The Big Announcement

Ok, here is the big announcement......Meet Triston. Triston is our 5 year old Grandson. Yes, I said Grandson.

This is Triston with his mother Angela. Angela is a fabulous MOM and a wonderful young woman, and we are proud to welcome them both into our family.

I'm not going to go into details. Obviously this is somewhat of a 'new' develop in our family tree, compliments of our only son--Sam. I'm not going to say this was a complete surprise, but it was somewhat of a surprise. We have all come together in the last few weeks and what is past is past. The important thing now, is that we have come together. As I said, we are proud to welcome both Triston and Angela into our family. So, there you have it. We are now proud grandparents and we plan on sharing lots of photos. There will, of course, be lots of bragging as well. LOL!

Everything else in our lives pales in comparison to this news, so I think I'll leave it at that for today........except to say, aren't they both beautiful.....

River Internet!!

Can you believe this.....I actually have internet right here at the river. I decided to "plug in" the Verizon card one more time. This time I decided to attach the antenna DH bought for our cell phones to the aircard. It works and it works great. I actually have broadband speeds a lot of the time. Finally a break in the Twilight Zone of Technology!

Ok, now bout that surprise I have to announce.......one more day. I will post the news sometime on Friday. Till then......

No River Internet for us.....

I now have a Verizon air card. Whoopee! It does NOT work at the river.......which would be why I am currently sitting in a Pizza Hut in Delphi to update my blog. I have 30 days to decide if I want to keep the Verizon card. DH and I have decided before we make the decision we are going to check with ATT. We currently are ATT customers and I'm hoping that an ATT air card might be a little cheaper since we have 4 phones with them on a Family Plan. I also have heard that ATT now has "hot spots" like some McDonalds and Starbucks where you can access the internet through your air card or Iphone for free. All worth looking into before we make the decision. It is now clear that internet at the river is just not a possibility. Delphi is only about 10 miles down the road from our river lot. I guess we will we get to know the small town pretty well by the time we leave in the Fall.

As to the weather here in Indiana, we still are having a lot of rain and some severe weather. Now the humidity has hit and 90 degrees feels like 100 degrees. This makes for some pretty slow and lazy days for DH and I. If this keeps up we may have to make a 'mini' trip north, just to cool down for awhile. We see how it goes.

I'm going to 'tease' you folks just a little.......I have a rather big surprise to post for my next blog.......so stay tuned........

Twilight Zone Technology

Well, we are still working on these technology issues. I have pretty much decided that the river lot here in Indiana is part of some strange Bermuda Triangle. Cell signals, internet signals, Direct Tv signals all seem to be ‘eaten’ and mysteriously disappear......

DH spent around $300 for an antenna and signal booster for our Iphone and it is only providing a slight improvement in signal strength. I still only have one bar most of the time, but sometimes I will get two. It does seem to be a little more stable.

I downloaded the much anticipated 3.0 software for my Iphone. My Iphone now has some new bells and whistles for me to figure out and the internet speed does seem to be somewhat improved. So far, so good on the cell phone front. Unfortunately, rumor has it that ATT will be waiting till the end of summer to come out with “tethering plans’. There is speculation that it will run around $30 a month. Since I can’t seem to improve my cell signal here at the river, I don’t think the ‘tethering’ thing is going to be of much use here anyway......especially since there will be an additional charge. We have decided to check into a Verizon Air Card. I did speak with a Verizon rep last week and found that they do have some coverage of the river area....or so they say. I did confirm; however, that I would have 30 days to try out the card and if it does not work I can return everything for a full refund. We figure we don’t have anything to lose here, so I think we will give Verizon a try.

My little brain is just dizzy from all this tech-no junk! I just want to ‘plug it in’ and have something work! But no, that would be tooooo easy......everything is a struggle here in the Twilight Zone know as ”The River Lot“......LOL We are really ‘roughing it’ here ‘deep in the woods’ HE, HE!

On a happier note, I received an unexpected gift from one of my close friends. She saw a necklace and she thought it was just meant for me to wear. It is quite pretty. It is an oval with a heart suspended in the center. There is an inscription on the oval. It states, ”Well behaved woman rarely make history.“ Guess that kinda says it all......Thanks Shari Baby......I will wear it with pride.

Oh, and DH did finally get the wireless network set up back at the stickhouse. At least something went right for a change on the Techie front. LOL.

Iphones are US!

Wow, thanks for all the great comments and support on the whole direct tv thing. It will be interesting to see how we do when we have to set this thing up on our own for the first time.

Our next big triumph---cell phones. We have decided to stay with ATT . We now both have Iphones. There is to be a release of new software for the Iphone 3G and 3Gs which will finally allow us to tether the Iphone to our computer for internet. Right now, ATT does not have a plan in place to charge for this....but I’m guessing it will probably run around $30.00 a month. I had checked with Verizon and that’s what it cost to tether the Blackberry. We shall see....

The whole Iphone thing was interesting. I have an older non 3G Iphone and our son had the newer 3G, and DH had a really old cell phone--I don’t even remember the brand. At any rate, my son is giving me his old 3G so I am giving DH my old Iphone. Sounded so simple in theory.....Well, not so simple. We spent a good 30 minutes at the ATT store getting sim cards switched and our account brought up to date with the new plans. Then we went home to activate DH’s Iphone via Itunes. All I needed to do was transfer my address book to my new 3G again via Itunes. The young man at the ATT store most of thought me to feeble minded to accomplish this because he put everything down in writing so I would not screw it all up. Bless his little heart! LOL! In all fairness, he was very helpful and sweet. Unfortunately, I don’t think he really knew the ends and outs of this transfer process. I followed the directions and nothing happened to either phone. The only thing that happen was all my son’s phone numbers and such ended up on my computer.......not a good thing! OK, so after much ranting, raving, and whining I finally figured out what I needed to do. So I guess this feeble minded woman might just be ‘one up’ on that young whippersnapper at the ATT store. LOL!

We are now anxiously awaiting the release of the new software so I can tether my Iphone to my computer for internet. If this works, than DH will invest in an antenna to boost our cell signal on the river lot. All of you need to keep fingers crossed that this works.......because then, at last, I will have internet at the fiver at the river.

As to the internet at the stick house....that too has become a problem. We tried to set up a network for our computers to access internet wirelessly and no matter how we tried we can’t seem to make it work. Now, we have to “plug in” every time we want to get online. Did I tell you, DH and I don’t share well. So, right now he is at the stick house on line and I am online at Panera Bread! I’ll be so glad when we get all this straightened out and I can “pull the plug” on every thing at the house.

Direct TV

Today, I have a story to tell. The story is about our journey to Direct TV. It is a looooonnnnggggg story---so hang in there.....

My DH had originally called and tried to place an order for Direct TV. He had tried to explain that we were full timers and that the satellite would need to be on a tripod. Long story short----not going to happen! So, now DH decides to purchase his own tripod. Once we have the tripod, DH places the order for Direct Tv via their internet site. In the “installer notes” section, he stipulates that we live in the woods and that the satellite will need to be mounted on our tripod in order to have a clear view of the sky.

Installer arrives (Noon)--right on time I might add. Where is DH ? DH is in town because our cell service here comes and goes and he is certain that the installer will call because he will not be able to find us----here, deep in the woods. WRONG! Al-righty then, I’m in charge. I explain the situation to the installer, show him the tripod, and he begins his installation. Meanwhile, I have discovered that the cell phone gods have decided to allow me a signal---here, deep in the woods---I call DH to tell him to please return home. DH does not answer his phone. DW finds this extremely frustrating because the whole point of DH going to town was to "answer the ding, dang phone"! At this point, the installer is having issues and questions. Questions that DW does not know the answers too! DW is now desperate to speak with DH. Fortunately for DH, he finally answers his phone. DH explains he does not know why, but his phone is not ringing. DW suspects that DH inadvertently has turned off his ringer and does not realize it. DW will deal with that later, she informs DH to come home because installer is here--deep in the woods--and has questions.......

You see, DH had set up the tripod where he felt the installer had the best chance of receiving a signal. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case. Our neighbor has Dish Network and has his satellite mounted on the split-rail fence separating the properties. DH had spoken with him yesterday and had gotten permission to place the tripod on the neighbors property--just across the fence line--if the current location did not work. So, the installer is now on the neighbor’s property, carrying around a satellite trying to locate a signal. He finds one, but it is a good 3 feet past the fence line and into the neighbor’s driveway. DW is concerned about this position, but we decide to go for it.

Finally, DH returns. He and the installer run the cables to our fifth wheel. We had our fifth wheel wired for satellite tv, but that did not include a receiver capable of recording. You see, the recording section of the receiver needs it’s own line. So, you need to ”innies“ on the outside of the rv. Fortunately, DH had put in two ports for our satellite internet. Since we are currently not using those ports, the installer was able to connect there. Whew! Now, we are on the inside of the fifth wheel. The two cables from the outside are now attached to the back of the receiver. Next problem. We cannot connect the direct tv receiver to our tv in the manner we had hoped too. Our tv attaches to the front of a cabinet with about 8 screws and all the wires are run through a small hole and then plugged into their appropriate receptacles inside that cabinet. Of course the ”plug in“ for the direct tv receiver was not accessible. We had to remove the tv from the cabinet, find the right port, plug in , and then re-attach the tv to the cabinet. Now, the cable is hanging down the front of the cabinet, under the tv, and over to the receiver. DW is not happy about this, but that will have to be attended to later.

Ok, so we finally have all our connections made and we are ready to activate the dish. Installer can’t get a signal on his little hand-held thingy which allows him to activate the dish. WHAT--YOU ARE KIDDING? NOPE! OH, but you can use a phone and call the center. Thank goodness the cell phone gods are still cooperating and we do mange to call the center and activate the dish. Guess what, the dish doesn’t pass. It can’t find one of the satellites that it needs---the one that has all the channels! CRAP! Maybe we should all just go jump in the river at this point! AH, the installer has a better option. He changes out the arm and I don’t know why it works, but it does and we lock on to all the satellites we need and PRESTO we have Direct TV!! DW notices that our neighbor has returned home. She sends DH over to confer with neighbor about tripod which now sits on his property. Good news, nifty neighbor has no problems with our tripod.

Oh and by the way, DH’s cell phone was having a problem. DW ended up needing to select a different ring tone to finally get the cell phone to ring---so, all is forgiven...

......and that my friends, is the story of Direct Tv---here, deep in the woods......

Wish I had some fascinating story to share with all of you, but things are pretty 'day to day' with us right now.

We are in the process of gathering carpet information. The carpet that originally came with our fiver is just awful. So, we have been shopping around for new. We found one made by Shaw that is very nice, but pricey too! We are waiting to hear a final price, I picked out one of those anti bacterial pads with a moisture barrier. Thought it might help, if one of the furballs has an accident. The carpet comes highly rated and it has a 'soft back' which our installers say is much nicer to work with in an rv application. We also would like to replace our recliners and the love seat. We were thinking of going with three recliners, but I think that will have to wait til next year. There is nothing really wrong with the current furniture, other than, the sofa is hard as a rock and the chairs, we feel, are a bit oversized for the area. In the stick house, we currently have a 'slipper chair'. A slipper chair is a chair without arms. We may move the current love seat out and put one of the recliners in its place. We could the put the 'slipper chair' next to the remaining recliner. We think this arrangement would give us a little more room, but still provide extra sitting for when company calls. We certainly don't won't anyone sitting on the floor....LOL! I will be sure and let you know how this all turns out! I'm sure you will all be sitting on the edge of your seats in anticipation of our decision. Our first issue is figuring out how to get the love seat out of the fiver....LOL!

DH just informed me he order our Direct tv. We have already purchased and received our tri-pod. Won't the installer be surprised when we show him where to mount the dish? Tee, hee!

Another Soggy Day

Been working hard in between the down pours. This is a job I did all by myself....spreading the gravel around the fire pit and adding a little pathway to the fiver. I think it looks great and a big improvement over the mud! It took me 2 days to complete---a shovelful at at time. DH has been busy keeping up with all the mowing at the river and the house so I thought this was the least I could do to help him. Boy, did I have some sore muscles for a few days!

This photo is of the second pile of stone we have yet to spread. We also had new stone placed on our rv site. These small improvements should make life out in the wilderness a little more civilized. LOL!

The weather here has just been terrible. We are lucky to get a couple of days of sunshine before the next weather system moves in. The rain gets really depressing after awhile, but the severe weather is really scary. The night before last, we were up til the wee hours waiting till the storm passed before we went to bed.

On a brighter note, I'm singing again with Choral Club. We have two shows coming up this month. I'm looking forward to preforming again. Lots of music to memorize in a couple of weeks, but it is good for the old brain cells.

Till next time........safe travels and please send some sunshine our way if you have any to spare :-))