Story 26Aug2022

This is an attempt to write this late at night as I had no intention of writing it tonight, but I prefer staying up late to getting going early and trying to remember the day. So please forgive me if it gets a bit wooden. (I could not finish it until Saturday morning, and then I had to be on a call with Ziply Fiber for an hour; I have tried to edit it better with the extra time).

Let’s go backward, and start with me just disabling the old WiFi after reprogramming the two Echo Dots (Amazon Alexa) to use the new Ziply Fiber WiFi. I have also updated the printer with the new BetterWild Wifi. I think I can shut down Xfinity now–everything seems to be working at the house now (this may be premature).

Before this, I changed the Amazon Fire device to use Ziply Fiber for its connection and powered off the Comcast TV box. I watched an episode of The Sandman using the new setup without issues. I connected the Philips bridge device to the Ziply Fiber router by Cat5, and the lights are again controllable by Alexa. You can now buy Amazon light bulbs, but when I set this up, only Philips was available, and you needed to bridge the connection with yet-another-device.

The Mac is set to use the new Wifi, and the OWC device is hard connected to the router, so access is fast with or without WiFi. My speeds are around 800mbs, far better than anything I have had before.

Previous to all the configuring and testing, I was having dinner alone at BJ Brewhouse. My waiter was Mo, a black gal with dreadlocks and huge dangly golden heart earrings–pretty and in her 30s or early 40s. She remembered me from my previous visits. She recommended BJ’s pizza with meat and veggies, which was a good choice. I ordered the large pan pizza, so I took half of it home. I had a beer and 1/2 a beer (I ordered a smaller beer, and I got a breakfast glass with beer. Mo did suggest a pint twice–should have listened).

I kept offering her a piece of pizza, but she did not eat carbs. Always funny when the waiter does not eat the food they serve.

Before this, I was home, and Victory finally showed up to install the fiber network to the house. I was surprised, as was Victor, to find a fiber cable all ready to use. Apparently, another group had installed the fiber from the phone lines. Victor drilled holes and made the final connection at the house. He then attacked the fiber model and a router. He then called Ziply and was put on hold for ten minutes, but finally reached a tech, and they enabled the landline. I was then able to call it, and it worked–503 848-4089 is the house phone number. I had untangled the phone from Comcast and had it ready in my new office.

I see good speed, the fiber runs into the house, and the modem is in my new office. The new network is named BetterWild instead of the older name WildWifi. The router, which I am renting, is connected to another powered box and translates the fiber to Ethernet–the modem, and plugs into the router via a standard CAT5. The equipment is Arris, and you could buy the router and repeaters in any store or from Amazon. I rented the equipment as this was a new connection and wanted to have Ziply Fiber own it all and be responsible for making it work.

Aside: The speed collapsed on the Ziply Fiber to worse than Comcast this Saturday morning. There agent’s phone connection was so bad it was difficult to run through all the test procedures. A tech is coming on Sunday morning to try to fix the issue, which appears to be an issue with fiber to the house. Speeds are slow. It fits with my expectation as the usual problem is that it is hard to make things as good as the glossy brochure!

Before this, I was tired of the yellow jacket nest by the deck and the increasing number of wasps near me when on the deck. I had read that pouring boiling water on the nest was a solution. I also doused the area with dawn dish soap. I used two loads of boiling water, about 3 liters total of boiling water from the electric kettle, to kill the nest. I later washed the area with lots of water from the hose and foamed up the soap. I will repeat this treatment as needed.

I did the dishes and laundry. I washed the toilets. I also watched some more of The Sandman, I really like the show on Netflicks, but I am likely less as it goes on. There seems to be a focus on gods now as I am beyond the tenth episode that I am not sure works for me.

Before all of the housework and cable stuff, I was at hummingbird house. I was on paid time off for Friday so I could see Susie and deal with the cable install (the unsuccessful install) this Friday. Susie was finishing breakfast when I arrived in the morning. She was a bit quiet this morning, and we headed out to the park and enjoyed a wonderful late summer day in Oregon.

The park was full of younger kids and families. We did not see any picnics starting as it was a school day and a workday. Families have after-school sports and activities that fill their evenings and weekends now. Only the pre-school and 1/2 day kids will now be in the park. When the endless rains start, usually in October, the park will be empty again. It is the way of things in Oregon.

We called Susie’s mother, Leta, and Susie and her mother used FaceTime to see each other and to share. Susie was distracted by all the kids and dogs. I forgot to get a pic.

Also, the butterfly is missing at the park. I have not seen the swallowtail for three visits now. Summer is late, and fall is nearly here. The bugs are rushing now.

Before this, I wrote the Thursday blog and started my day in my new office. Comcast was slow again, and I was looking forward to the possible improvements (trying not to sound ironic). The drive in Air Volvo was without incident or even heavy traffic–yes, school is back, and we will be seeing the usual jam-ups at noon and five in the evening now.

I wanted to dream and visit Morpheus more, but there are only so many days in my life, and I want to use them up and wring every moment I can while I can; thus, I started most of my day in a rush. I learned the lesson from my father as his life began to end in sickness. He told me there are only so many sunrises left, “I get up and watch each one.” I do not get up that early, but you will see me distracted by a sunset–I am grateful for it.