I woke up yesterday morning, prepared to work on the quilt while I waited for the guy to come hook up the fiber optic phone line. It was about 7:30. I was enjoying the birds singing all around the house when suddenly…I remembered something vitally important. My sewing needles were in my knitting bag…in the truck…at home. Oy! I looked at the time and thought I’d wait a bit before I called Mr. FixIt to see if he might run them out to me.
I waited till 8:30 to call and even then, I woke him up. I hated that, but the neighbors here were already working and I really needed to finish that quilt! I asked ever so sweetly and added an offer to fix him breakfast, which he gladly took me up on. Within an hour, he was here and saved the day. We had breakfast out on the front porch and before he could get it together to head to town, the phone guy came.
The outside wiring was already finished. All he needed to do was hook up the modem inside and do the paperwork. I did a speed test when I first woke up so I could see what we were getting on the old line. Comparatively, this fiber optic system is like a rocket! I put it to the test by backing up my iPhone. It took six minutes. SIX MINUTES! That’s crazy! At home, if it updates at all, it takes HOURS. Mr. FixIt shook his head and told the repairman he would never get me to stay home now! lol
This new foray into speedy downloads has shown me one thing for sure…we need to do something about the internet at Marshmallow Ranch. The service provider here at the farm is Armstrong. At home, it’s Frontier. Armstrong has been working on stringing fiber optic cable in their service area for the last few years. Frontier has done nothing. And, one company cannot work in the other company’s area. So…there has to be a viable alternative.
I am not a fan of Elon Musk, the man. But he does have some brilliant ideas and one was Starlink. I don’t like what it’s done to the night sky, but I like writing this blog and I can’t spend four or five hours a day trying to get our S-L-O-W internet to upload photos. When we were camping at Leith Run last week, there was a couple who live in their fifth wheel full time. They use Starlink and love it. It works everywhere they go and the speed is great.
There are several packages available through Starlink. The home system has a waiting list. But the RV system is portable and you can use it at home or on the road. So I’m going to check into that and get rid of Frontier altogether. And, if the speed is what they say it is, we can ditch satellite TV and just stream through Starlink. We could end up saving money monthly and break even in a year from the investment of buying the setup equipment. I’ll let you know what I learn about it.
Once the service guy was gone, Mr. FixIt went on to town to help his friend Joe fix a broken door. I sat down with the quilt in my lap and started stitching the binding over the edge by hand. It took seven hours and my wrist have just about had it. I wanted to sew the label on but I looked in my knitting bag and could not find my measuring tape. So that part will have to wait till I get home.
Close up of the binding. I’m using invisible stitches. I love the little stripes in the fabric.
I need to mow here at the farm today, then I can sit down with my laptop and get some work done on Marshmallow Ranch Designs. I want to take advantage of this high speed internet and compare how much more I can get done. Oh, and the diet is continuing to work. After a plateau of sorts, I’ve dropped weight the last three days in a row! Noom taught me to eat more regularly and include my snacks, which I was kind of passing on. As soon as I did that, the weight started going down. The weather has been gorgeous this week!
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“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
James 1:5 NIV
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When I was a girl, the patio furniture had cushions covered in barkcloth depicting tropical plants and flowers. I can’t see this prints without thinking of sitting on the patio at my friend’s house, sipping on some sweet tea.
Ginny, just an FYI…..a $1.00 bill is 6” long. I f you don’t have a tape measure, just fold it in half (a few times) and you will have 3”, 1-1/2” etc, etc.
I’ve used this method at the fabric store, hardware store and several other places. My Dad taught me to always keep a dollar in your shoe!
OMGosh! I’ll never forget that now!!! Thank you so much. I learn a lot from this blog!