We're back on line!! since 2January2012. That was over 3 weeks ago and due to Clear(r) having one of their towers out of service. As it is the only one serving our homestead, we were without internet service. After many calls, no repair was done, and they lost a customer to Verizon for a mobile hotspot for wider, faster coverage for $5/month more.
The kitchen remodel is progressing. The tile floor is installed and grouted. Tomorrow should be the first of the drywall installation. We're hoping they tear out all of the old sheetrock, to be sure there is insulation on the entire outer wall. Once the drywall is up, that will stop the cold air coming in from the attic, along with some dust and blown in insulation. We'll also be able to uncover the foods and kitchen contents that are out in the living room.
Have at least 61 projects to keep track of at work, so thinking a lot about 4:1 day, and that much closer to Retirement.
'till later
On the Road Again
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Another haircut, two days ago
Happy New Year.
Should be figuring out my 2012 Resolutions, but can't decide between an R12 or and SR.
the kitchen remodel starts on Wednesday January 18th and should be all in place by Saturday February 4th
Daniel at home for the holidays.
off to finish up at work.
Should be figuring out my 2012 Resolutions, but can't decide between an R12 or and SR.
the kitchen remodel starts on Wednesday January 18th and should be all in place by Saturday February 4th
Daniel at home for the holidays.
off to finish up at work.
Monday, December 19, 2011
It's holiday time. Winter solstice and Christmas and New Years
Happy events in the darkest coolest part of the year. It all helps break up the shorter days where riding takes the most layers to stay both warm and dry. But keeping it up, and now that the 3:1 day is over with, the next milestone is the 4:1 day, which should occur in early June 2012.
Getting ready for Christmas, and the end of the tax year activities. Then onto 2012 planning and resolutions. A new kitchen should be done by mid February. Taxes by April, may well need Turbo Tax to help out, again, as it saves a lot of grief.
Monday's over
Getting ready for Christmas, and the end of the tax year activities. Then onto 2012 planning and resolutions. A new kitchen should be done by mid February. Taxes by April, may well need Turbo Tax to help out, again, as it saves a lot of grief.
Monday's over
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Some follow up on the last posting.
Back at it. Have cycle commuted 1,661 times. The next milestone will be the 3:1 day, where the number of commute rides will be thrice the number of days remaining for my anticipated retirement. That's now expected to occur on December 12, 2011.
As a follow up from my panic in Munich at not finding the Clear wireless USB stick. After we settled in at home, I was looking in the car for something else, and saw it lying on the floor in front of the back seat! I went to use it, and I got an error message that said that the stick would no longer work. I called the 800 number of Clear, and they wanted the Serial Number, and looked it up and said that it had been disabled. This is in spite of our hospital's providing high spot over downtown Portland for one of their antennas, which, to date is still unpaid for. The stick I was using was one of several that we were given to prove they had decent coverage.
As a follow up from my panic in Munich at not finding the Clear wireless USB stick. After we settled in at home, I was looking in the car for something else, and saw it lying on the floor in front of the back seat! I went to use it, and I got an error message that said that the stick would no longer work. I called the 800 number of Clear, and they wanted the Serial Number, and looked it up and said that it had been disabled. This is in spite of our hospital's providing high spot over downtown Portland for one of their antennas, which, to date is still unpaid for. The stick I was using was one of several that we were given to prove they had decent coverage.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Back on the ground
Safely back home, again. Read the mail, went shopping for food, turned on the hot water and the furnace, and went over to mom's for dinner, last night. Today is raking and mowing the yard, as well as cleaning up some mouse evidence and laying more traps. Balanced the checkbook, the only mistake was in writing down one of my pay deposits while we were gone by $0.01.
On our trip back, we took the train from Spittal to Munich and stayed at a hotel directly across from the Ostbahnhof. That was intended to make the next morning's trip with the SBahn easier, as there is a S8 that goes every 20minutes from Ostbahnhof to the airport.
Before going to sleep, I remembered to look for the Clear wireless stick that I hadn't seen. I searched for it again in my bags before enjoying a good breakfast at the hotel, and then, right on time, we got out of the hotel, and 10 steps away is the stairs to the underground passage that connects to the train station. The bi-directional escalators had impressed Helene the night before, as they go in the direction of the first comer. This morning, we couldn't get them to budge. I headed down the stairs with my bags and expected that Helene would stay up top, so I could fetch her 50lb bag and bring it down the stairs. Once down, it can be rolled all the way to the elevator at the Schnell bahn platform and not be lifted until check in, on to the scales. She was anxious about our missing the S8, so headed down and pulled something after about 4 steps. I fetched her bag and she was able to push her's on its four wheels. Once on the platform, we waited for the two minutes before it was scheduled, and then there was an announcement that it was suffering a delay. That was only another 2 minutes and we were heading out the to the airport on the 7:04 departure with scheduled arrival at the airport at 07:33. It was maybe a minute late by the time we got there.
There was a train load of people heading up the escalators, so I was happy to look around for an elevator, which we didn't find. We used up some more time when a young man begged for our tagescarte, since he figured that we wouldn't be using it any more. I asked Helene to give it to him, and we later realized that it was only a multiperson one-way ticket to cover our trip. I'm sure he realized it eventually, and figured "dumb tourists" Then through to check-in, with a preliminary passport check before you get in line, then again it's swiped at check-in. Helene's bag was 23.1kg, and mine was 22.6kg, not enough to trigger overweight fees. The two yarn bags were both about 8kg.
Then up through the EU passport control, then security check. That got us to a zone with food and bookstores. We headed for our gate and needed to go through another passport check (for all America bound flights), I'm guessing that the servers from the check-in were browsing for any record on my passport number that would give the TSA or whomever grief. Then for good measure, one more passport check, for ?? reason, like we would have changed persons in the last 50 meters??
Nothing noteworthy, except our seat assignments were toward the front of the tourist section, so it was a bit smoother. We started out in the aisle seats of the middle section, but the center person came, so I traded that seat for mine, so I could sit with my wife. She was pleasant and kept getting the vegetarian meals that were meant for Helene, and gave them up. Only negative was one of stewardesses didn't give a "rat's ass" so if she offered something, and you didn't immediately respond, it was too late.
Once in Newark, we faced a 7 hour layover. The customs areas was well layed out and actually quite fast. Helene needed to be fingerprinted and her photo taken (without glasses), and I just got a stamp.(after he'd swiped my passport). The bags came soon theeafter and on the same level, was the declaration time, where they collected our customs forms and we went down a ramp to drop the bags off again. Then a train service to Terminal C and going through the overwhelmed TSA screening took about 20min. Once in the terminal, we had a Jamba Juice and walked around, and looked for a place to have dinner, in a couple hours, before departure. The Starbucks did not have free Wi-Fi, just the Boing service at the airport for $7.95/day. More waiting, then a really good dinner at the wine bar near our gate C131. It was a bit expensive, but the quality was comparable to a in-town restaurant, so I did not feel gyped.
Then the flight to Portland was all on time, thankfully, and we started to get really tired. It was around 2AM (for European time) after they served a snack We did have three seats to ourselves, so Helene was able to lie sideways some of the time. I got some sleep, from pure exhaustion, after some turbulence over Lake Michigan. The sleep was relief from the butt soreness of sitting for so long.
Once in Portland, our bags were all together and they came out early! The White Van service was out on the parking strip just before the car rental offices. Smooth ride, and good to be back home by 10:40PM
I did find some mouse droppings under the bathroom sink, and the next day found one trapped up in the attic. So stocked up on traps at A-Boy and cleaned up the under sink area, and will do the same to the attic.
On our trip back, we took the train from Spittal to Munich and stayed at a hotel directly across from the Ostbahnhof. That was intended to make the next morning's trip with the SBahn easier, as there is a S8 that goes every 20minutes from Ostbahnhof to the airport.
Before going to sleep, I remembered to look for the Clear wireless stick that I hadn't seen. I searched for it again in my bags before enjoying a good breakfast at the hotel, and then, right on time, we got out of the hotel, and 10 steps away is the stairs to the underground passage that connects to the train station. The bi-directional escalators had impressed Helene the night before, as they go in the direction of the first comer. This morning, we couldn't get them to budge. I headed down the stairs with my bags and expected that Helene would stay up top, so I could fetch her 50lb bag and bring it down the stairs. Once down, it can be rolled all the way to the elevator at the Schnell bahn platform and not be lifted until check in, on to the scales. She was anxious about our missing the S8, so headed down and pulled something after about 4 steps. I fetched her bag and she was able to push her's on its four wheels. Once on the platform, we waited for the two minutes before it was scheduled, and then there was an announcement that it was suffering a delay. That was only another 2 minutes and we were heading out the to the airport on the 7:04 departure with scheduled arrival at the airport at 07:33. It was maybe a minute late by the time we got there.
There was a train load of people heading up the escalators, so I was happy to look around for an elevator, which we didn't find. We used up some more time when a young man begged for our tagescarte, since he figured that we wouldn't be using it any more. I asked Helene to give it to him, and we later realized that it was only a multiperson one-way ticket to cover our trip. I'm sure he realized it eventually, and figured "dumb tourists" Then through to check-in, with a preliminary passport check before you get in line, then again it's swiped at check-in. Helene's bag was 23.1kg, and mine was 22.6kg, not enough to trigger overweight fees. The two yarn bags were both about 8kg.
Then up through the EU passport control, then security check. That got us to a zone with food and bookstores. We headed for our gate and needed to go through another passport check (for all America bound flights), I'm guessing that the servers from the check-in were browsing for any record on my passport number that would give the TSA or whomever grief. Then for good measure, one more passport check, for ?? reason, like we would have changed persons in the last 50 meters??
Nothing noteworthy, except our seat assignments were toward the front of the tourist section, so it was a bit smoother. We started out in the aisle seats of the middle section, but the center person came, so I traded that seat for mine, so I could sit with my wife. She was pleasant and kept getting the vegetarian meals that were meant for Helene, and gave them up. Only negative was one of stewardesses didn't give a "rat's ass" so if she offered something, and you didn't immediately respond, it was too late.
Once in Newark, we faced a 7 hour layover. The customs areas was well layed out and actually quite fast. Helene needed to be fingerprinted and her photo taken (without glasses), and I just got a stamp.(after he'd swiped my passport). The bags came soon theeafter and on the same level, was the declaration time, where they collected our customs forms and we went down a ramp to drop the bags off again. Then a train service to Terminal C and going through the overwhelmed TSA screening took about 20min. Once in the terminal, we had a Jamba Juice and walked around, and looked for a place to have dinner, in a couple hours, before departure. The Starbucks did not have free Wi-Fi, just the Boing service at the airport for $7.95/day. More waiting, then a really good dinner at the wine bar near our gate C131. It was a bit expensive, but the quality was comparable to a in-town restaurant, so I did not feel gyped.
Then the flight to Portland was all on time, thankfully, and we started to get really tired. It was around 2AM (for European time) after they served a snack We did have three seats to ourselves, so Helene was able to lie sideways some of the time. I got some sleep, from pure exhaustion, after some turbulence over Lake Michigan. The sleep was relief from the butt soreness of sitting for so long.
Once in Portland, our bags were all together and they came out early! The White Van service was out on the parking strip just before the car rental offices. Smooth ride, and good to be back home by 10:40PM
I did find some mouse droppings under the bathroom sink, and the next day found one trapped up in the attic. So stocked up on traps at A-Boy and cleaned up the under sink area, and will do the same to the attic.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Up Up and away!
Up at 03:30AM to get picked up with baggage at 04:20AM and got to the airport by 05:00AM. Good thing, as even with the special handling, to tie together a purchased ticket with a frequent flier flight at the end of the purchased ticket route. The bags originally got checked only through to Munich, but we didn't find out until the bags got sucked away on the conveyor belt to go behind the wall (pre-9/11 style) and then we asked about the airport codes on the baggage claim tickets. And got some human customer service assistance and the baggage expert was to find them and route them all the way to Istanbul.
A really new adventure, and I don't know what to expect. We'll arrive sometime around 11:00PM tomorrow, but 10 of those hours are due to the lost time flying east.
Not to get too excited, the first is leg to Toronto is now 50 minutes delayed, so we can cool our 'jets.'
A really new adventure, and I don't know what to expect. We'll arrive sometime around 11:00PM tomorrow, but 10 of those hours are due to the lost time flying east.
Not to get too excited, the first is leg to Toronto is now 50 minutes delayed, so we can cool our 'jets.'
Sunday, September 11, 2011
It's official! I got credit for completing the 400km brevet
And my inglorious time is posted on the OR Randonneurs website! That was the only part of the whole experience that was missing, now I've got proof, in the documentary record, that I did it, not just making it up. I learned a lot, but glad to know that that obstacle is not insurmountable.
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