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Twitter Hashtag #NSACalledToTellMe ^ | June 7th 2013 | Me (Mad Dawgg)

[Silentgypsy]

Temp 90 degrees F; humidity 60%. I am soggy.

[NoCmpromiz]

Today dawned hot. And it's getting hotter. According to the semiAccurateWeather persons the temp is to approach the 100 degree (F) mark today with the 'realfeel' temp considerably higher. (Temp right now is 93 and they are saying that 'realfeel' thing is at 102...)

It was hot yesterday also. So hot that Darkshere's fluttering towel thingies could no longer flutter and instead collapsed in a motionless heap on the closest resting place they could find. Which just happened to be the DSLAM. At the foot of our drive. I was unable to grab a photo of them covering the DSLAM, but unadorned by towellike things it looks something like this:

Except that when they installed the one at the end of our drive, they mounted the little box behind and at right angles to the big box..

Anyway... inside these painted metal enclosures are the electronic dodads that supply us with our connection to Algore's Invention - as well as POTS). And being aggregations of electronic thingies, they generate heat. And thus have fans to aid in keeping them cool. Which is hard to accomplish when smothered in nonfluttering fluttering towellike entities. So.. as the day progressed yesterday and the glowing thermonuclear device in the sky ascended in its daily arc the internal temperature in the DSLAM approached the OHGAWDIMHOT stage and one of the four nodes in the DSLAM box expired from heat exhaustion.

Frontier Communications promptly lost DSL to 25% of the customers served from the box at the end of the drive. And we just happened to be in that 25%...

Have you ever called customer service to report a DSL outage? Don't. In the case of Frontier Communications you get some nontech person in Texas (which I guess is better than calling HP support and getting someone in New Delhi..) who only knows how to read his/her script back to you. Having waded through that experience not all that long ago (like last Saturday I think..) I was prepared this time. (Note: if you have no connection to Algore's invention, you cannot find the phone number for Frontier Internet Tech Support anywhere. The only number you find in their book composed of dear tree fibers - aka 'phone book' - is the mostly useless for technical purposes 'customer service' number..) Earlier in the week I obtained and copied their Internet Tech Support phone number (as an email to self, stored in my cellphone contacts list, and written on my calendar so that I could find it without an active connection..) So I called them. The tech support people that is. And got a person who actually spoke techie. He wasn't in Texas (or New Delhi). I explained what was happening (or more correctly not happening - DSL down, no carrier and thus no WAN connection thus no IP address) and after getting the pertinent info (name, telphone number) he poked around and said... umm, it looks like the DSLAM got slammed... ;-) And he put in a repair ticket.

About four hours later the Frontier truck pulls up to the DSLAM box and the guy just 'happened' to have a box containing the fix-em-up stuff to replace the node transceiver that expired due to heat prostration. He finally left here about 0130 this AM after telling me that things weren't reloading properly and it required a return to the main whatever it is to reset that end. He said it should take no more than an hour, but when I finally pulled the plug for the night, we still had no magic connection to Algore's thingie.

Miraculously, at approximately 0730 (suspiciously after shift change ;-) we were reconnected to the worldly web...

Now I need to find Darkshere and see if he can convince this fluttering towelthings to collapse anywhere but the DSLAM ;-)

And thus ends the saga of the de-fluttering toweling of the DSLAM..

[Silentgypsy]

Thank you for the video (saved it til break time). Have you noticed that everyone from Keith Urban to “dancing girl” needs a shampoo?

[Monkey Face]

With our humidity a little lower, the heat doesn’t feel as bad. Usually, during monsoon season (late June/early July to late August/early September) the humidity is up in the 20’s and sometimes the 30’s. Because we aren’t used to that, there are a lot of “water stations” around the valley for people who get over-heated.

Living in the Midwest (So. Dak. MO, and IL) and the east (Virginia) for several years, I have a healthy respect for people who can endure the humidity.

I’m a High Desert girl, meself!

[Monkey Face]

And I complain when the modem gets PMS...

Sorry, NC. I’ll behave now.

[NoCmpromiz]

And I complain when the modem gets PMS...

Maybe I can arrange to have Darksheare ship you a fluttering towel sample pack to smother your modem when it gets hormonal... ;-)

[Monkey Face]

What a wonderful idea!! The next time the modem gets hormonal, I can watch it fan itself! Endless entertainment!

[Tax-chick]

I haven’t seen Keith Urban lately. I passed a driver this morning who looked just like Chaz Bono, though, as used to be Sonny and Cher’s daughter.

Cheated death again, and the James are safely disposed at camp.

[Monkey Face]

I feel sorry for anyone who looks like Chaz Bono. *shudder*

The cake is done, the frosting was excellent, but the top layer slipped. It is held in place with tooth picks...if you get a piece of cake with a toothpick in it, you get a second piece of cake! (family tradition)

I hope the James enjoy their time at camp. How long will they be gone?

We just had a train go by. Usually, they only go on Wednesdays. Lately, they’ve been going late in the evening, but yesterday it was before noon. Having one go by today means that “someone” is gearing up for “something” and needs whatever is made at the complex to the west. Whatever that is.

[Tax-chick]

Pat comes home Saturday, James on Sunday.

[Monkey Face]

So when is Bill coming home? Will he be looking for work? or just planning on going to school?

[Tax-chick]

I think we expect Bill around the end of July. School starts August 10. I assume he will also look for work, but I haven’t heard “officially.”

[Monkey Face]

Well, Bill has had a nice vacation, so he needs to buckle down and get something done with his future. He needs to take a lesson from his older sister. Just sayin’

[Tax-chick]

Just agreein’.

[Monkey Face]

:o])

[NicknamedBob]

"Even the delivery guy who brought our ammo today was sweating."

The way I'm picturing this, he stopped at the end of the drive to verify the number, then looked over and saw all those tattered, bullet-punctuated targets set out with the trash, and then at the label on his delivery, and ...

... and that's when he started sweating.

[Monkey Face]

LOL!

I can see it all now...

[TheOldLady]

LOL! Not at all. He has known us for about four years now, and he was sweating from the 90-degree weather.

And our targets are tucked away in the basement.

We use our backyard range on the weekends when FED-EX and UPS do not deliver.

We have only one neighbor, and she does not mind the gunfire from time to time.

[smiles]

[Silentgypsy]

Yay and thank you, J!

[Tax-chick]

We had a surprising amount of supper tonight, with Pat and James gone. Those byos can EAT.

Webelos camp never seems to have enough food. James will be suffering. He has granola bars, but he’ll probably have eaten them all by morning and be wishing he’d eaten more of the Leftover Ground Beef Dish when he had the chance!