Subj : Do Not Call To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Thu Oct 31 2019 12:39:00 Hi Nancy! BM> You'll probably be getting a case of wanderlust! As for not bringing BM> the computer for overnight, I probably would not have either, rather BM> preferring to enjoy the time 'disconnected' and connect with Nature. NB> It was just a bit more hassle than I wanted for what was going to NB> be rather a whirlwind trip.... we got up to the North Country in NB> time for supper in Canton, then went back to the camp... just NB> nice to not have to do anything... the next morning we did NB> everything that needed doing to close our camp for the winter, NB> and to button down the kid's structure and things for however NB> long he ends up being away again this time, including tarping his NB> Jeep again... and then off to Montreal to deliver him to the NB> airport, and then the 6 hours or so back to Rochester... A little NB> downtime the night we arrived was a good thing... Yes, that 'nothing to do time' can be nice. The camp _is_ a place for relaxation and enjoyment, after all! As for hauling along a laptop to fill a short time, I can relate. Used to do that when accompanying someone on a doctor's visit, etc., to fill the time. Make sure it's charged, download whatever mail I need to do. Get there and unpack/setup -- check an outlet is conveiently nearby. (I also have an extension cord in my laptop's case.) So far have not needed to recharge in a waiting room. Now just bring the cell phone along and watch interesting videos. BM> ...And sort of speaking of Mother Nature, bright enough outside can BM> see the colours out there: the leaves have definitely turned orange BM> since yesterday, though still patches of green. Looked the other day BM> and what may or may not be the Burning Bush did have some 'Burning Bush BM> red' leaves, so there's hope! NB> Sounds promising... :) LIS in an earlier message it snowed overnight; haven't checked to see if that triggered the change. Still flurrying, almost lunch now. Gained a whopping two degrees since my earlier report several hours ago: now 29ø! ...Checked the area Trick-or-Treat times; about half on the Illinois side have been postponed while none on the Iowa side have been altered. BM> It's those silly little details! There have been times over the BM> decades I've dialed in and not connected -- most of the time the BM> problem was on the host system's end but there were still those times BM> the problem was on mine. Have noted also with 'regular' websites: get BM> that pecky little 'spinning' or some other 'waiting' icon. And we BM> wait, and we wait. And we get annoyed and either hit the reload button BM> or sometimes open a new session -- connect instantly! NB> Similar to waiting on hold on the phone... sometimes what works NB> is hanging up and trying again.... unless in the meantime, NB> they've closed the phones for the day.... ;) Yes - earlier this summer I needed to dial into the hospital's phone system: "please continue to hold - you're call is number one in line". That went on for close to ten minutes. Thought to myself this doesn't seem right, even if a big emergency going on and several 'yakkers' have called in ahead of me. Hung up, redialed, got one iteration of the phone queue and then answered. Did inquire (nicely) about being busy -- they were having issues with the telephones. NB>> Not necessarily... Somewhere along the line we acquired a telephone NB>> handset that has a built-in "Tele-Zapper" which sends a tone that is NB>> supposed to tell a computer that it got a not-in-use line... dunno if NB>> that is why we get so many hang-ups from what are obviously computer NB>> generated calls or not... even though that handset isn't particularly NB>> useable any more (the display has given up the ghost), we've left it NB>> in the circuit, as it generates the tone to any of the other NB>> extensions... And even the ones where there's actually a real person NB>> on the other side, not saying anything generally ends up with their NB>> hanging up when they get no response.... The four-ringers just keep NB>> trying, sometimes more than 3-4 times in a single day, so they don't NB>> seem to be detered by our NOT picking up the phone, either... BM> Sounds just as valid. I think the tone generated by the 'Tele-Zapper' BM> might be the SIT - forgot what it stands for but is the "doo-Doo-DOOO" BM> tone one sometimes hears followed by "the number you have dialed is BM> out of order or no longer in service". Supposedly tells the other BM> computer to mark that number as having a problem or is no longer valid. NB> No, actually it's just a single beep... and it is generated when NB> any one of the handsets in the circuit is picked up... but is NB> supposed to tell the other computer that it isn't a valid number, NB> at least in theory... Hmm: hadn't heard of the single tone one. NB> And that three tone tone is also followed NB> sometimes with the message that your line is out of service, and NB> there may be a phone off the hook... so an indication that the NB> other party really did hang up, even though your line wasn't NB> released.... Right. All sorts of reasons. To me helps to know which tone I'm getting so I know what to do (or not do). Slow busy: phone (individual line) is in use or otherwise off-hook. Fast busy means the trunk line is busy, so can't get to the individual line. My Mother recognizes the "American ring" from the various "European rings" when she dials Switzerland and Austria. Oddly (to me) she doesn't pay attention to the slow busy vs. the fast busy signals. BM> LIS somewhere in this BM> packet the leaves turned orange since yesterday. Neighbour's tree is BM> still green but a lot of the trees in the rest of what I can see from BM> my window are orange. ...An overall orange, not seeing any areas of BM> red nor yellow. Maybe too early, maybe won't this year. NB> The last day or so here, I've seen our local trees all mostly be NB> turning... there's a lot of yellow, some orange, some red.... NB> we're probably at peak now.... Trees here have turned white - oh, that's snow! Also was paying a little more attention: there has been snow on Halloween but only trace amounts. Today's 3" locally and more north and east blew those out! Also the record low high temperature was 34ø; they're predicting a high of only 33ø for today so may break that record also. ...Beginning of October was in the upper 80's (he gave the exact temp; I wasn't paying attention). BM> ...Upcoming project -- the computer/data-based weather as the ones BM> using the wireless sensor don't work up here. NB> So you are giving up on those sensors.... Yup. They do work in other parts of the house, but that doesn't do me any good up here. Right now just a general concept; probably separate monitor -- half-thinking combine with the outdoor cameras. Maybe run the software off a Raspberry Pi. We'll see. BM>>>>> Really clever to decipher some of mine! Not illegible but sometimes BM>>>>> close,plus I tend to use a lot of abbreviations and symbols. NB>>>>> Well, that is more cryptic than merely cursive... BM>>>>> Though I've been cursed at for my cryptic cursive! NB>>>>> Yours is obviously more of a challenge... ;) BM>>>> Sometimes!! NB>>>> It would appear... BM>>> Sometimes that is the problem: it appears, just isn't apparent! NB>>> Ummm..... ok.... BM>> And sometimes I can't even read it! NB>> That IS illegible... BM> You mean my Mother was right?! NB> Just saying that if you can't read your own writing, that it is NB> illegible indeed... and if that's what your mother was saying, NB> then yes, I guess she's right.... ;) Oh I never said she was wrong! ¯ ® ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ® ¯ @Q.COM ® ¯ ® .... Skeptic: when sees the handwriting on the wall, claims it's a forgery. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .