Living Without a Telephone.

After three days without our telephone we finally had our modem replaced and are connected to the outside world. Yes we had Scype, emails and face book but I personally felt a little panic not having that close connection of a telephone. We live in a world of communication  and I do not have a cell phone and used one a few times but that land line keeps me in touch wit friends and family.

For the first day I went to that little device and tried to get it working. I checked the batteries, connections and even read the manual before I called Comcast, our carrier. The lady teck was polite and efficient and congratulated me for having done all that was expected. Theresa went so far as to go on line and follow other options. Finally we phoned the company and a teck came to our door and after an hour decided that it was the modem.

He did everything possible outdoors and indoors to see if the cause was not their fault. He conceded that the modem croaked and replacement was necessary. Since the modem is rented ($5) and in Comcast's domain we were not responsible. He did however make sure everything here was up to par and we are the better for his visit.

I followed him to pick up tips and to become a better educated person when it comes to electronics. If only I had one of those little black machines that tell him everything he needs to know I could maintain my system. Since our system is back up I am waiting for those calls that I thought were so important. I still have not had one so all my anxiety was in vain. Maybe, just maybe I could survive without that little gadget.

Four days of fun

Our visit from Dar was just perfect with the weather worm and inviting and our time shared the same. It was some years since Dar was our guest so everything was new. She asked more questions and made more inquiries than another person I know and also like very much.Her swims, bike rides and views of the Eagles made each hour precious and memorable.

We talked, laughed and even played a little music although I use that term loosely. On girls shopping day Dar returned so full of exciting  stories about the bargains and so on ,  I was glad I missed that part of the visit. It must have been exhausting as the girls were falling asleep at 9.30 in the evening and there was a negative response for the regular evening walk. Theresa is a professional shopper and could wear out most people half her age. Dar did her best but was exhausted.

Early morning bike rides had their rewards as we encountered the baby eagle and mother both times we made the trip to her nest. We dropped Dar off at the airport and were a little sad at her departure as we really had a good time with shared experiences for the four days.

Birthdays

Today is special in our family as we have three celebrating birthdays on the same Feb. 9 TH day. My daughter who is visiting is celebrating her special day with us. Two of our grand children also share the same day. These occasions are important fore us as a family because it signals a family get together. As we number about twenty we can count on sharing some time together many times each year. Since we have being dividing our time between two locations we miss some of these good times.

At Christmas this year we were all together and I speculated that it might be the last time we would all come together. My family with nine children never had the opportunity to share any day together. In a way it is sad to realize that families do not experience the togetherness as often as they should as in my lifetime the special memories are about such occasions.

Perhaps I have an unusual  desire to keep family ties strong and communication channels open as I have that need to keep in touch. My brothers and sisters are spread over much geography but with the modern gadgets today we can be together as often as we choose. Our children and grand children are living quite close together and share the use of the net to stay in touch. My desire is that as they age the family bond will remain strong and getting together at Birthdays is one way to keep it so.

Power Company To The Rescue

For ten days Theresa and I have been bothered by a high frequency noise on our lanai. Every day we talked of the noise and how it really interrupted the tranquility of our back yard and pool lanai.We wondered where the sound came from and determined it had to come from the transformer across the road from our pool.

After complaining for nine or ten days I told Theresa if the sound was not gone by tomorrow I would call the power corporation and ask for help. Tomorrow became today and after she gave me the phone number I called. After listening to the phone menu I decided to touch # 3 which would give me home assistance. I reached a nice lady and she said she would transfer my call to the section which would help me out.

The next person I spoke to asked me for all the information I gave eight years ago when I signed up with the co-op which controlled the power in Cape Coral. By now my patience was at its limit but he explained that they had another department that looked into customer complaints. I explained that I was not complaining just looking for an answer. The next man said that he was sure that the noise was not caused by the power corp. He suggested I explain once more what I was hearing and then said he would send over a man who would help me if I was home during the next hour. I agreed.

A half million dollar truck pulled up in front of my house and a man removed himself from the air conditioned cab and approached my ftont door. As he came up he spit out his chewing tobacco and rang the doorbell. He showed identification and shook my hand. I invited him to come to my lanai and experience the sound. He said he was from Alabama and when he heard the sound he said,"that ain't no sound from our power company."

He listened again and volunteered to find the cause. He asked me if there were batteries in my orbital exercise machine and when did I change the batteries. I told him about ten days ago I put new batteries in the machine. He placed his ear to the computer programmer and pointed to it saying,"this is the problem yo hear." He removed the batteries and the sound disappeared. I was stunned. I felt stupid but he reassured me neither was true because he had worse cases than this one.

I thanked him for his trouble and he smiled as he left my house replacing some fresh tobacco and I said you will have a laugh at my expense at the shop. He smiled and said he would have a laugh but promised not to give the address of the old man who called the false alarm.

Excitment

Today we receive our first guest of the year in the person of our daughter number two, Dar. Her daughter is presently in the Dominican Republic with her school so it was a perfect time to get away for a few days. Hubby is home looking after the house and shovelling snow. this is the first real visit for Dar as she was here for a visit when we bought the house but she never stayed here.

Her plans are to enjoy the sunshine and swim in the pool. The weather here is quite pleasant now with temperatures in the high seventies and sometimes the low eighties. In any case she will see a dramatic change from Ottawa who has had some cool weather as of late.

While here Dar will have a birthday and give us another reason to have a celebration. Dar will experience what I call the miracle grow as the orange and grapefruit will be in bloom and that rush of spring growth will be evident. In the space of three weeks the trees will grow at a phenomenal rate. New branches pop out of nearly dead bark and blooms will appear. I love this season. We left a few fruit on the tree so Dar will be able to pick her own off the tree.

We are excited and ready for some fun days and will take advantage of every minute while she is here.

10 TH Crusade

The 9 Holy crusades were conducted between 1095 AD and 1272 and supported the Papacy by Christians from England, France, Germany and Spain. We could be witnessing the 10 TH holy Crusade to restore the fundamentalist Muslim rule to areas lost after the nine crusadesr .Revolts in Egypt and Tunisia with a weak Libya squeezed in between and a cheering Iran , you can bet it is going to be a difficult situation for Israel and its booster the USA. Even our strong friend and supporter,Jordan is crumbling.

The policies of the fifties whereby we propped up dictators and watched them continue to suppress their people while  receiving billions of dollars in military aid without realizing that long term these people were not our friends. The west was caught off guard with the revolt in Egypt. Who should we support ?  The problem is we supported the dictator for 30 years and not the people. Now is the time for the west and the USA in particular to get down to fundamental policies and carve out a long range, supportable policy and feature a 2011 look for the world to see.

We have the best of intentions but over the years the people of the globe see us as the watch dog and answer to every problem in the universe. Now is the time to set goals that will restore our image to reflect the wonderful  people and country we are. We are only a small part of the global community now and should act accordingly.Canada and the USA are best friends, business and trading partners and share a common belief in the democratic process. The manner in which we conduct business at home tells a different story. This would be a great time to re-affirm our constitutional place in the sun and make bold progressive actions to tell the world we are back in business.

CNN..Dropped The Ball

Never have I been so offended by a network than I was today. A day long meeting between Canada and the USA resulted in a press conference. The President spoke in a most positive way about the talks and the importance of Canada-USA relations. Mutually they are the most important trading partners with a $1,ooo,ooo,ooo. a day of trade across the border. Canada providing over 40% of the imported oil to the USA. The President spoke in a wonderful warm manner and turned the mike over to the Canadian Prime Minister.

Immediately after the Prime Minister began to speak in French (there was no translator present.daaa) blabber mouth began to speak to another reporter about Egypt and for 14 minutes while the Prime Minister spoke there was no sound while ridiculous statements were traded back and forth  by blabber mouth and her friend.. To say I was offended is a small feeling of what I really felt. The President was uncomfortable as he is not fluent in French. He must have felt that the Prime Minister should have been treated in a better manner. CNN....shame on you...you dropped the ball.

Canadians will forgive the oversight because we are a forgiving people but I am damn angry and I shall be sending messages to the proper people about this #@&^5$#243. 

I hope that the CNN media people realize that Canada is more important to the USA than Egypt or any other nation. Bad manners are not excusable in this case.I hope blabber mouth is told when she should speak and when she should listen. I think she felt it was her place in the sun....I hope it was...and her last.