Monday, July 29, 2013

Monday Memories - Dial-Up Speed


Do you remember the sound of dial-up?

I used to take a book to the computer with me to wait while the computer dialed, connected, and downloaded pages.  

We're on dial-up speed again.

All of the trees around our house have blocked our satellite signal.  The raspberry bushes were the final straw leaf.  In the last two weeks they grew tall enough to close the one little hole that allowed the tower signal to reach our house.  

After being without internet for nearly a week, Bob (the internet wizard) looked high (on top of the roof) and low (from the angle of the ground) for a solution.  In the end, he winced as he handed us a little box and said, "It's only about as fast as dial-up, but at least it's something until we can fix the problem."  Fixing means Calvin digging a trench and Bob laying wire for 200 yards and then hooking everything up all over again.

At first I didn't think dial-up speed would be too bad - I'd just read a book while I waited.  But it doesn't quite work that way anymore; our data is much larger than before.  I could almost finish a book by the time a page has surfaced.

The leaves on the trees are also blocking my cell phone coverage.  I have to go outside and stand in a certain area to be able to talk on the phone or download data.

An appraiser once told me that each mature tree improves your house value by about $1000, which means they're our gold mine; but this week they don't feel like much of a bargain.

However, I am reading two books that I've wanted to read for a very long time.  Books that make me think, and when you're on dial-up speed you have plenty of time to think.

Dial-up isn't just a memory anymore.


9 comments:

Deanna/Mimi said...

Your problem reminds me of when I would have to wait for a long time for a census page to download so I could read it. I did so much genealogy that way. I could go do a load of wash, empty the dishwasher, make beds, etc. and finally go back to check the census download and it was almost finished. That was just one page and I still had more to go. I was thrilled when we got our setup from Spectrum Communications and I could get a census page in just a few seconds. I know what you mean about trees....beautiful, wonderful trees. Enjoy your books.

Brenda Goodrich said...

Kind of ironic that your previous post was on the blessings of technology:) We miss you at swimming! Have fun with Ray's family!

melanie said...

Ahhh, now your text make sense. This didn't come up in my reader and left me wondering why your internet was slow. Which leads me to- what rss are you using now that Google Reader went by the wayside?

So glad you have a book or two. Hopefully you wont need three.

Ande said...

Oh man. No wonder. Bummer. Can't wait for it to get fixed, but I'm glad you've at least got two good books to see you through.

Deidra said...

It makes me feel so old (ha!) to think that Chris and I started our marriage with dial-up internet. It was free through the university and we were poor. You only got so many hours/week, and man, those hours didn't go very far, even then.

I'm always amazed at how difficult it is to go back once you've had something. The consistent sleeping through the night we've come to expect got interrupted big time twice last night (darn vaccines). Funny that just a few months ago, that was the norm with Truman, but I'm dragging extra today. I don't know what it says about me that I think I'd prefer my sleep to be interrupted more than my internet!

Jill said...

I'd be in a bad way if we had to go back to dial-up! Nothing would be worth waiting for anymore. I'd probably get a lot more done at home though.

Becky said...

This explains why we haven't heard from you in so long! I have missed you :-) Hope your situation improves soon!

Kathy’s Korner said...

Oh my, that is a tragedy in my "book"!

Cali said...

Well, now you can truly know how a pioneer felt. Going back in time is scary. Hope you don't have to start cooking by open fire 😀