Random January Post

Nothing all that exciting going on here, just a couple of random things to assemble in order to keep the posts coming semi-regularly.

Saturday night was the Pioneer Club picnic at Mebane Presbyterian Church. It was a lot of fun, and despite being in a big dim room, I got at least one picture that I liked. It's Jennifer holding Anika Kreider, who is just about 0.417 years old (5 months).

Anika and Jennifer Hosted on Zooomr

On Sunday the kids took a stab at splitting firewood.

Teamwork Hosted on Zooomr

Clevage Hosted on Zooomr

Brute Force Hosted on Zooomr

Woodsplitter T Hosted on Zooomr

Zoe working hard Hosted on Zooomr

Our crappy Mebtel DSL router stopped functioning on Saturday morning, so essential web-surfing is being done via dial-up. How awful is that? We tried to get Mebtel to just do an equipment swap with the faulty router, since this thing (and its predecessors of the same make and model) have been nothing but trouble for years, but they want to do some troubleshooting with us when we're home, rather than just taking the bad unit (which I left on the porch for them) away, and leaving a functioning one.

I used to be an IT professional, so you can bet that I did whatever I could to make that thing work. Here's how I think the "troubleshooting" will go.

Mebtel: Is the unit plugged in?
Me: Yes.
Mebtel: Are you sure the outlet has power?
Me: Seeing as the lights are on and flashing, yes.
Mebtel: Try this. . . .
Me: OK, did that, still not working.
Mebtel: Alright, try this. . . .
Me: OK, did that, still not working.
Mebtel: Alright, try this. . .
Me: OK, did that, still not working.
Mebtel: Hold please

(seven minutes of silence)

Mebtel: Your router is faulty, we'll have to replace it.
Me: I think I told you that yesterday.
Mebtel: Will someone be home between 8 and 5 tomorrow so our technician can come inside and plug two wires into a new box for you. . . .
Me: No, but do you happen to know how much broadband from Time Warner Cable is going for these days. . .