories he had. I feel like connecting with Gord helped me connect with my Grandad.

Gord was well known in Petrolia. You could often see him peddling his bike around town, sitting in the corner booth at the coffee shop (or The Great Wall when it was still around) and usually with his sketch pad, paints or pencils. Gord was an artist and was often sketching or painting. I would sometimes get little hand painted cards in the mail. Sometimes they'd have a note scrawled on the back, sometimes not.

I will miss bumping into an old friend and getting the occasional card in the mail, but it was nice knowing you Gord.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving weekend...one of my favourite of the year. It's a beautiful time of year with crisp days, trees changing, pumpkin lattes - ahh. Love it. AND...it's turkey time. What is better than a turkey dinner, prepared by mom, with all the "trimmings" (I hate that term)?

I'm not totally sure where the thankfulness comes into play. I know in school we learned about Pilgrims and Indians eating a feast together but it's kind of all faded from memory. It has become another long weekend and a time to spend with family. But, a little reflection provides plenty for me to be thankful for.

This year my family had it's biggest crisis to date to deal with. My sister Jo-Anne was diagnosed with colon cancer this spring. Although it was a difficult time for all of us as we dealt with the "c" word, we are thankful that she has come through the surgery and is on the road to recovery. We don't know exactly what lies ahead, but who does? We are just glad that she is here with us and seems to be back to her usual self.

Also this year, I was in my first car accident. When looking back at the situation, there are so many scenarios that could've turned out much worse. It was scary, frustrating, an inconvenience and has had lasting effects but in the big picture, I am thankful for God's protection that night.

I'm also thankful for all the amazing people in my life that love me so much.

It's easy to complain about things but I'm choosing to accentuate the positive
...eliminate the negative. Oh sorry... got caught up in a song there. Anyway, you get the picture.

So, what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? (is it that you can't hear me singing?)

Save Local TV

Do you watch local TV? Do you think local TV matters? Imagine for a moment if it didn't exist. There would be no outlet for local information. Missing children, health concerns, road closures, local weather, local sports, etc. In addition to that, there would be no support for local charities that look to local TV personalities to host events, and depend on the local station for promotion. Local businesses would have no where to advertise what they have to offer.

That could be the reality very soon. Conventional television is changing. Think back to when you were a kid and you had the choice of several channels. For me, it was about 3 or 4. Now, consider how many options you have to choose from. The proverbial pie is being sliced so small that is in impossible for small stations to make a go of it.

Now, for a moment...imagine that you made a really cool item. Whatever your hobby is, pretend you made the most beautiful quilt or exquisite piece of furniture. Then, someone comes along and takes it from you. (he has every right to) He walks down the street and sells it for a nice profit to someone else. How would that make you feel? Cheated? I would think so.

That is exactly what is happening to local TV stations by large cable companies. For years, they have been supplying consumers with our local signals, charging them for it, and paying us NOTHING for our product. Is that fair? We think not, so we are fighting back. We are not asking cable companies to charge you more, we just want them to pay for what they are taking for free.

For more information, visit this website. Let your voice be heard! http://localtvmatters.ca/about/

Daily Ptoto Project (September)