Tech

by

All Macs Go To Heaven

My Macbook Air has been behaving poorly for a few weeks. Now that I have a more stable internet connection, I was finally able to run a bunch of diagnostics and confirm that my SSD (solid state drive) is failing, which is not surprising for this particular machine. In fact, it was expected and replacing my computer in late 2015 was on the books.

I have one of the first generations of Macs with a SSD and there were problems with some of the drives, as there often is with generation 1.0. This would have likely been a warranty item had it happened sooner, but this machine is four years old, so I’m out of luck. In addition to a new hard drive, I need more RAM and a new battery, so I’m looking at replacing rather than repairing at this point.

I bought my first/last brand new Mac eight years ago. Since then, I’ve played the used Mac market well and replaced my older Macs with newer ones for very little money because of the trade in value of my older units. My current Macbook Air cost me absolutely nothing and I haven’t even put any money into it. It has served me very well for two years, but it is a four year old machine, so it’s time to go to Mac heaven. And by that, I mean eBay. I should be able to get $500 or so for it by advertising it honestly for parts (in pristine condition, it’s still worth just over $1,000). Not bad for an older dying computer that was free!

Apple has made a lot of changes in that time to both hardware (mostly connectors) and software. I am getting exponentially behind and increasingly fearful of switching to the new operating system because, well, I don’t handle computer change very well. 🙂

Even so, after much thought, I’ve decided that my next Mac is going to be brand new, just to reset the clock, so to speak. I want another Macbook Air because of the battery life and slim profile, but everything I’m seeing used or refurbished only has 4GB of RAM. I made the mistake with my last brand new Mac of not being patient, buying off the shelf, and being stuck with not enough RAM within a year. My current machine has 4GB and it isn’t enough. So I might as well bite the bullet and go the custom route. Plus, by buying new, I get the full warranty and a capital expense that will help me with my taxes!

I built my dream MBA on the Apple store to get the final cost so I could figure out how much I was short and make a plan to scrape together the rest. It was surprisingly reasonable. I’m glad I’ve stepped away from the MacBook Pro. Since I’ve known this day was coming for a while, I’ve been putting a little bit aside for months and was hoping to buy just before leaving for Mexico at the end of October. (No, I wouldn’t save anything by waiting and buying in the States.)

However with two hard crashes in as many days, I don’t have the luxury of time and I need a new computer ASAP…

Because I don’t know yet just when the new job pays (there’s apparently a cheque in the mail) and with transcription being too slow right now to do much more than cover the essential bills for August, I’m loathe to empty out savings and bridge the gap with credit to buy the computer right this second. So I’m hoping my current Mac can last another 60 days or so, the amount of time it will take for the July money to fully roll in and for Apple to get the new Mac to me.

But at the rate the hard crashes are coming, I think my hand is going to be forced and that I’ll have to buy as soon as the expected cheque lands in the next 10 days or so (if it really is in the mail). Which will mean being tight for a bit, but, hey, my expenses here are low and my food stores are topped up. I can ride this out!

It wouldn’t have been so long ago that imminent computer meltdown would have been a crisis. Now, it’s just a cash flow issue thing. Things are really improving! 😀

Next problem, where do I get the darn thing shipped? Of course, Apple won’t ship to a PO box and I’ll need decent internet to set it up. I really need to make a friend in Moose Jaw! 🙂

by

Antenna Day

Today was the day to mount my booster antenna onto a 20′ foot pole and get the pole mounted to the cabin. The goal of this was to improve my signal stability, get my antenna off my neighbour’s property, and get the antenna cable off the ground.

Croft and I have been working on this project for a bit and I really owe him a bottle of good Scotch! He’s helped me work through all the steps and solve issues, like the fact that I couldn’t actually wrangle a top heavy 20′ pole and get it vertical!

It was a lot of hard physical work, mostly while balancing on a ladder, but I got it done!

For the pole, I used the two 10′ sections of chain link fence top railing. This was perfect because the pieces are meant to fit into each other, making for a 20′ foot pole that I could actually fit in my truck!

So here it is:

IMGP2204.

Croft suggested I secure the pole in the ground with cement, but that was too permanent with impending construction, so I dug a hole and then wedged the pole in between a bunch of rocks. It’s secure!

IMGP2205

To get the pole vertical, I laid the two pieces on the ground, with the antenna end against the building. I then slotted the two pieces together and secured them somewhat with duct tape to keep them from separating:

IMGP2206

Croft suggested I secure a rope to the pole, climb the ladder, and then use the rope to pull up the pole until I could grab it. What worked better for me was to lift the pole as high as I could and lean it against the building, climb up, grab the pole, and then very, very, very careful ease it up. It was very top heavy and it wouldn’t have taken much for it to pull me off the ladder so I was extra cautious!

I had already secured a block of wood to the eave to bring it flush with the roof, so once the pole was almost vertical, but still angled enough to stay in place on its own, I quickly secured the top with strapping.  Croft had also suggested a U-shaped clamp to secure the top of the pole to the eave, but the home stores in town didn’t have the right size. One clerk suggested I use flexible plumbing strapping. Croft thought it would be too flexible for the job, but I believed that it could be molded to provide a much tighter fit. Hate to say it, but I was right. 🙂 The pipe is completely immobile. For this step, I just secured the banding loosely to hold the pipe while I adjusted the antenna’s direction, and then I went back up with several more screws to get the tight fit.

IMGP2207

After doing the preliminary securing at the eave, I went back to the ground and gently pushed the pole up so I could get it into the hole and secure it with the rocks.

Croft also advised me to secure the wire to the pole to take a load off the connector. So I gathered up all the loose cable and secured it with a zip tie and then secured the bundle to the cable with another zip tie.

IMGP2208

Finally, how did I mount the Yagi to the pole? As it turned out, I had what I needed, I just didn’t know it! I’ve been using a U-shaped bolt and a clamp with teeth to secure it to the broom handle I’ve been using for years, but that didn’t give me enough grip for mounting onto a metal pole. Well, I found another clamp with teeth while I was emptying out the junk drawer the other day! I forgot to take a picture while the pole was on the ground, but my camera’s zoom is amazing:

IMGP2210

(Here’s another view of the materials, but there’s only one clamp with teeth. I wound up with two since I had to buy several antennas to get one that worked well.)

My signal strength is now going between -83 and -88 when I was getting between -87 and -110 before (usually sitting at -95). Before doing all the final securing, I tested a download, ie. some critical system updates. I went from an estimated download time of +4 hours with the download timing out every five to ten minutes to an estimated download time of 30 minutes and no timeout! I’m not seeing any improvements while surfing the web, however.

This was a big job but worth it! My internet setup looks a lot less hillbillyish (with all due respect to hillbillies).

My only concern about this is that I’ve lost the ability to bring the Yagi to Mexico as there is no way I am taking this apart! I have another antenna that I think will work well, so I’ll have to get some coax cable for it and find the necessary connectors. I didn’t use my phone much on Isla last winter, but I was always glad to have the ability to do so thanks to the booster since service in the heart of the village was poor.

I am still not going to promote the booster I am using because I am not impressed with it and don’t want to give Wilson any more publicity since they are such a horrible company. Let’s just say that I should have plenty of range to use my phone anywhere within a 125′ radius of my office and that I go from -87 to -120 when I step two feet away from the inside antenna. Well, at least I get that -120 now. I was getting no signal when I did that before today’s exertion. 🙂

by

A Much Needed Domestic Day

I’ve been back at Haven for just over a month now and today was the first day that I was able to just focus on home. Now is the time to confess that I wondered what it would like to return to teeny tiny Miranda after a winter of rattling around in my huge Mexican casita. Well, it’s been wonderful, so cozy and comfortable. I’m in no hurry to move!

Before beginning the domestic stuff this morning, I started some updates for my computer since I wouldn’t need it today. Unfortunately, I had to cancel them a few minutes ago after trying all day to get them downloaded and my connection repeatedly timing out. I called SaskTel yesterday and we determined that there actually is something going on with my account, but they can’t figure out what until my billing cycle resets in two weeks. *sighs*

While the computer was busy, I set to work in the kitchen. It’s been feeling very chaotic since I got back, mostly because of the under sink leak and not being able to put things away under there. So I spent some time cleaning the area well, making sure that there were no other leaks, and put things away.

Then, I decided to empty out and clean my pot cupboard since I found some weevils in my soup pot the other day. I’ll spare you a picture, but let’s just say I’m glad I’m not squeamish because I found weevil central. And by weevil, I mean little critters that look like tiny worms, not necessarily actual weevils.

Since I had to wash everything in that cupboard, I decided to do some much needed scrubbing of my pots and pans with Barkeepers Friend and some steel wool.

I’ve been using the same set of Meyer pots and pans since I moved out on my own in 1998 and I have made thousands of meals with them. Needless to say, they get pretty crusty and covered with grease and scorch marks, no matter how hard I scrub them after making a meal. So a couple of times a year, I do a big scrub and restore them to a mirror shine with the Barkeepers Friend and steel wool. It’s a process that’s really hard on my hands, even when wearing gloves (!), hence why I don’t pull out the BF after every meal.

I did this to the lid of my soup pot in just the last couple of weeks after using it as a lid for my cast iron pan:

IMGP2183

That black stuff is all under the lid, along the rim, and it goes right to the top of the lid:

And after a few minutes of scrubbing:

IMGP2184

Once my pots were all shiny, I put everything away again and took the time to reorganize the cupboard a bit as well as some of my overhead cabinets. Then, I washed all the cabinet doors.

By this time, I was beyond ready for lunch, so I finished up the zucchini and chicken I had for dinner last night. I still can’t believe that I have found a use for zucchini outside of chocolate cake. It is such a wonderful replacement for pasta.

After lunch, I started the dishwasher, collapsed in my chair, put my feet up for a bit, and read for a couple of hours!

Speaking of the dishwasher, it is amazing. 🙂 It is exactly the right size for my kitchen. It lives between the bookcase and the canned good cabinet, leaving me ample room to access both, and it’s not in the way to climb the ladder to the loft. I can pull it out, turn it, and bring it to the sink without having to move anything. I haven’t had any use for that space since I lost my cats, because that was where I stored their litter box, so the dishwasher doesn’t feel like it’s taking up any precious space.

It also gives me the little bit of extra counter space I needed for my food processor and tortilla press. I use both too often for it to be worth storing them between uses.

IMGP2200

I am really happy I bought the dishwasher. It is a huge improvement to my quality of life.

Late afternoon, after cleaning the dressing room, I went for a walk. It is very smoky and hazy out there. Saskatchewan is having a record breaking dry June and we are having tons of wildfires. I’m not sure where this smoke is coming from, but I know that the northern part of the province is burning, so I imagine that the smoke from there is drifting south. The conditions remind me of my first Klondike summer, when Yukon was plagued by wildfires.

When I came in, I made a giant pitcher of lemonade. All the recipes I found had the proportions as being 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of water to 1 cup of lemon juice, and then dilute as needed. Since I don’t do much sugar anymore, I only used a half cup of sugar and it was still way too much. Next time, I’ll do just a quarter cup. I really like lemonade when it’s very hot out as it seems to quench thirst better than just plain water and I haven’t had it in eons. For some reason, there are no lemons in Mexico, so I do ‘limonada’ there, which is limeade. Tasty, but not the same!

And then, it was time for dinner and I didn’t feel like cooking. So I went to the grainery to get a quarter of Co-Op’s amazing frozen ‘deluxe’ pizza (peppers, pepperoni, sausage, onion, black olives), quite simply the best frozen pizza I’ve ever had (they also do a yummy chicken and pineapple over BBQ sauce pizza!). I buy the pizzas on sale (3 for $9.99). They are a little soft by the time I get home, so open them up and use scissors to cut them into quarters, rewrap, and toss in the freezer. Then, when I have a day when I’ve been active and my kitchen is perfect and I don’t want to mess it up, it’s easy to pull out just as much pizza as I should be eating at one time.

While the pizza was baking, I went outside and dug a hole for my antenna pole. I might actually get that project done one day. It’s just that I have service now and every time I play with the antenna it takes ages to find service again. So I really need a full day for this project. Maybe this coming Friday will be the day…

I’m so glad I got this day off before starting the new job tomorrow. I feel like I managed to reboot my brain. I’ve had a lot of technological frustration in the last few weeks, so having a day away from the computer did me a world of good!

by

Double Town Day

I hadn’t planned to go to town today, but my second warranty replacement for my Western Digital drive was waiting for me at the post office and I needed some things at the home store, so I had ample reason to go.

I’ve had a Western Digital drive for five years now that has never failed me, but haven’t had any luck with the My Passport brand. My first one crapped out on me in Mexico and I got it replaced while I was traveling through the US last month. A month later, the replacement failed! I asked them to send me something different and they sent me a My Passport Air specifically formatted for Mac, a significant upgrade. If this one lasts, it will have been worth all the money I’ve spent in returning the old drives!

Since I’ve been craving a hamburger since I got home and have made some more weight loss progress, I decided to go to 121 Steakhouse for lunch. I went all out and ordered a bacon cheeseburger with sweet potato fries! The kitchen goofed and sent me curly fries instead, which are just as good, so I told the server not to send them back, but to please remove the substitution fee. That fee has jumped to $2! No more substitution, even to salad, for me! But because it was a mistake, they actually reimbursed me $2.79, not $2. So I picked a good day to have lunch there. 🙂 Their coffee is absolutely mindbogglingly amazing, so I pretty much had a huge pot of it, too. I need to remember that and get a to go coffee from there instead of at the gas station!

After lunch, I went to the home store to get some things for my cell phone booster antenna project (thanks, Croft!). More on that when I do the project on Sunday.

Then, it was off to the grocery store to get what was on sale this week. I really like that when they are having a good deal on avocados, they put the limes on sale, too!

I also stocked up on almond milk, which was surprisingly inexpensive ($2 regular price for a container that will last a week!). Friends in Mexico left me a bunch of almond milk that they didn’t want to bring on the plane and I’ve just finished using it up. I never thought that would be something I’d need or want in my diet, but it’s fabulous! It’s low calorie, tastes great, has protein, and is wonderful in smoothies. I’ve also been using it with a high protein cereal topped with a banana for breakfast, which is funny because I normally turn my nose at Western breakfast foods. But this really works for me. I can have it at 7AM and go all the way through to lunch (between 12:00 and 1:00) on just 300 calories! Wow!

No sooner had I arrived home than I got an email from a client regarding my Windows computer, which crapped out on me last weekend. They asked that I mail it back ASAP so that they can reinstall Windows and do other maintenance on it. Because of their holiday schedule and the fact that I will have a lot less flexibility in my own schedule due to new work commitments starting next week, we determined that I needed to get to the post office today. So I quickly packed my post office kit that has a marker, scissors, and packing tape, as well as the computer and power supply and headed back to town!

The gals at the post office were helpful and found me a box and free packing material! I packed the computer and sent it off (you do not want to know what it costs to send a well-insured and packaged laptop across Canada). I had missed the truck to Regina, so it actually won’t head out until Monday night. Bummer.

Today was our first really hot day in ages and I was burning up by the time I came out of the post office. I decided on just one last treat for the day and went to the Village Food Store to see if they had ice cream. Yes! I got a ‘small’ cone for $2.10, a fair price. That’s it for treats for me for the next little bit!

Off to do some plumbing. I found another leak under the sink. 🙁

by

Today Was… Frustrating

I had big plans for a fun day today. I woke up at 5:00 raring to go even though I’d only had six hours of sleep and I forced myself to get another hour before getting up.

Some unexpected work came in a couple of days ago, so I needed to put in a few hours of work before leaving. That failed spectacularly because my Windows computer crapped out on me (something that would be user diagnosticable and fixable on a Mac, but needs professional help on a Windows machine) and then the stupid software I use for transcription because there are no other options also refused to work.

I ended up wasting the entire morning troubleshooting things that were working fine yesterday and finally had to leave because I had an appointment to pick up something I was buying off Kijiji.

First stop was the bank where the ATM started to spit out my money and then broke down. Seriously. Am I cursed or something???!!! Thankfully, the machine gave me back my card and a receipt saying that nothing was deducted from my account. I went across the street to the TD and paid almost $10 in fees to withdraw from them. I’m sure CIBC will reimburse me though; I’ll call the Assiniboia branch Monday morning.

I then headed west out of town to meet up with the Kijiji seller. She had originally asked me to meet her at a grocery store in Lafleche (The Arrow), a town about 45KM west of Assiniboia but had emailed me in the morning asking to meet her at the entrance to Thomson Lake Regional Park, near Lafleche. I sent her a Google link to make sure I had the right place and she said that was it, so off I went there since it really wasn’t a detour. Except that Google was wrong and SK apparently doesn’t believe in signage. There was NOTHING in the area indicating that Thomson Lake Regional Park even exists. Google and Apple maps were both sending me to the wrong place.

I drove a ways past Lafleche and then went back, doing in total almost an extra 40KM, which was way more gas than I could afford to burn. So I knew I had to cancel the touristy part of my day. 🙁

There was a trucker fueling up just outside Lafleche and I asked him if he knew where the park was. Yes, and he gave me excellent directions. There is ZERO signage all the way to the turnoff for the park and even then, it’s just a little brown sign with absolutely nothing written on it. What a well kept secret! I am going to research it more and see if it’s a place where I could go kayaking since it’s really not that far when you know where it is!

Thankfully, I had left early and was only a few minutes late. I ended up meeting the seller’s father. She lives in Swift Current, which is six hours away round trip for me, but he was spending the weekend at Thomson Lake, just two hours away round trip for me, and offered to bring the item. So I know I got off lucky in terms of extra driving today!

By this point, I had a bad headache and was no longer in the mood for adventure so I didn’t even care that the rest of my day was spoiled. I headed back to Assiniboia where something finally went right with my day (well, besides the exchange actually taking place!). The home store had what I needed to effect a permanent repair on my bypass and the grocery store lost leave of its senses and was selling absolutely gorgeous bananas for just 69 cents a pound rather than the usual 99 cents. The 69 cent bananas tend to be so ripe and disgusting I wouldn’t even want them in a banana bread, much less a smoothie. These were still good enough to eat as is!

I got home and somehow managed to wrestled my unwieldy purchase into the rig. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to tell y’all what it is. 😀