Steve's going to be scarce around these here internets, the sheriff has done come down.
New policy at work; no streaming, no recreational browsing, basically no fun allowed. They seem to think we're all hogging up the bandwidth.
And as you may remember, Robert, my home connection isn't the best (and that's being polite) and it's dial-up. Which the egregiously overcharge for to begin with. DSL rates are what other companies where charging back in 1995. Basically, it's about the same as satellite DSL speed connection. And I'd rather go that way because I think the local company is less than a third tier provider. Yeah, the trace-routes are just horrendous.
So I'll be looking into some tools that might help.
How I'm going to keep up with the news is another matter.
The other news is that the economy keeps hitting harder. Not only are we on a no OT policy, we're not on alternate 4 day weeks (40 then 32 hours). For our department we have the benefit (?) of having a recent retirement, so our labor pay is down enough to make it 9 out of 10 instead of 4 out of 5. Unfortunately unlike the previous experiment with the scheduling, I don't see a swing back to previous levels of business soon. But it's better than some (we're trying to figure out if a competitor closed their doors).
So I'm back to having my brain go to sleep while I'm waiting for plates. Maybe I'll try that writing in short segments again for something more than little pieces.
2 comments:
I hope things get better. The economy is having a negative effect on everyone, and I suspect in ways that people have yet to realize. I am starting to cut back on my news awareness, I think it adds to stress.
As for your internet connection, I have a friend who goes to the library three to four times a week. He takes his laptop and stays an hour or so. He states it relaxes him.
Hey Stewart, as we get closer to Obama taking the oath I'll also admit my news following has relaxed. However I'll really miss the Diane Rehm show (out of WAMU, on NPR stations 10am-Noon). Not only does she have real discussion with intelligent (mostly) people, it's actually constructive, and she interviews many authors. I'll have to start downloading the podcasts and play them a day late.
Our local library does have broadband, but not wifi. The Geauga Libraries (of which I'm also a member) offer free wifi at all the branches now, however those are half an hour away (although they're on the way home from work). Geauga libraries also have the added benefit of an excellent SF/F/H collection (where as my local library has slightly higher than squat).
My Village Hall has a wifi connection and since I'm a councilman, I have access (it's password protected). However, that wifi backs to a broadband connection from the local company (which still sucks - we have cable and it runs about as fast as most people's basic DSL - when it's running).
I've run my own home wireless network for about six years now, and I've never seen any others locally. Since Xmas, though, I can just barely see 2 others (one of which I think backs up to DSL). Neither has protection (mine does now), however the signals are very weak. I've been looking at signal boosters, and then maybe I'll offer to split the connection costs.
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