Technology

Aaah, life is wonderful when technology works. I'm sure you've had those moments where you wanted to throw your computer out the window, right? Well lately we either wanted to throw the computer, kick the satellite dish off the roof, or fire a rocket into space to knock the satellite out of orbit. Our emotions get crazy when things don't work right.

First, we had off/on problems with the satellite we were on (called SatMex 5). Everyone on it at the same frequency were having issues. So finally I switched to a different satellite (Horizons 1). I would've eventually have had to do this anyway because SatMex 5 wouldn't work in the far northwest where we're heading. Every satellite has a "footprint" as to what region of the earth it can cover. Then after switching satellites ("This will just take one hour."), I had software problems and other issues that took two days to resolve.

Just prior to that, we couldn't access the internet because of foul weather. Not where we were (it was sunny and gorgeous), but there were thunderstorms in Germantown Maryland where the Control Center is.

Then there were a couple of days when we couldn't access secure sites (https). Hello! We're trading - we have several brokerage accounts that we couldn't access to buy/sell. That wasn't good. The next week there was a day we couldn't access regular sites (http). That's where our educational site is and our stock charting program. Weird stuff.

Our last campground in Klamath was hidden in towering pine trees. It took us two days and three sites before we found a campsite that had an opening to the south that our dish could use to locate the satellite.

So now we've arrived in Crooked River Ranch, OR...and at this point I'm utterly paranoid that whenever we move we'll never get internet again...and the dish went up and did exactly what it was supposed to do - it found the satellite on the first try. Aaahhh...life is good.