Subj : Do Not Call To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Sat Nov 09 2019 17:22:00 Hi Nancy! NB>> A little downtime the night we arrived was a good thing... BM> Yes, that 'nothing to do time' can be nice. The camp _is_ a place for BM> relaxation and enjoyment, after all! As for hauling along a laptop to BM> fill a short time, I can relate. Used to do that when accompanying BM> someone on a doctor's visit, etc., to fill the time. Make sure it's BM> charged, download whatever mail I need to do. Get there and BM> unpack/setup -- check an outlet is conveiently nearby. (I also have BM> an extension cord in my laptop's case.) So far have not needed to BM> recharge in a waiting room. Now just bring the cell phone along and BM> watch interesting videos. NB> Never did get into hauling a computer with me when waiting in a NB> doctor's office waiting room... did sometimes bring along some NB> easily packed project or other, though.... Now I tend to not NB> bring anything, unless I anticipate a long wait... In these couple of times the wait was going to be sufficiently long for me to haul along the laptop. Plus was before having a cell phone with entertainment built-in. OK, my old flip-phone did have some games built-in, I'm talking watching videos, etc. 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... :) BM> LIS in an earlier message it snowed overnight; haven't checked to see BM> if that triggered the change. Still flurrying, almost lunch now. BM> Gained a whopping two degrees since my earlier report several hours BM> ago: now 29ø! NB> We've got that weather today.... so far no accumulation to speak NB> of... and the temps are still in the 30s, but there is definitely NB> snow in the air.... ah, well... it is November, after all.... The local meteorologists have been stating the current weather is more like what we'd be getting in February. And they haven't mentioned but there does seem to be a cycle as to warm winters and cold ones -- last several years have been warmer; last year and so far this one are colder. BM> ...Checked the area Trick-or-Treat times; about half on the Illinois BM> side have been postponed while none on the Iowa side have been altered. NB> You have posted times for when kids can trick or treat...? Or NB> are those at businesses....? City and town Trick-or-Treat times. Bettendorf's was 5-7:30. Some businesses/organizations will also do Trick-or-Treats on days/time other than the city's times. Bettendorf also had a parade. The mall in Davenport had one where the kids went from store to store a night or two prior. Couple of the smaller towns had store-to-store Trick-or-Treating in their downtowns. 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 is NB>> hanging up and trying again.... unless in the meantime, they've closed NB>> the phones for the day.... ;) BM> Yes - earlier this summer I needed to dial into the hospital's phone BM> system: "please continue to hold - you're call is BM> number one in line". That went on for BM> close to ten minutes. Thought to myself this doesn't seem right, even BM> if a big emergency going on and several 'yakkers' have called in ahead BM> of me. Hung up, redialed, got one iteration of the phone queue and then BM> answered. Did inquire (nicely) about being busy -- they were having BM> issues with the telephones. NB> That makes sense... issues with the phones certainly is a good NB> explanation... ;) And from what I could tell during my original call the 'phone problems' was a real and not handy excuse. 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 any NB>> one of the handsets in the circuit is picked up... but is supposed to NB>> tell the other computer that it isn't a valid number, at least in NB>> theory... BM> Hmm: hadn't heard of the single tone one. NB> It's been around for quite a long time.... We must have gotten NB> that phone a couple of decades ago, and it was old technology NB> then, just not been incorporated into consumer phones before Huh, OK. Googling did (easily) find multiple Tele-zapper type devices; appears they issued the three tone SIT. What may be occurring is on your phone the sound you hear was a less annoying single tone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeleZapper Not saying there isn't or wasn't a single tone -- things do change -- and 'new stuff' would tend to bury 'old stuff' in the Google listings. BM> My Mother recognizes the "American ring" from the various "European BM> rings" when she dials Switzerland and Austria. Oddly (to me) she BM> doesn't pay attention to the slow busy vs. the fast busy signals. NB> Maybe in her case, the bottom line is just that she can't get NB> through right now, and will have to try again.... the distinction NB> is more in how long one might probably have to wait to get NB> connected... and even that might not be all that different... Yes, all sorts of possibilities. She also tends to 'bulldog' her thinking at times: "I'm right and anything else is wrong" or "well it always used to be this way so it has be be this way still". Not intending to be rude, etc., to her as I do agree there are various ringing tones in use -- dial into a small phone company and they sometimes have a dull-sounding ring. BM> Trees here have turned white - oh, that's snow! Also was paying a BM> little more attention: there has been snow on Halloween but only trace BM> amounts. Today's 3" locally and more north and east blew those out! BM> Also the record low high temperature was 34ø; they're predicting a BM> high of only 33ø for today so may break that record also. ...Beginning BM> of October was in the upper 80's (he gave the exact temp; I wasn't BM> paying attention). NB> It's been a record breaking year, on all sorts of fronts... and NB> wide swings in temps... ;) It's been interesting! LIS we've had some rather cold and snowy winters since I moved out here in 1975. The past several winters have been relatively warm and snow-free. IIRC last year's started out very snowy as there was some concern as to "where ar ewe going to put all of it?!" but didn't continue with the heavier snows. Lots of little snows, but not the heavy ones. 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.... BM> Yup. They do work in other parts of the house, but that doesn't do me BM> any good up here. Right now just a general concept; probably separate BM> monitor -- half-thinking combine with the outdoor cameras. Maybe run BM> the software off a Raspberry Pi. We'll see. NB> You'll figure out something... :) Eventually. :) Something to keep me busy and in mischief! ¯ ® ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ® ¯ @Q.COM ® ¯ ® .... 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