Yesterday my connection started going up and down just after lunch. I figured something was going on and decided not to call, I hate calling the ISP to get that stupid user treatment. Things were fine in the evening so I didn’t think much of it. Then this morning it went down again, but didn’t come back up. So this time I called to check on outages, none in the area. I headed to a nearby coffee shop for some lunch and to check email. Since it was still down when I came back it was down to the cable modem and start testing. After swapping cables and no change I checked the television boxes and picture quality was horrible on the DVR and the HD channels were not coming in.
Since their are a number of cables running around I figured I’d go to the source and test at the junction box in the garage. When I opened it up their was a three way splitter that ran lines to separate parts of the house. This was confusing at first since the line was split again in another room in the basement, what for ? After connecting the modem directly to the line coming from the pole all was good. After replacing the splitter the DVR now had a clear picture and HD channels, the internet was up too.
I guess it pays to know what’s between you and the pole, for TV and internet. If I knew the line was split that many times at the junction box I forgot. But you can always fall back on tracing cables and eliminate connections. The ISP doesn’t do that type of Q and A over the phone, I don’t blame them. I recall the days of asking someone on the other end of the phone to trace a cable, it’s not fun for either side. I’ve been around long enough I should know better …. but we all get lazy sometimes !!!
I like to think I’m pretty good about keeping track of important things but earlier this week I pulled an OH %$@* !!!!. It was Wednesday afternoon and I knew I had a conference call at 2:00 but couldn’t find my PDA, as it had the call in number and access code. Not the first time that has happened but a quick check in a couple places and still was no where to be found. As I sat and thought for a moment bad things entered my mind. I had visited a few retail places the evening before, had it with me but couldn’t remember what I did with it when I got home. Not good.
By this time the conference call had started and I left a voice mail saying I would miss it not cause I didn’t have the info but, it had been more than 12 hours since I last saw my PDA. No big deal accept is has my credit cards and passwords in it. The last time I used it was around 7:30pm the night before, more than enough time for damage to happen. Yes I was thinking it could have been stolen from the truck.
After calling the credit card companies no additional charges were made, but I had new cards sent out anyway. I got in the truck and headed to the stores I was at the evening before, this was potentially a bad move which will be clearer in a moment, just to make sure I had not left it. After stopping at both places, the answer was no, and coming back home I was still very perplexed about the situation. I then decided to look around the driveway to see if by chance I had laid is somewhere and it fell out. A long shot by any means but I was left with few other choices. That also came up snake eyes until I was standing behind the truck looking at the back bumper……. wouldn’t you know sitting on the bumper was my PDA. Yes folks I drove back to the two places I shopped the night before 15 miles away and on the interstate no less with it on my back bumper the whole time.
And to think I needed new shocks !!!!
This past week has been busy as I was back in IL for work, came home a little early as the battery went out in Kay’s car, then off to Huntsville for a hockey tournament. I left for IL last Sunday and was in the office on Monday morning. Was there through Thursday but left sooner than expected as Kay called bright and early as her car wouldn’t start, battery was dead. I headed back later that morning to pick her up from work and install a new battery, in hopes that was the only problem. It seems to be.
Friday afternoon it was off to Huntsville, AL for the annual Rocket City Hockey Tournament. I’ve been lucky to play the last three years and had a great time again. We played in the championship game Sunday afternoon, against another Nashville team, but lost. We spent all our energy the game before that morning and had nothing left, it was still a fun time.
I’m now back to playing catch up, which includes getting the back rested. Last Saturday, while family was in for CMA Music Fest, I decided to take some landscaping stones back to the store. Unfortunately for me when picking a couple up the back said nope !!!. It took me 15 minutes to get back inside and I was in bed most of the morning. Couldn’t get out without pulling my knees to 90 degrees and rolling sideways. By the evening I could move around a little, but had to pass on the CMA activities. It has been getting better every day and taking a week off from hockey should help.
