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Judy G. Russell
August 4th, 2008, 08:56 AM
When I was in Africa, I didn't mind so much not having Internet access. Heck, most of the time, I was happy to have running water and thrilled if there was electricity. But being down six days of the last 13 here at home is not quite as amusing. The cable was out when I got home on July 18 and wasn't back up until July 22. Then it was spotty, on and off, and Comcast kept saying it was fine. Friday August 1 it was out completely again and the first repair option they could offer was today. Turns out the wire to the house was fried... melted on the inside, probably from a lightning strike.

Sigh... what we were saying in another thread about redundancy???

ktinkel
August 4th, 2008, 11:17 AM
That’s why you were so unnaturally silent! <g>

I had a similar story. My computer cable was intermittently flaky for several weeks — I would come in to find the chat connection had closed unexpectedly; or I would try to post in a forum and then see that the online and send buttons were flickering.

Not quite bad enough to phone support.

Around then, our TV was showing pixelation effects and/or dropouts on some channels (image and sound). Again, not quite enough to call. But then three channels showed as black screens (sometimes with audio). That did get our attention (one was our weather channel, which Jack is addicted to).

The service tech was superb. He found that the connection in the basement (set up by the former owner) had too many joins, so he tied that all up in one neat new connector. Then he checked our exterior connection to the cable, and said it was oxidized, so he replaced that, with a nifty new kind that had something like flashing around it to keep moisture out.

He said we had been operating at something like 17% efficiency, but now it is 90%. Sure is better.

Judy G. Russell
August 4th, 2008, 01:58 PM
He said we had been operating at something like 17% efficiency, but now it is 90%. Sure is better.You should have heard the snide comments of this morning's tech about the tech who came out two weeks ago... I'm just happy to be back up and running. It's amazing how much you come to depend on having a reliable connection -- or heck even having any connection at all!

fhaber
August 4th, 2008, 04:24 PM
We are at their mercy, even the geeks among us. Cut/pasted from elsewhere, topic: "Cablemodem Stupidity" (mine).

====

A. First, the good news. I reorganized my RCN package, and the Mach 20 is
nice. I sucked down some ISOs from Technet just now at 1600. The ISP's own
speed test is a solid 19.5k. Sweet.

B. Now, the doh moment: I called service, because, although the up speed had
properly tracked all my upgrades over the years, my DL speed was mired at 600,
despite numerous service (phone) calls. Always had been. I bought a Tosh
cablemodem on Ebay, and that bought me only 5%. I wasted time
direct-connecting a laptop to the cablemodem, and jawed with Bangalore and
Manila a couple of times. Such fun.

1. I *was* getting Mach 20. My Tosh 2500, which everyone (well, all the fellow
half-informed weibizens I know) says should do 20 fine, was throttling at 6,
even though it told RCN and me, via DOCSYS, that I was provisioned at 22/2. As
a bonus, I now get 10% more up as well.

This'll cost me a $50 visit, and I'm back to $5 a month rental. What burns
also is that RCN "forgot" to take the modem rental charge off for a year. When
I noticed that, a year late, I could only get 6 mo. credit. Their "policy"
forbids giving credit further than 6 mo. back. I.e., THEY made a mistake and
APPROPRIATED my money, but since I didn't notice the malfeasance early enough,
tough cookies. I think I'll write the CEO.

2. Ping has returned. Both ICMP and UDP were AWOL for a week.

3. All sorts of gremlins this week. I couldn't get email this a.m. When I
reached TS, they told me, after I'd furnished my grandmother's human genome as
authent, that my mail pw had been reset to.... wait for it.... "password." I
know I couldn't have done that, but they denied touching it. I'll count to ten
and stop here.

4. Someone goosed my levels and/or balanced TV channels. There's less
pixellation.

Actually, I'm medium happy. Sometimes one doesn't have time for it all.

Judy G. Russell
August 4th, 2008, 06:00 PM
"I couldn't get email this a.m. When I reached TS, they told me, after I'd furnished my grandmother's human genome as authent, that my mail pw had been reset to.... wait for it.... "password.""Oh geez... and my sister's laptop ate all her passwords and she had to have the system reset to boot it up... Technology is gonna kill us all.

sidney
August 4th, 2008, 06:09 PM
or heck even having any connection at all!

Speaking of which, we just missed the biggest storm of the year while we were in the US, with downed trees, mudslides, power lines, and a telephone pole all across our road, all restored two days before we got back. But here is what we did find (album description and picture captions explain what it is about):

House and Driveway (http://picasaweb.google.com/sidneym/HouseAndDriveway?authkey=nr53r__qDzI)

-- sidney

ndebord
August 4th, 2008, 08:34 PM
When I was in Africa, I didn't mind so much not having Internet access. Heck, most of the time, I was happy to have running water and thrilled if there was electricity. But being down six days of the last 13 here at home is not quite as amusing. The cable was out when I got home on July 18 and wasn't back up until July 22. Then it was spotty, on and off, and Comcast kept saying it was fine. Friday August 1 it was out completely again and the first repair option they could offer was today. Turns out the wire to the house was fried... melted on the inside, probably from a lightning strike.

Sigh... what we were saying in another thread about redundancy???

Judy,

You have a cell phone? Redundency is spelled 3g these days. I don't have cable (broadcast with rabbit ears) <SIGH> and I use my Nokia 3555b cellphone tethered to my Thinkpad T40 with a mini-usb cable and I average 384kbps (slow DSL) speed all the time. (This, on T-Mobile is their in-between 3G technology using UMTS. In the Fall, or more likely Winter, it will be HSDPA which is much, much faster. 7.2 migs (sp).

AND then it will be some kind of USB dongle or an internal mini-card of some kind that will fit in the T40.

Judy G. Russell
August 4th, 2008, 10:38 PM
Speaking of which, we just missed the biggest storm of the year while we were in the US, with downed trees, mudslides, power lines, and a telephone pole all across our road, all restored two days before we got back. But here is what we did find (album description and picture captions explain what it is about):House and Driveway (http://picasaweb.google.com/sidneym/HouseAndDriveway?authkey=nr53r__qDzI)YIKES!! That's a little scary, isn't it!?!?!

Judy G. Russell
August 4th, 2008, 10:39 PM
You have a cell phone? Redundency is spelled 3g these days.No 3G phone and no DSL however...

Mike
August 5th, 2008, 03:31 AM
Then it was spotty, on and off, and Comcast kept saying it was fine.
Egads. So that's why you've been so quiet! <g>

I was having a problem with accessing a few sites. Traceroutes from my computer showed the packets never leaving my ISP's network.

Tech support is outsourced to some outfit in Canada, and of course, when the reps tried the sites, their connections worked just fine (because they were going through their own network). Eventually, I managed to obtain a contact in the local office, and he told me the ISP (our city-owned cable company) was having routing problems, and yes, despite the support techs' insistence that everything was ok, the local guy actually was getting the reports.

Then, last weekend (July 27), the router got sick. Random sites stopped working, with on discernible pattern. Fortunately, I have a dial-up backup, and I was able to determine the sites actually were available, and by direct connecting Brent's Mac to the cable modem (you don't actually think I'd do that with my XP box, do you?), I determined the cable was just fine, but as soon as the router was re-introduced, things broke.

At 10 am, I was in Best Buy, getting a new LinkSys router (the old one was a Netgear). Problem solved!

Mike
August 5th, 2008, 03:33 AM
But here is what we did find
So are you responsible for paying for fixing the road? Or is that your jurisdiction's responsibility?

ndebord
August 5th, 2008, 07:10 AM
No 3G phone and no DSL however...


Judy,

But you do have a cell phone and you can get a 3g cell phone with whichever carrier you currently have. <g>

Peter Creasey
August 5th, 2008, 08:07 AM
Comcast kept saying it was fine.

Judy, You might consider looking into Uverse (using fiber optics) for your Internet and TV. It has worked perfectly for me (a I knock on wood). Many, many Comcast customers have been switching due to Uverse being cheaper and usually better.

Judy G. Russell
August 5th, 2008, 08:18 AM
At 10 am, I was in Best Buy, getting a new LinkSys router (the old one was a Netgear). Problem solved!Fortunately, I could see what the problem was: the cable light on my Linksys modem would go out, or blink, or turn red briefly. But -- like the noise in the engine that stops when you take the car in -- the light would stay steady green whenever I tried to call Comcast. I was kind of relieved when it went out, and stayed out, Friday morning (even though it meant three days with no internet service at all) so that I could get another tech out here!

Judy G. Russell
August 5th, 2008, 08:20 AM
You might consider looking into Uverse (using fiber optics) for your Internet and TV. It has worked perfectly for me (a I knock on wood). Many, many Comcast customers have been switching due to Uverse being cheaper and usually better.It has to be available in an area, and it isn't here -- nor is anything else (Verizon fios also isn't available). Irritating since we lived through years of having a road ONE BLOCK from my house torn up for miles and miles so they could lay the fiber optic cable...

ktinkel
August 5th, 2008, 08:45 AM
You should have heard the snide comments of this morning's tech about the tech who came out two weeks ago... I'm just happy to be back up and running. It's amazing how much you come to depend on having a reliable connection -- or heck even having any connection at all!And how wonderful it is when you win the lottery and get a really good tech!

The guy who installed our DSL (before — and maybe the reason — I switched to cable for the computer) was a complete dog. But this cable guy was both sweet and smart, and he fixed everything up. Hurrah!

Sure is important these days. Whenever I think of moving from here, I go over my list of requirements. Right at the top: good reliable broadband! Then potable water, walls, etc.

ktinkel
August 5th, 2008, 08:46 AM
Speaking of which, we just missed the biggest storm of the year while we were in the US, with downed trees, mudslides, power lines, and a telephone pole all across our road, all restored two days before we got back. But here is what we did find (album description and picture captions explain what it is about)Amazing. Not sure you didn’t do things the right way (by being away, I mean). It would have been a miserable couple of weeks.

Jeff
August 5th, 2008, 12:14 PM
You should have heard the snide comments of this morning's tech about the tech who came out two weeks ago... I'm just happy to be back up and running. It's amazing how much you come to depend on having a reliable connection -- or heck even having any connection at all!

I have Comcast cable, tv and 'net. The fiber runs along the railroad tracks, which routinely carry 100 car coal trains which sometimes fall over. I keep an original and now cheap CIS account and a shortcut to the local node for the 'net. 56k, but it is via the wired phone line if I need it. Once I needed it for three days, when they lost 25 loaded coal cars up a pass with no near roads. 56k dialup; ~% those were the days, my friend...~%

- Jeff

Judy G. Russell
August 5th, 2008, 02:37 PM
Sure is important these days. Whenever I think of moving from here, I go over my list of requirements. Right at the top: good reliable broadband! Then potable water, walls, etc.A couple of my brothers and sisters and I keep talking about all getting land near each other for when we retire. The list of requirements for me have reliable broadband at the top; for one of my brothers, it's being within 15 minutes of a decent pizza joint.

Judy G. Russell
August 5th, 2008, 02:41 PM
I have Comcast cable, tv and 'net. The fiber runs along the railroad tracks, which routinely carry 100 car coal trains which sometimes fall over. I keep an original and now cheap CIS account and a shortcut to the local node for the 'net. 56k, but it is via the wired phone line if I need it.The dumb thing is, I've had cable for years now (ever since Verizon insisted that my house had suddenly moved -- or its central station had moved -- and had become too far from the central station...). And I've had a backup dialup system for all those years... until July 1, when I decided there was no sense in paying for something I would never use. I think I tempted fate and fate flipped me the finger...

Once I needed it for three days, when they lost 25 loaded coal cars up a pass with no near roads.EEEP! Yeah, that'll do it all right.

56k dialup; ~% those were the days, my friend...~% You and I and a bunch of others all probably remember when (gasp) we went to 1200 from 300, and then to 2400, and then 9600 and all of a sudden you couldn't read the info as it came down the screen any more!

sidney
August 5th, 2008, 08:03 PM
So are you responsible for paying for fixing the road? Or is that your jurisdiction's responsibility?

The road is maintained by the District Council (that's equivalent to "by the county") and we make sure that we get our property taxes worth by being squeaky wheels whenever it needs work. Those pictures were of our driveway, which means we are responsible for it. Home insurance will pay to replace the gravel surface, on the theory that we had a gravel surface there before. On the theory that insurance does not pay for what we did not have and did not insure, it will not pay to have an engineer design what is in effect a concrete bridge to replace the 18 meters of driveway that held up the gravel surface, the 12 tonne digger and driver for a week to excavate, drill post holes, install 14 eight-meter long 300mm diameter treated wood poles, three or four days of concrete truck and operator to cement in the posts, 28 steel bars, workers time to wrap them around the posts, and the pouring of the 18 meter long by 4 meter wide concrete shelf. But it will pay to cover up the resulting concrete with gravel.

Now there is a government earthquake and similar natural disaster insurance that would cover a slip, but only up to 60 meters from the house. The driveway slip was 70 meters from the house.

Urk, I just got a call... The contractor just did something wrong. I can't even bring myself to go into detail for another day -- Either the concrete will set by then with nothing bad having happened or the section of the driveway that is being worked on will be on the bottom of the mountain.

Judy G. Russell
August 5th, 2008, 08:37 PM
Urk, I just got a call... The contractor just did something wrong. I can't even bring myself to go into detail for another day -- Either the concrete will set by then with nothing bad having happened or the section of the driveway that is being worked on will be on the bottom of the mountain.Uh oh... this doesn't sound good...

Mike
August 6th, 2008, 03:04 AM
Those pictures were of our driveway, which means we are responsible for it.
Yikes!

Urk, I just got a call... The contractor...
I agree with Judy... this doesn't sound good.

Mike
August 6th, 2008, 03:10 AM
You and I and a bunch of others all probably remember when (gasp) we went to 1200 from 300, and then to 2400, and then 9600 and all of a sudden you couldn't read the info as it came down the screen any more!
I never had broadband at home until I was laid off from PeopleSoft in 2002. Prior to that, I just used dial-up from home, and I was used to the slow-loading pages. If I needed to download large files, I did it from the office and burnt them to CDs (USB flash memory was way too expensive back then).

Now I cringe at the thought of download speeds of anything less than several megabits per second!

Mike
August 6th, 2008, 03:14 AM
I was kind of relieved when it went out, and stayed out, Friday morning (even though it meant three days with no internet service at all) so that I could get another tech out here!
It feels so odd to hope for a malfunction to continue, huh? But what else do we do with an intermittent problem?

The Check Engine light in our car goes on intermittently. From the last trip, we believe we know why, so I no longer call the garage as soon as it's lit. Within a couple of days (of driving the car, since we only use it about every 10 days while I'm not working), it turns itself off. I guess now we'll wait until it's been on for at least a month.

sidney
August 6th, 2008, 06:15 AM
Either the concrete will set by then with nothing bad having happened or the section of the driveway that is being worked on will be on the bottom of the mountain.

It survived! :D

Now I can bear to tell the details. You can see from the photos how the section of the driveway where it had slipped down the mountain has been cut back to make a flat shelf in which we are installing 14 huge posts that are to be encased in concrete. The whole repair was designed by an engineer and is being built by the general contractor who we already have doing our house. The contractor went on vacation this week, leaving the job in the capable hands of his senior foreman, who has been managing an apprentice and the digger and concrete truck operators and has been regularly conferring with the engineer.

Three of the 14 posts were installed on Monday, including drilling holes, inserting posts, and pouring cement.

The foreman figured out how to get 5 holes drilled and posts installed on Tuesday and the remaining 6 yesterday (Wednesday). That saved us heaps of money compared to only getting done three a day, since we pay for every day that the digger and concrete truck have to be there.

After the last six holes were drilled, we realized that the shelf looked like a giant slab stuck on to the mountain with six huge holes very close to each other, which meant that there wasn't very much holding the slab to the mountain side, at least until the poles and cement were put in .

It was then that we found out that the contractor had given his foreman strict instructions to dig no more than three holes at a time and then put in the poles and concrete before going on to the next three holes, even if it were possible to get more dug in a day. Note that the concrete truck shows up in the afternoon to set the posts for that day, so it is not possible to drill and set more posts the same day.

We freaked, imagining that the weight of the equipment would send the remaining section of the driveway down the hill when it all would fall away from the six holes.

The reality was not nearly so bad. First of all, the engineer had not specified anything about setting a certain number of poles before drilling the next holes, so it wasn't a worry to him. And the contractor's fear may not have been for the mountain side falling away... He may have been afraid that the weight of the digger rolling past open holes to get to the next holes would shift the dirt into the first holes, collapsing them. The foreman came up with the idea of getting a second digger on the far end, allowing six holes to be dug without rolling a digger past any holes once they were dug, then using the buckets of the diggers to pass concrete from the concrete truck over to the holes, again without having to roll any digger or concrete truck past any open holes. So he pulled it off in spite of the contractor's original instructions to him and the mountain side did not fall away.

But we did have some time of panic and worry when all we knew of it was that it looked precarious and the foreman was not doing something that the contractor had thought was that important.

Now we have a few days of laying out steel meshwork and then pouring the concrete slab. The foreman says he hopes the driveway will be done by Friday next week.

Judy G. Russell
August 6th, 2008, 10:12 AM
Now I cringe at the thought of download speeds of anything less than several megabits per second!Agreed! I'm not one to need being connected every minute of every day (I know one idiot, er... person, who has his office fax machine connected to his Blackberry!), but when I want to get online, I want it NOW and FAST.

Judy G. Russell
August 6th, 2008, 10:14 AM
The reality was not nearly so bad.... Now we have a few days of laying out steel meshwork and then pouring the concrete slab. The foreman says he hopes the driveway will be done by Friday next week.WHEW!!! What a horrible thought, that you could have lost everything there! Egads.

Judy G. Russell
August 6th, 2008, 10:19 AM
It feels so odd to hope for a malfunction to continue, huh? But what else do we do with an intermittent problem?There really isn't anything else, especially when you're dealing with a bureaucracy (and oh BOY are the cable companies bureaucracies!).

The Check Engine light in our car goes on intermittently. From the last trip, we believe we know why, so I no longer call the garage as soon as it's lit. Within a couple of days (of driving the car, since we only use it about every 10 days while I'm not working), it turns itself off. I guess now we'll wait until it's been on for at least a month.My first step whenever I have an intermittent Check Engine light is to replace the gas cap...

Jeff
August 6th, 2008, 01:17 PM
There really isn't anything else, especially when you're dealing with a bureaucracy (and oh BOY are the cable companies bureaucracies!).

My first step whenever I have an intermittent Check Engine light is to replace the gas cap...

No one knows, mostly because no one will admit, what happened up on that mountain with about a quarter of a coal train derailed, but Amtrack was diverted through Wyoming for most of three weeks, so the rail line was down. The "rumor" is that Comcast had been too damned stupid to have a backup plan for its transcon cable, and so sent in repair crews by chopper.
Can a bureaucracy spell backup?

I second the gas cap change. A vibration induced pressure leak...

- Jeff

Judy G. Russell
August 6th, 2008, 01:21 PM
No one knows, mostly because no one will admit, what happened up on that mountain with about a quarter of a coal train derailed, but Amtrack was diverted through Wyoming for most of three weeks, so the rail line was down. The "rumor" is that Comcast had been too damned stupid to have a backup plan for its transcon cable, and so sent in repair crews by chopper.
Can a bureaucracy spell backup?Sure it can spell it: S-N-A-F-U!

sidney
August 6th, 2008, 02:04 PM
WHEW!!! What a horrible thought, that you could have lost everything there! Egads.

It was a rough few hours, but to the foreman's credit he may have saved us enough money to make the difference in being able to still finish the house.

Judy G. Russell
August 6th, 2008, 03:14 PM
It was a rough few hours, but to the foreman's credit he may have saved us enough money to make the difference in being able to still finish the house.That's a nice thought, but even in that case, I'd have rather been given the option whether to take that risk or not!

sidney
August 6th, 2008, 04:07 PM
I'd have rather been given the option whether to take that risk or not!

He did talk it over with Bonnie before doing anything and it was her final decision to go ahead with it. The problem was that they talked about the risk that he perceived, which was collapsing the first holes that would be dug when moving into position to dig the next holes, and the measures he would take to prevent that. He didn't think that the whole thing falling away was likely, and after finding out that the engineer had not warned us to fill the first holes before digging the others and after looking at the site after the holes were dug I agree. It was after Bonnie agreed with the plan and then saw the ground after all the holes were dug that she feared that it might not hold. Luckily, once the hole thing was over her fears proved to be groundless :)

The foreman is really proving his value by thinking on his feet. Today he mentioned getting one of the diggers up to the house before laying the steel mesh and concrete so that they could resume work on the foundation as soon as the driveway is done without having to wait a week for the concrete to cure.

Judy G. Russell
August 6th, 2008, 10:01 PM
He did talk it over with Bonnie before doing anything and it was her final decision to go ahead with it. She's a brave Bonnie lass, that's for sure!

The foreman is really proving his value by thinking on his feet. Today he mentioned getting one of the diggers up to the house before laying the steel mesh and concrete so that they could resume work on the foundation as soon as the driveway is done without having to wait a week for the concrete to cure.Good thinking!

Mike
August 7th, 2008, 02:26 AM
It survived! :D
Huzzah! Glad to hear all is well in the end!

Mike
August 7th, 2008, 02:27 AM
...I want it NOW and FAST.
Patience R us, as always. <g>

Mike
August 7th, 2008, 02:51 AM
My first step whenever I have an intermittent Check Engine light is to replace the gas cap...
That's the first thing I used to check. I'd read a long time ago that the most frequent reason is that the cap isn't tightened properly.

The Check Engine light is becoming a PITA in this car (a 2000 Volvo C70--when Brent and I got together, we decided I should sell my 1994 Acura and give him that money and then I'd be on the title for the Volvo, as "our" car).

A couple of years ago, the Check Engine light came on, ironically, just as I was about to schedule an appointment to respond to a recall notice--a software update was needed for the engine computer. After checking the gas cap and finding it appeared to be ok, I fervently hoped the software update would solve the problem, but it didn't. That time, it was a "saturated vapor accumulator." Unfortunately, that trip was to the dealer because of the recall, so I paid dealer rates.

Nine months later, the light came on again, so I checked the gas cap, and it was fine, so I took it to my regular mechanic. He hooked the car to the computer, which told him it was a gas cap problem. After testing, the mechanic discovered the gas cap itself was faulty, and replacing it solved the problem.

About three months later, the light came on once again, as I was arriving at my dentist's office. After ensuring the gas cap was tight, I took it to the shop, and the mechanic told me the computer said it was a "malfunctioning vent door" and he cleared the code, but couldn't find which vent door was the problem. Therefore, he didn't charge me, because he was sure I'd be back within a few weeks.

It took six weeks, but it did come on again, surprisingly, upon arriving home after a trip to the dentist! I didn't have time to deal with it right away, but I figured it was the same issue as before, so I didn't panic (and I knew the gas cap was tightened properly). About two weeks later, we took a trip to the other side of the hills (e.g., the HOT side of the hills), and the light went off when we returned home.

About three months later, during a trip to the endodontist (why does the car hate taking us to anyone dealing with our teeth?), the light came on again, so I just ignored it. Sure enough, it went off a few days later.

Harbor Freight Tools has an OBD II reader for $40. I'm thinking of buying one, so I can just hook it up (conveniently, the plug is in the center console) whenever the light comes on and determine the issue.

ktinkel
August 7th, 2008, 09:33 AM
You and I and a bunch of others all probably remember when (gasp) we went to 1200 from 300, and then to 2400, and then 9600 and all of a sudden you couldn't read the info as it came down the screen any more!Oh, yeah. And I was always saving the high-speed (1200 bps) visits for times I could be extra efficient because it cost extra.

Then Mac Nav came along, and it didn’t matter anymore. It zipped around, snagging whatever, and I could deal with it off-line. I believe that was even before Tapcis; it was in the 1200 bps days.

Judy G. Russell
August 7th, 2008, 09:43 AM
Patience R us, as always. <g>Patience? Patience?

Judy G. Russell
August 7th, 2008, 09:43 AM
Harbor Freight Tools has an OBD II reader for $40. I'm thinking of buying one, so I can just hook it up (conveniently, the plug is in the center console) whenever the light comes on and determine the issue.Either that or buy a new car!

Judy G. Russell
August 7th, 2008, 09:46 AM
Oh, yeah. And I was always saving the high-speed (1200 bps) visits for times I could be extra efficient because it cost extra.Yep, it cost more... and 9600 was $22.80/hr when it started!

Then Mac Nav came along, and it didn’t matter anymore. It zipped around, snagging whatever, and I could deal with it off-line. I believe that was even before Tapcis; it was in the 1200 bps days.I think Zapcis, the first iteration of Tapcis, was the first OLR, in the 300 baud era.

earler
August 7th, 2008, 12:59 PM
No, macnav did not precede tapcis, which itself was preceded by a couple navigators I wrote, first for the radio shack mod 1, then for the first ibm pc's. Don watkins started a cooperative group to create a navigator, a member of which was howard benner, who quit the group to create his own navigator, first called zapcis, then tapcis.

Macnav was begun around that time. Given the name, it is clear it couldn't have been written before the first macintosh, which arrived a year or 3 after the first ibm pc. Note, too, that until then most apple fanboys were tied to the source and only slowly arrived on CompuServe.

Mike
August 8th, 2008, 02:29 AM
Patience? Patience?
That is so... you.

Mike
August 8th, 2008, 02:39 AM
Either that or buy a new car!
Given the state of our finances right now, another car isn't in the budget.

In early June, we'd been contemplating getting a smaller SUV, since the prices are dropping dramatically. We thought we could get rid of the truck, since it's old, noisy, and lacking power steering and A/C. Then, Data911 got rid of me, so that idea was canceled.

Other than the pesky Check Engine light, the car is in good condition. It's eight years old, and has 72K miles on it. Besides, we just put new tires on it.

Mike
August 8th, 2008, 02:42 AM
earle, please use the "quick reply" button when replying to a message, instead of just typing in the "quick reply" box at the bottom of the thread.

When you use the button (next to the quote and multi-quote buttons at the end of each message--it's the button that has the paper and quill pen and displays "Quick reply to this message" when you hover your mouse pointer over it), your reply will be threaded next to the message to which you're replying.

If you just type in the "quick reply" box at the bottom of the thread, your response just gets added to the end of the thread, without any way to relate it to the message to which you're replying. ...thanks!

Judy G. Russell
August 8th, 2008, 08:58 AM
Given the state of our finances right now, another car isn't in the budget.I can sure understand that...

Other than the pesky Check Engine light, the car is in good condition. It's eight years old, and has 72K miles on it. Besides, we just put new tires on it.New tires? Two or four? (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

ndebord
August 8th, 2008, 10:41 PM
Given the state of our finances right now, another car isn't in the budget.

In early June, we'd been contemplating getting a smaller SUV, since the prices are dropping dramatically. We thought we could get rid of the truck, since it's old, noisy, and lacking power steering and A/C. Then, Data911 got rid of me, so that idea was canceled.

Other than the pesky Check Engine light, the car is in good condition. It's eight years old, and has 72K miles on it. Besides, we just put new tires on it.

Mike,

I too am sticking with my older car, but I'm pretty happy with its gas mileage and reliability. It's a Toyota Corolla CE 2003.

It has not caused me any trouble at all except for when a garbage truck sideswiped a row of cars and mine was in the middle. Took out the entire right side... a good body man and it is as good as new (5 Grand repair).

Mike
August 9th, 2008, 03:42 AM
New tires? Two or four? (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)
Four. $720 worth of new Michelins. They're much quieter and smoother than the Pirellis that were on it. I think the smoothness is because the Pirellis were eight years old. The quietness likely is due to the different tread pattern.

Even Brent can tell the difference from the passenger seat.

(But is there a joke that I'm missing?)

Mike
August 9th, 2008, 03:44 AM
...a good body man and it is as good as new (5 Grand repair).
A really good body man, Nick. Typically with that kind of body damage, there are lingering demons that take months to exorcise.

Judy G. Russell
August 9th, 2008, 08:47 AM
(But is there a joke that I'm missing?)One of the longest running threads in the old Tapcis was one entitled "Snow Tires - 2 or 4?"

ndebord
August 9th, 2008, 10:19 PM
A really good body man, Nick. Typically with that kind of body damage, there are lingering demons that take months to exorcise.

Mike,

Both doors shut more like Detroit iron than Japanese now. (You have to slam them a little.) The car runs smooth as it did when I bought it. I can take both hands off the wheel. This local guy from Bayonne is meticulous and honest and I'm lucky the insurance company went along when I wanted him to do the work.

As for the garbage truck, it was last seen turning the next avenue corner at high speed. Never caught.

(You should have seen the other two cars. Mine being skinnier, suffered the least damage.)

Mike
August 10th, 2008, 02:37 AM
One of the longest running threads...
Oh, right. I'll sit in my chaise lo^H^H^H hammock and read it.

Mike
August 10th, 2008, 02:42 AM
Glad to hear the work was done well, although I'm not sure that comparing the doors to Detroit iron is a compliment!

As for the garbage truck, it was last seen turning the next avenue corner at high speed. Never caught.

Just like the idjit driving a pickup in one of the outlying 'burbs here who pulled out of a parking lot and clipped a motorcycle cop. Given all the gardening tools in the back of the truck, I'm guessing he was an unlicensed illegal. He took off while everyone was trying to attend to the officer, and so far, he hasn't been caught. The store whose parking lot the driver was leaving had a surveillance video, but it didn't record the truck's license number.

Judy G. Russell
August 10th, 2008, 09:09 AM
Oh, right. I'll sit in my chaise lo^H^H^H hammock and read it.ROFL!! Exactly!

earler
August 10th, 2008, 06:23 PM
Thank you for pointing that out.

Mike
August 10th, 2008, 10:41 PM
You're welcome.