I confess, I do not get enough sleep. Five or six hours is usually all I get on any given night. However, the past two or three nights have been different. I have gotten at least eight hours of peaceful, uninterrupted sleep each night. The difference is amazing.
First off, I when I got up this morning, I felt great. I was full of energy and had no desire for my morning cup of coffee (okay, I missed the taste and smell but not the caffeine). To top that off, after being up for over five hours I am still going strong.
At my last physical (almost a year ago) my doctor told me that I would seriously benefit from at least eight hours sleep but somehow I keep avoiding that magic number. However, after this morning, I am seriously considering making that a priority.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
An Upgrade
After upgrading our mobile phones to something a little more current (Palm Pre Plus) we figured that was all the upgrades that we were entitled to. How wrong we were. After finding out that the 11 year old Dodge Dakota needed close to $2000 in repairs (and a couple of hundred in scheduled maintenance, my wife and I decided to put the faithful truck out to pasture. In it's place, we bought this:
A Silver 2010 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab. V6, towing package, 6 disc CD changer. We got a pretty good deal on it, considering the 2011's have not made it to the lot as of Saturday.
A Silver 2010 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab. V6, towing package, 6 disc CD changer. We got a pretty good deal on it, considering the 2011's have not made it to the lot as of Saturday.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Joining the 21st Century.
Well, my wife and I are finally smartphone and wireless internet users. After getting by for the longest time with PDA's, my wife and I now have "modern" smartphones. No we did not get iPhones, nor did we get Windows based phones. Instead, I have decided to go the Palm Pre route.
I can just hear you now: "Are you nuts?" Palm got bought out by HP...they are dead!"
Yes, Palm did just get purchased by HP, but Palm is far from dead. While I cannot say with any certainty what the future holds for the technology that HP now owns, I can be relatively sure the WebOS which powers the Palm Pre will live on. I also believe it would be in the best interest of HP to keep the Palm brand name alive. There are a diehard group of Palm fans who love the products and have stuck by Palm through the good times and the bad. I am one of them.
My love affair with Palm started with my first Palm, a Palm V. That device was a work of art and one of the most dependable tools I have ever used. I used it until I upgraded and got a IBM Workpad C3, which was just a rebranded Palm Vx, the upgrade to the Palm V. I used that for some time until my coworker sold me his Handspring Treo 90. This was my first color device and was competing with the new Windows Mobile/Windows CE devices.
Now that I had tried a color Palm device, I could not go back. After the Treo 90 started to fail (screen/pixel damage...the first failure I had suffered with a Palm device), I started looking at color devices. I settled on a Tungsten E which I liked quite a bit with the exception the battery life, which was pretty bad. The other thing that disappointed me was that Palm released the E2 just a few months after I bought the E. Wanted to upgrade but Palm would not give in. I could see their point. The E2 had bluetooth and a better battery though.
I used the Tungsten for a few years until I got tired of carrying a phone and a PDA. I managed to secure a Palm Centro from AT&T (before the mandatory data plan on smartphones) and used it until my contract expired...just about the time HP bought out Palm.
Up until this time, my wife had gotten my hand me downs. She got my IBM C3 and used it until the infamous digitizer issue got too bad to deal with. Then when I got my Centro, I gave her my Tungsten E. She used that one until the battery had to be charged at the end of each day, signaling the end of that device. She wanted another PDA but the prices on what few were so high, I just could not justify the cost. So last year I got her a Treo 680 smartphone and she really liked it. We were happy. Well, we were until AT&T mandated (like other carriers) a data fee for all smartphones. Arrggh. Well, now she was back to using her flip phone for calls and her Treo as a PDA...she was not overly happy . She wanted to use her Treo 680 full time but I could not justify the cost of data on a phone that had very limited data ability.
Well, my Centro was beginning to act pretty bad in humid environments. The screen would blank out and it was locking up at weird times. Of course this all started after I had accidentally dropped it in the dogs water bowl. While it appears to dry, it was not the same afterwards.
Now with our contract up with AT&T I was investigating other carriers. Sprint was looking good for the price, but the hardware they sold was pretty weak and expensive. AT&T had better hardware, but the prices for smartphones were still rather high (to me), and besides, the data prices are high as well.
Well, all this happens just about the time HP buys Palm and starts selling the Pre and the Pixi at really great prices. With the exception of shipping, they were free.
We just got the phones yesterday and I did not get a chance to start working with them until late last night. I was able to get all my wife's data moved over to the new phone and now all I need to do is to get her wallpaper and ringtones set. I hope to do that tonight.
What do I think of my Palm Pre Plus and the WebOS? I like it so far. It does not have as many apps as the iPhone or Android, but it is rather nice. I do hope to see more apps soon.
I plan on giving a full update after I have played with it for a while. One thing I can say...it is hard on batteries.
I can just hear you now: "Are you nuts?" Palm got bought out by HP...they are dead!"
Yes, Palm did just get purchased by HP, but Palm is far from dead. While I cannot say with any certainty what the future holds for the technology that HP now owns, I can be relatively sure the WebOS which powers the Palm Pre will live on. I also believe it would be in the best interest of HP to keep the Palm brand name alive. There are a diehard group of Palm fans who love the products and have stuck by Palm through the good times and the bad. I am one of them.
My love affair with Palm started with my first Palm, a Palm V. That device was a work of art and one of the most dependable tools I have ever used. I used it until I upgraded and got a IBM Workpad C3, which was just a rebranded Palm Vx, the upgrade to the Palm V. I used that for some time until my coworker sold me his Handspring Treo 90. This was my first color device and was competing with the new Windows Mobile/Windows CE devices.
Now that I had tried a color Palm device, I could not go back. After the Treo 90 started to fail (screen/pixel damage...the first failure I had suffered with a Palm device), I started looking at color devices. I settled on a Tungsten E which I liked quite a bit with the exception the battery life, which was pretty bad. The other thing that disappointed me was that Palm released the E2 just a few months after I bought the E. Wanted to upgrade but Palm would not give in. I could see their point. The E2 had bluetooth and a better battery though.
I used the Tungsten for a few years until I got tired of carrying a phone and a PDA. I managed to secure a Palm Centro from AT&T (before the mandatory data plan on smartphones) and used it until my contract expired...just about the time HP bought out Palm.
Up until this time, my wife had gotten my hand me downs. She got my IBM C3 and used it until the infamous digitizer issue got too bad to deal with. Then when I got my Centro, I gave her my Tungsten E. She used that one until the battery had to be charged at the end of each day, signaling the end of that device. She wanted another PDA but the prices on what few were so high, I just could not justify the cost. So last year I got her a Treo 680 smartphone and she really liked it. We were happy. Well, we were until AT&T mandated (like other carriers) a data fee for all smartphones. Arrggh. Well, now she was back to using her flip phone for calls and her Treo as a PDA...she was not overly happy . She wanted to use her Treo 680 full time but I could not justify the cost of data on a phone that had very limited data ability.
Well, my Centro was beginning to act pretty bad in humid environments. The screen would blank out and it was locking up at weird times. Of course this all started after I had accidentally dropped it in the dogs water bowl. While it appears to dry, it was not the same afterwards.
Now with our contract up with AT&T I was investigating other carriers. Sprint was looking good for the price, but the hardware they sold was pretty weak and expensive. AT&T had better hardware, but the prices for smartphones were still rather high (to me), and besides, the data prices are high as well.
Well, all this happens just about the time HP buys Palm and starts selling the Pre and the Pixi at really great prices. With the exception of shipping, they were free.
We just got the phones yesterday and I did not get a chance to start working with them until late last night. I was able to get all my wife's data moved over to the new phone and now all I need to do is to get her wallpaper and ringtones set. I hope to do that tonight.
What do I think of my Palm Pre Plus and the WebOS? I like it so far. It does not have as many apps as the iPhone or Android, but it is rather nice. I do hope to see more apps soon.
I plan on giving a full update after I have played with it for a while. One thing I can say...it is hard on batteries.
How's The Weather?
I tell you, this year the weather has been bizarre. We had a a cool, wet spring and during the last 2-3 weeks of it, it turned HOT and very dry. Well, it did for a while. While it is still hot (90's) it is not as bad as it could be. No, the oddity is the amount of rain we have gotten off and on. It seems like we have been forecast for thunderstorms every day for the past month or so. Mind you it has not rained every day, but it has rained quite a bit over the past 2-3 weeks.
Of course, all that rain makes it hard to keep the grass in check. I normally cut the grass on Tuesday so they bagged clippings can be picked up on Wednesday. We have the trash, recyclable materials, and yard waste picked up in that day. Well, I was unable to cut it on Tuesday last week so the yard waste had to sit until this week. I did not cut the grass on Tuesday this week due to some scheduling issues with my wife. I was able to get it cut yesterday, right before the storms rolled in. The good news is that all the yard waste should be picked up today since we are on a one day delay due to most people being off on Monday for Independence Day.
Yesterday made the second time in a row that I was able to just finish cutting grass before the storms hit. God was watching out for me.
Considering how much rain we have gotten so far this past few weeks, I wonder how the rest of the summer will be. We started off hot and dry and now are moving into a period of heavy precipitation. I wonder if we will end the year wet like last year or dry like we normally do.
The northeast has been hot and dry. I am scheduled to go visit family and friends in near the end of August, traditionally the hottest and driest time of the year there. I wonder what the weather will be like then?
Of course, all that rain makes it hard to keep the grass in check. I normally cut the grass on Tuesday so they bagged clippings can be picked up on Wednesday. We have the trash, recyclable materials, and yard waste picked up in that day. Well, I was unable to cut it on Tuesday last week so the yard waste had to sit until this week. I did not cut the grass on Tuesday this week due to some scheduling issues with my wife. I was able to get it cut yesterday, right before the storms rolled in. The good news is that all the yard waste should be picked up today since we are on a one day delay due to most people being off on Monday for Independence Day.
Yesterday made the second time in a row that I was able to just finish cutting grass before the storms hit. God was watching out for me.
Considering how much rain we have gotten so far this past few weeks, I wonder how the rest of the summer will be. We started off hot and dry and now are moving into a period of heavy precipitation. I wonder if we will end the year wet like last year or dry like we normally do.
The northeast has been hot and dry. I am scheduled to go visit family and friends in near the end of August, traditionally the hottest and driest time of the year there. I wonder what the weather will be like then?
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Weekend Adventure
I am an avid (although not fanatical) Geocacher living in North Central Texas. One thing that Geocaching has done for me is get me out of the house and allowed me to explore my surroundings. It might be as simple as a city park that I was not aware of, a memorial hidden off the beaten path, or full blown weekend (or week long) adventure but nonetheless I get out of the house.
I have a partner in crime named Allen who invites me to go along on the more adventurous geocache outings. We have take several 8-10 mile hikes, camped in the cold, and as of last weekend, took a weekend to go canoeing and camping.
A few weeks ago Allen e-mailed me about the Brazos River Cache, Canoe, and Camping Event that was being held on June 11th. I have never really been canoeing before, but I figured it would be a great getaway. I like to camp and geocache so adding canoeing to the mix sounded pretty good to me. We worked the logistics out (who was preparing what, times, locations, etc) and before you know it, June 11th rolled around.
Our plan was to leave late on Friday morning and drive to Possum Kingdom Lake, grabbing some geocaches along the way. Allen had mentioned to me that there was a challenge cache that we both could fulfill (The Lonestar Busy Day Challenge) if we planned our route correctly. The challenge required us to grab six different types of geocaches plus a benchmark, all in a 24 hour period. Now getting four of these would not be hard, but getting the other two of the remaining ones would be more difficult. Virtuals are scarce and earthcaches, letterbox hybrids, and whereIgo caches are practically extinct. Earthcaches are making a comeback but still are scattered far and wide. Yes, I know I also did not mention Cache In Trash Out caches, Event caches, Mega Event caches, Project A.P.E. or GPS Adventure Mazes Exhibit caches. These were excluded from the challenge and are many of these are rare.
The good news for us was that we were heading west and many of the caches we needed were right along the route (give or take a few miles). To make a long story short, we grabbed all the caches needed for the challenge and all we need to do is go get the challenge cache and log our find.
Once we made it to Possum Kingdom (PK), we set up our tent in the wind (with the help of some other geocaches), helped a few people set up their tents, and had dinner. Once it got dark we headed off into the woods to search for the night cache hidden by the host of the event (Doug). After searching for (and finding) the night cache, we headed off deeper into the woods to grab yet another cache hidden by Doug. We enjoyed he three mile hike from the trail head to the caches and back. Hanging out and talking with new people is always fun.
After the hike I grabbed a shower (which consisted of cool lake water pumped from the lake...no hot water) and it felt great. It was one of the most refreshing showers I have ever taken.
Most of the people were still kind of wound up so they stayed up, despite the fact we needed to get up early and break camp so we could make launch at 9 AM. We still needed a few miles to the canoe rental shop, then they would shuttle us to the launch point.
Allen and I were both tired so we did our best to get some sleep but sleep did not come for some time. It was still rather hot and humid, not to mention noisy as people continued to have a good time.
6:00 AM came and both Allen and I struggled to wake up. I unloaded my single burner and put on water for coffee and oatmeal (my normal camp breakfast) and started to pack up what we would need for the canoe trip. I no sooner than finished my breakfast when Doug shouted for everyone to hurry up. I was a little bewildered by this since it was only 7:00 AM and we did not need to leave for at least an hour. Allen and I quickly packed up the gear and loaded it into my truck. We then rushed off to Rochelle's Canoe Rentals several miles up the road on Route 4. After getting to Rochelle's we learned it was first come, first launch. We got our people in line and filled out the paperwork so we could launch as soon as possible. Finally around 10:00 AM, we launched the canoes on our 20 mile trip down the Brazos River.
As I said earlier, I have never really taken a canoe trip before. I have floated on inner tubes on rivers in WV and even used rafts to cross rivers, but I have never taken an extended canoe trip before. I was in unfamiliar territory the minute the canoe slid into the water. Nonetheless I was excited and anxious to get this trip underway.
Now if you could not tell by the name of the event, this was a canoeing, camping, and CACHING event. Along this 20 mile section of river were 32 geocaches to be found. A few of these had just recently been placed and had not been found yet so we were in for a special treat.
The view along the Brazos is pretty amazing. While the water is shallow enough int spots to cause your canoe to drag, you can avoid walking the canoe if you watch the current closely. Being green at canoeing, I did not watch the river closely enough and we had to walk the canoe several times the first day.
After canoeing and caching 13 miles, the team decided to beach the canoes on one of the islands dotting the river so we could spend the night. After investigating a couple of spots, we made our decision and began to set up camp. Allen and I quickly unloaded the canoe and within a short time had our tent pitched on soft, sandy soil. The wind was a little strong but the tent held even in the soft soil. One of the more interesting things we noticed on several of the islands was the abundance of cow patties dotting the ground. Local farmers let the cattle roam and they cross the river at the shallows and eat the bright green grass on the islands.
After we set up camp, the event coordinator Doug began preparations to get dinner together. He had smoked some brisket earlier in the week (a Texas thing...) and packed it up in his canoe for dinner that night. Other people pitched in to provide sides and drinks. At first I had not plans to eat (I brought MRE's) but they had plenty and insisted we join them. Allen pitched in some money to cover the cost of food since we did not bring anything to share. I kinda felt bad for not bringing something, but I did not want to try to keep food cool while canoeing.
After dinner most of us were pretty tired. We had paddled 13 miles as well as climbed in and out the canoes dozens of times looking for caches or dragging the boats through the shallow water. Since people were so tired, the camp was quiet by 10 PM. It was an odd thing compared to the previous night when everyone was up until way past midnight.
Before bed, Allen and I discussed the plan of attack for the next day. We planned on getting up early and hitting the water by 8 AM. We hoped to get out and finish first, then move on down the road to get home early. However, even though we were the first to wake up, we were almost last team to leave the island. One of the reasons was that I brought a big tent (Allen did not have one) and it took a while to set up/breakdown. Next I let someone use my single burner stove and he did not get it back to me until right before we launched. In the long run it did not matter. We may have been almost last leaving the island but we were right in the middle of the back when we arrived at the pickup point.
I was pretty proud of Allen and myself as we got within three miles of the pickup point. We had not tipped over the canoe once (considering all the gear and water we brought) although we had come close a few times. However our good fortune did not last. Just about 2.5 to 3 miles from the pickup point we hit an area of fast moving water and we lost control of the canoe. We drifted straight into a fallen tree and got turned sideways. The force of the water against the side of the canoe tipped the canoe over on its side. I managed to pop out and right the canoe just before it tipped over completely. After the canoe was upright, I noticed it was almost completely full of water. My gear, which was water resistant but not water proof, was soaked. We pulled the canoe out of the swift current (no easy feat) and started to bail the water out. Once most of the water was out, we went on our way towards the pickup point. We were wet, but safe.
After arriving at the pickup point, we posed for a group picture and grabbed a few more caches in the area before heading home. We managed to get all but five of the 32 caches in the area. Of those five we thing all of them are missing. Several good people looked for them without any luck. The owners have been notified and I hope they will be replaced.
Allen and I took the more direct path home but we still stopped a few times for caches and to try to dry out some of our sloppy wet gear.
I had a great time canoeing on the Brazos River. I will remember that weekend for a very long time.
I have a partner in crime named Allen who invites me to go along on the more adventurous geocache outings. We have take several 8-10 mile hikes, camped in the cold, and as of last weekend, took a weekend to go canoeing and camping.
A few weeks ago Allen e-mailed me about the Brazos River Cache, Canoe, and Camping Event that was being held on June 11th. I have never really been canoeing before, but I figured it would be a great getaway. I like to camp and geocache so adding canoeing to the mix sounded pretty good to me. We worked the logistics out (who was preparing what, times, locations, etc) and before you know it, June 11th rolled around.
Our plan was to leave late on Friday morning and drive to Possum Kingdom Lake, grabbing some geocaches along the way. Allen had mentioned to me that there was a challenge cache that we both could fulfill (The Lonestar Busy Day Challenge) if we planned our route correctly. The challenge required us to grab six different types of geocaches plus a benchmark, all in a 24 hour period. Now getting four of these would not be hard, but getting the other two of the remaining ones would be more difficult. Virtuals are scarce and earthcaches, letterbox hybrids, and whereIgo caches are practically extinct. Earthcaches are making a comeback but still are scattered far and wide. Yes, I know I also did not mention Cache In Trash Out caches, Event caches, Mega Event caches, Project A.P.E. or GPS Adventure Mazes Exhibit caches. These were excluded from the challenge and are many of these are rare.
The good news for us was that we were heading west and many of the caches we needed were right along the route (give or take a few miles). To make a long story short, we grabbed all the caches needed for the challenge and all we need to do is go get the challenge cache and log our find.
Once we made it to Possum Kingdom (PK), we set up our tent in the wind (with the help of some other geocaches), helped a few people set up their tents, and had dinner. Once it got dark we headed off into the woods to search for the night cache hidden by the host of the event (Doug). After searching for (and finding) the night cache, we headed off deeper into the woods to grab yet another cache hidden by Doug. We enjoyed he three mile hike from the trail head to the caches and back. Hanging out and talking with new people is always fun.
After the hike I grabbed a shower (which consisted of cool lake water pumped from the lake...no hot water) and it felt great. It was one of the most refreshing showers I have ever taken.
Most of the people were still kind of wound up so they stayed up, despite the fact we needed to get up early and break camp so we could make launch at 9 AM. We still needed a few miles to the canoe rental shop, then they would shuttle us to the launch point.
Allen and I were both tired so we did our best to get some sleep but sleep did not come for some time. It was still rather hot and humid, not to mention noisy as people continued to have a good time.
6:00 AM came and both Allen and I struggled to wake up. I unloaded my single burner and put on water for coffee and oatmeal (my normal camp breakfast) and started to pack up what we would need for the canoe trip. I no sooner than finished my breakfast when Doug shouted for everyone to hurry up. I was a little bewildered by this since it was only 7:00 AM and we did not need to leave for at least an hour. Allen and I quickly packed up the gear and loaded it into my truck. We then rushed off to Rochelle's Canoe Rentals several miles up the road on Route 4. After getting to Rochelle's we learned it was first come, first launch. We got our people in line and filled out the paperwork so we could launch as soon as possible. Finally around 10:00 AM, we launched the canoes on our 20 mile trip down the Brazos River.
As I said earlier, I have never really taken a canoe trip before. I have floated on inner tubes on rivers in WV and even used rafts to cross rivers, but I have never taken an extended canoe trip before. I was in unfamiliar territory the minute the canoe slid into the water. Nonetheless I was excited and anxious to get this trip underway.
Now if you could not tell by the name of the event, this was a canoeing, camping, and CACHING event. Along this 20 mile section of river were 32 geocaches to be found. A few of these had just recently been placed and had not been found yet so we were in for a special treat.
The view along the Brazos is pretty amazing. While the water is shallow enough int spots to cause your canoe to drag, you can avoid walking the canoe if you watch the current closely. Being green at canoeing, I did not watch the river closely enough and we had to walk the canoe several times the first day.
After canoeing and caching 13 miles, the team decided to beach the canoes on one of the islands dotting the river so we could spend the night. After investigating a couple of spots, we made our decision and began to set up camp. Allen and I quickly unloaded the canoe and within a short time had our tent pitched on soft, sandy soil. The wind was a little strong but the tent held even in the soft soil. One of the more interesting things we noticed on several of the islands was the abundance of cow patties dotting the ground. Local farmers let the cattle roam and they cross the river at the shallows and eat the bright green grass on the islands.
After we set up camp, the event coordinator Doug began preparations to get dinner together. He had smoked some brisket earlier in the week (a Texas thing...) and packed it up in his canoe for dinner that night. Other people pitched in to provide sides and drinks. At first I had not plans to eat (I brought MRE's) but they had plenty and insisted we join them. Allen pitched in some money to cover the cost of food since we did not bring anything to share. I kinda felt bad for not bringing something, but I did not want to try to keep food cool while canoeing.
After dinner most of us were pretty tired. We had paddled 13 miles as well as climbed in and out the canoes dozens of times looking for caches or dragging the boats through the shallow water. Since people were so tired, the camp was quiet by 10 PM. It was an odd thing compared to the previous night when everyone was up until way past midnight.
Before bed, Allen and I discussed the plan of attack for the next day. We planned on getting up early and hitting the water by 8 AM. We hoped to get out and finish first, then move on down the road to get home early. However, even though we were the first to wake up, we were almost last team to leave the island. One of the reasons was that I brought a big tent (Allen did not have one) and it took a while to set up/breakdown. Next I let someone use my single burner stove and he did not get it back to me until right before we launched. In the long run it did not matter. We may have been almost last leaving the island but we were right in the middle of the back when we arrived at the pickup point.
I was pretty proud of Allen and myself as we got within three miles of the pickup point. We had not tipped over the canoe once (considering all the gear and water we brought) although we had come close a few times. However our good fortune did not last. Just about 2.5 to 3 miles from the pickup point we hit an area of fast moving water and we lost control of the canoe. We drifted straight into a fallen tree and got turned sideways. The force of the water against the side of the canoe tipped the canoe over on its side. I managed to pop out and right the canoe just before it tipped over completely. After the canoe was upright, I noticed it was almost completely full of water. My gear, which was water resistant but not water proof, was soaked. We pulled the canoe out of the swift current (no easy feat) and started to bail the water out. Once most of the water was out, we went on our way towards the pickup point. We were wet, but safe.
After arriving at the pickup point, we posed for a group picture and grabbed a few more caches in the area before heading home. We managed to get all but five of the 32 caches in the area. Of those five we thing all of them are missing. Several good people looked for them without any luck. The owners have been notified and I hope they will be replaced.
Allen and I took the more direct path home but we still stopped a few times for caches and to try to dry out some of our sloppy wet gear.
I had a great time canoeing on the Brazos River. I will remember that weekend for a very long time.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Technical Support - A Sad State Of Affairs
I woke up yesterday to find that our broadband internet service, provided by Time Warner Cable was not working. I performed my normal troubleshooting (Working in IT tends to give me an edge in this department) and after several minutes, I decided to call TWC customer service to see if there was any service outages. After navigating the voice prompts I finally was connected to "Daniel", a seemingly nice guy with a slight Latino accent. He "tested" my cable modem and verified it was working and also confirmed there were no service outages in my area. Having a customer service background, I tend to go through life trying to have some sympathy for those doing customer service based jobs so I let "Daniel" ask me all the mundane questions and I did everything he asked.
After a few minutes, I was cold transferred to a Latina (with a much thicker accent...I never understood her name) in L2 support. Again, I allowed her to ask me all the questions "Daniel" did, including verifying my name, service address, home phone number, and account number. After a while she informed me that my cable modem was "quarantined". I asked her why and she said that she did not know, but most of the time it is because of viruses and spam. Knowing this was not the case, I informed her that I was working from home and needed my broadband connection to do my job. She then gave me the toll free number to the security department. Why she could not do this, I don't know. I thought that customer service was about a single point of contact?
Nonetheless I called the number as was greeted with a very long and unprofessionally recorded message asking me to leave my contact info and a brief description of the issue and they would call me back. I left the required info and hung up. In the mean time I pulled out my Sprint Aircard so I could at least log on to work and check mail.
A few hours later I received a call from an Anglo female who told me that I had been mailed several notices to come in and have my cable modem swapped out. I told her that my modem was mine...I bought it 8 years ago and there was nothing to swap out. I also told her I was only sent one notice (about a week ago) and we already called TWC customer service to see if needed an upgraded modem and we were told beyond the shadow of a doubt that we were fine. The lady from security told me there was a breakdown in communication at the CS level and my modem (a DOCSIS 1.0 compliant Linksys) was not going to work on the new network they were rolling out and I needed and upgrade. I was informed that TWC does not charge for the cable modems like Comcast does (or did) so I could just drop by any TWC office and get one. I informed the woman at security that I was working from home and needed my internet service up and running to do my job. She agreed to release my modem for two weeks until I could get another. My wife picked one up that afternoon and I hooked it up a few hours later. No problems getting it to authenticate. As a matter of fact, my speeds are much greater than they were with my old modem.
I was pretty torqued when all this started, but am over it now. I guess what occurred to me is just a reflection of what most American's deal with when needing customer service or technical support.
After a few minutes, I was cold transferred to a Latina (with a much thicker accent...I never understood her name) in L2 support. Again, I allowed her to ask me all the questions "Daniel" did, including verifying my name, service address, home phone number, and account number. After a while she informed me that my cable modem was "quarantined". I asked her why and she said that she did not know, but most of the time it is because of viruses and spam. Knowing this was not the case, I informed her that I was working from home and needed my broadband connection to do my job. She then gave me the toll free number to the security department. Why she could not do this, I don't know. I thought that customer service was about a single point of contact?
Nonetheless I called the number as was greeted with a very long and unprofessionally recorded message asking me to leave my contact info and a brief description of the issue and they would call me back. I left the required info and hung up. In the mean time I pulled out my Sprint Aircard so I could at least log on to work and check mail.
A few hours later I received a call from an Anglo female who told me that I had been mailed several notices to come in and have my cable modem swapped out. I told her that my modem was mine...I bought it 8 years ago and there was nothing to swap out. I also told her I was only sent one notice (about a week ago) and we already called TWC customer service to see if needed an upgraded modem and we were told beyond the shadow of a doubt that we were fine. The lady from security told me there was a breakdown in communication at the CS level and my modem (a DOCSIS 1.0 compliant Linksys) was not going to work on the new network they were rolling out and I needed and upgrade. I was informed that TWC does not charge for the cable modems like Comcast does (or did) so I could just drop by any TWC office and get one. I informed the woman at security that I was working from home and needed my internet service up and running to do my job. She agreed to release my modem for two weeks until I could get another. My wife picked one up that afternoon and I hooked it up a few hours later. No problems getting it to authenticate. As a matter of fact, my speeds are much greater than they were with my old modem.
I was pretty torqued when all this started, but am over it now. I guess what occurred to me is just a reflection of what most American's deal with when needing customer service or technical support.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
A Gem
I have been bored as of late and decided to just start watching movies. I was not overly picky but Sci-Fi flicks are always my first choice and doomsday apocalyptic types are always interesting...sometimes in a bad way.
I started watching "20 Years After" (not a very good movie in the least) and was just about ready to turn it off when I heard an Appalachian style tune playing in the background. I could not make out many of the lyrics but I did hear the words, "...stars fell on Alabama last night..." so I began searching on the web until I found this:
Of course that led me to some reviews, a Myspace page, and several other goodies that gave me some background info on this wonderful song. It seems that this is an old Jazz standard but it just seems to translate so well into mountain music. I just wished it was a bit longer.
Back when I was a kid, I would have hated that song, but now as an adult I feel drawn to it and I am not sure why. I mean, I am an 80's metalhead who still loves turning up the Iron Maiden, Metallica, Poison, Kix, and Hanoi Rocks whenever I get the chance...why do I feel so much emotion when I hear mountain music?
I guess my Hillbilly spirit is getting restless. It happens every year. I feel drawn back to my home state and music becomes the catalyst. Heck, I even start listening to John Denver.
By the way, the song (Stars fell on Alabama) is performed by Tara Nevin and actually is the best thing I have heard from her. She was asked to arrange and perform this especially for "20 Years After".
Update - Here is an extended version, live (w/with Charlie Howell and the Believers):
I started watching "20 Years After" (not a very good movie in the least) and was just about ready to turn it off when I heard an Appalachian style tune playing in the background. I could not make out many of the lyrics but I did hear the words, "...stars fell on Alabama last night..." so I began searching on the web until I found this:
Of course that led me to some reviews, a Myspace page, and several other goodies that gave me some background info on this wonderful song. It seems that this is an old Jazz standard but it just seems to translate so well into mountain music. I just wished it was a bit longer.
Back when I was a kid, I would have hated that song, but now as an adult I feel drawn to it and I am not sure why. I mean, I am an 80's metalhead who still loves turning up the Iron Maiden, Metallica, Poison, Kix, and Hanoi Rocks whenever I get the chance...why do I feel so much emotion when I hear mountain music?
I guess my Hillbilly spirit is getting restless. It happens every year. I feel drawn back to my home state and music becomes the catalyst. Heck, I even start listening to John Denver.
By the way, the song (Stars fell on Alabama) is performed by Tara Nevin and actually is the best thing I have heard from her. She was asked to arrange and perform this especially for "20 Years After".
Update - Here is an extended version, live (w/with Charlie Howell and the Believers):
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Job Changes?
Not changing companies, but my job role will change...at least I think it will if I have a job after the changes kick in.
To make a long story short, within the next 3-6 months the work I do will be transitioned to an eastern European team to handle 24x7. It is a phased in approach with stage one having the team (which is not fully hired or trained yet, but things are progressing very quickly) take all the inbound high priority requests from the help desk (which we do now) and filter them (like the team lead at the help desk used to do) and assign them accordingly. We would still manage the issue once it is assigned to us.
The next phase would be for the eastern European team to take the calls as well as taking back anything that is still open after our business hours. We would then only take calls from the new team if they needed questions answered.
The last phase would be for the team to handle 100% of the calls and never to call us again for input. I know that last one is a pipe dream but after we handover our work to them, we are no longer on call.
Sounds scary...like I am about to lose my job, but I believe we will be okay, at least in the short term. The account I work with has more work than workers and my boss and his boss both told me so at different times. They both stated to the European team that he could not wait to get us 100% so he could get us working on things that need attention. I am excited and scared at the same time.
I have been supporting this customer, both as an employee of that company and as their supplier for 14 years. I have been blessed to avoid the layoffs that started 3 years after I started working for them and continues today. I have counted at least six times I have missed the axe that cuts people from their livelihood, aka "their job". I guess I will see if I make it past round seven! God has been good so far and he will remain to be good no matter what happens.
All this talk of job changes has caused me to think back to all the job roles I have had in the past 14 years supporting this customer:
1996 - hired as a L3 Equipment Tech
1997 - transferred to IT as a Help Desk agent
1998 - promoted to HD Team Lead
2000 - promoted to Customer Support Coordinator
2001 - promoted to Customer Support Supervisor
2003 - transferred to current my employer to support my former employer
2003 - title change to Technical Support Supervisor, began working in the NOC
2004 - "loaned out" to a Project Manager to assist with a huge project
2004 - transferred back to support as a Disk Encryption Specialist
2005 - transferred to the Unix team as a Sysadmin
2006 - transferred to Escalation Management
2007 - transferred to Incident Management
That is a lot of jumping, I will admit but many of those was to keep from getting laid off, especially the last 10 years. I was working in the NOC when I was loaned out to the PM for a year or so. When my time was up with him, the NOC had been migrated to Asia. The encryption tech was leaving so I jumped in his spot.
After the encryption team was migrated and the basic support automated, I was given an option of being laid off, taking a Windows admin position or a Unix admin position...neither of which I was qualified. Since I am run Linux as a hobby at home, I decided to take that route. When all the Unix support was migrated to Asia, I was officially on the layoff list until I agreed to take any job that was available. That lead to the Escalation Management role that was by far one of the worst jobs for me.
I lasted seven months in that role before I told my boss that I needed out. I am not a quitter but the stress was killing me. As tough as the economy was, I was ready to quit rather than stay in that job role. Oddly enough, I was not fired, laid off, nor did I have to quit. About 2 weeks later, I was told that an opening was available on the Incident Management team. And while I has not been a bed of roses, I have been there since. Now, it looks like that my job role is about to change again.
To make a long story short, within the next 3-6 months the work I do will be transitioned to an eastern European team to handle 24x7. It is a phased in approach with stage one having the team (which is not fully hired or trained yet, but things are progressing very quickly) take all the inbound high priority requests from the help desk (which we do now) and filter them (like the team lead at the help desk used to do) and assign them accordingly. We would still manage the issue once it is assigned to us.
The next phase would be for the eastern European team to take the calls as well as taking back anything that is still open after our business hours. We would then only take calls from the new team if they needed questions answered.
The last phase would be for the team to handle 100% of the calls and never to call us again for input. I know that last one is a pipe dream but after we handover our work to them, we are no longer on call.
Sounds scary...like I am about to lose my job, but I believe we will be okay, at least in the short term. The account I work with has more work than workers and my boss and his boss both told me so at different times. They both stated to the European team that he could not wait to get us 100% so he could get us working on things that need attention. I am excited and scared at the same time.
I have been supporting this customer, both as an employee of that company and as their supplier for 14 years. I have been blessed to avoid the layoffs that started 3 years after I started working for them and continues today. I have counted at least six times I have missed the axe that cuts people from their livelihood, aka "their job". I guess I will see if I make it past round seven! God has been good so far and he will remain to be good no matter what happens.
All this talk of job changes has caused me to think back to all the job roles I have had in the past 14 years supporting this customer:
1996 - hired as a L3 Equipment Tech
1997 - transferred to IT as a Help Desk agent
1998 - promoted to HD Team Lead
2000 - promoted to Customer Support Coordinator
2001 - promoted to Customer Support Supervisor
2003 - transferred to current my employer to support my former employer
2003 - title change to Technical Support Supervisor, began working in the NOC
2004 - "loaned out" to a Project Manager to assist with a huge project
2004 - transferred back to support as a Disk Encryption Specialist
2005 - transferred to the Unix team as a Sysadmin
2006 - transferred to Escalation Management
2007 - transferred to Incident Management
That is a lot of jumping, I will admit but many of those was to keep from getting laid off, especially the last 10 years. I was working in the NOC when I was loaned out to the PM for a year or so. When my time was up with him, the NOC had been migrated to Asia. The encryption tech was leaving so I jumped in his spot.
After the encryption team was migrated and the basic support automated, I was given an option of being laid off, taking a Windows admin position or a Unix admin position...neither of which I was qualified. Since I am run Linux as a hobby at home, I decided to take that route. When all the Unix support was migrated to Asia, I was officially on the layoff list until I agreed to take any job that was available. That lead to the Escalation Management role that was by far one of the worst jobs for me.
I lasted seven months in that role before I told my boss that I needed out. I am not a quitter but the stress was killing me. As tough as the economy was, I was ready to quit rather than stay in that job role. Oddly enough, I was not fired, laid off, nor did I have to quit. About 2 weeks later, I was told that an opening was available on the Incident Management team. And while I has not been a bed of roses, I have been there since. Now, it looks like that my job role is about to change again.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
I Think This Is Rather Stupid
But that is just my opinion.
C|Net is reporting that wireless operators are accelerating their plans to beef up the wireless networks. More capacity is needed to accommodate the growing numbers of wireless data users, a trend first started with the iPhone. While I see a need to upgrade the networks, part of the "problem" was created by the carriers themselves and they continue to grow it with the new rules regarding rate plans. I am referring to the mandatory data plans for mid level and greater smart phones.
At least two operators, AT&T (my carrier) and Verizon are making data plans mandatory for many of their smart phones. Now if a data plan is mandatory then that means people are going to be more prone to use it, hence putting a greater strain on the network. With the greater strain comes more expense to the operators and greater customer service issues and costs.
I take this kinda personally because I own two smart phones (one was issued by my work and one is my personal line) and while one has data (work) I do not use it all that much. If I am forced to have data on my personal line, then I will have data on two phones (a huge waste of money) and I will be tempted (heck, I will want to) use the data for trivial things, causing more of a load on an already stressed system. I think that is stupid.
To be honest I have a smart phone for the PDA functionality of it. I like having a contact/memo list as well as a few apps (world clock, TZ tool, converter, PW safe, Geocaching aid, calendar, e-book reader, dictionary, thesaurus, and some simple games) in my phone, but data is not really needed (although it has been helpful at times). Why does the mobile industry think that just because I have a smart phone I want/need data?
The telecoms industry is not stupid. They have been losing money on the rapidly declining land line market and are seeking to recoup some of that revenue. A lot of people I know have ditched land lines and are mobile only, saving $30-50 a month. Well, the telco's believe they should not lose that money, so they offer you wireless web for approximately the same amount. That increases the strain on the network, causing issues for the customer and the telco. Endless cycle of needing revenue to upgrade the network so you sign on more customers increasing the strain on the network so you cans spend that money to update the now horribly outdated and overstressed system.
I cut the land line to save money. Right now we pay a tad less for two mobile phones with plenty of minutes than we did for a land line, long distance, and one cell phone with half the minutes we have now (thanx to an employee discount). Adding data only would increase my monthly bill.
Rollnig out network upgrades is not cheap and we are the ones who pay for it. The telco's get a good deal from the companies who provide the equipment (I know, I worked for one of the largest for seven years and have been supporting them for almost seven more) and we get to pay for that network with increases in our mobile phone bills and more features we may not need.
I received notice that I would be charged for a data plan if I did not pick one for my Palm Centro on AT&T's network. The Centro is not even a 3G phone and I will get charged smart phone rates when the best data I can get is EDGE. Stupid.
C|Net is reporting that wireless operators are accelerating their plans to beef up the wireless networks. More capacity is needed to accommodate the growing numbers of wireless data users, a trend first started with the iPhone. While I see a need to upgrade the networks, part of the "problem" was created by the carriers themselves and they continue to grow it with the new rules regarding rate plans. I am referring to the mandatory data plans for mid level and greater smart phones.
At least two operators, AT&T (my carrier) and Verizon are making data plans mandatory for many of their smart phones. Now if a data plan is mandatory then that means people are going to be more prone to use it, hence putting a greater strain on the network. With the greater strain comes more expense to the operators and greater customer service issues and costs.
I take this kinda personally because I own two smart phones (one was issued by my work and one is my personal line) and while one has data (work) I do not use it all that much. If I am forced to have data on my personal line, then I will have data on two phones (a huge waste of money) and I will be tempted (heck, I will want to) use the data for trivial things, causing more of a load on an already stressed system. I think that is stupid.
To be honest I have a smart phone for the PDA functionality of it. I like having a contact/memo list as well as a few apps (world clock, TZ tool, converter, PW safe, Geocaching aid, calendar, e-book reader, dictionary, thesaurus, and some simple games) in my phone, but data is not really needed (although it has been helpful at times). Why does the mobile industry think that just because I have a smart phone I want/need data?
The telecoms industry is not stupid. They have been losing money on the rapidly declining land line market and are seeking to recoup some of that revenue. A lot of people I know have ditched land lines and are mobile only, saving $30-50 a month. Well, the telco's believe they should not lose that money, so they offer you wireless web for approximately the same amount. That increases the strain on the network, causing issues for the customer and the telco. Endless cycle of needing revenue to upgrade the network so you sign on more customers increasing the strain on the network so you cans spend that money to update the now horribly outdated and overstressed system.
I cut the land line to save money. Right now we pay a tad less for two mobile phones with plenty of minutes than we did for a land line, long distance, and one cell phone with half the minutes we have now (thanx to an employee discount). Adding data only would increase my monthly bill.
Rollnig out network upgrades is not cheap and we are the ones who pay for it. The telco's get a good deal from the companies who provide the equipment (I know, I worked for one of the largest for seven years and have been supporting them for almost seven more) and we get to pay for that network with increases in our mobile phone bills and more features we may not need.
I received notice that I would be charged for a data plan if I did not pick one for my Palm Centro on AT&T's network. The Centro is not even a 3G phone and I will get charged smart phone rates when the best data I can get is EDGE. Stupid.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Worth It?
I read an article on C|Net about PG&E financing rooftop solar panels for people's homes. The more I read, the more I liked the idea and wondered, could this work nationwide? I have read in a few places that without any changes to current power usage, rooftop solar panels could provide between 50-80% of all electrical power needed the average consumer.
Think of it. Every home equipped with rooftop solar panels generating power for that home to use, financed by the power company. You would be charged only for the power you use plus the cost of the solar panels. Or, the utility company could rent them to you. Most people would see a huge drop in their electric bills, even with the cost of the solar panels added.
Would this not solve one of the many problems we have with getting a kickstart on renewable energy?
Let's go one further. If you live out of the city in an area with a lot larger than one acre, have the utility company put up wind turbines in addition to solar to allow extra energy to be created for the grid. The land owners would not have to pay for the turbines and get free power (up to a limit, of course) for allowing the wind turbine to be on their property.
The more solar panels and wind turbines that are installed would drastically reduce the need on using coal to power the grid. It would also give the added integrity to allow more electric vehicles to be added and charged on the grid, reducing the need for foreign oil.
Would it work?
Think of it. Every home equipped with rooftop solar panels generating power for that home to use, financed by the power company. You would be charged only for the power you use plus the cost of the solar panels. Or, the utility company could rent them to you. Most people would see a huge drop in their electric bills, even with the cost of the solar panels added.
Would this not solve one of the many problems we have with getting a kickstart on renewable energy?
Let's go one further. If you live out of the city in an area with a lot larger than one acre, have the utility company put up wind turbines in addition to solar to allow extra energy to be created for the grid. The land owners would not have to pay for the turbines and get free power (up to a limit, of course) for allowing the wind turbine to be on their property.
The more solar panels and wind turbines that are installed would drastically reduce the need on using coal to power the grid. It would also give the added integrity to allow more electric vehicles to be added and charged on the grid, reducing the need for foreign oil.
Would it work?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Urban Survival
A biological weapon is released into the public water supply causing 10's of millions of Americans to get sick and die. Public services as we know them cease to exist because the strain on the system is so great. Widespread power failures keeps you from going to the store, bank, or work. You are now on your own with what you have in your house and car. What do you do? How do you survive?
If you lived in the city and this were to happen, things would get ugly very quickly. Mob mentality would quickly set in and people would begin looting and destroying. Your safety would be threatened. Survival would be difficult. But not impossible.
In my previous post I mentioned "The Rules of Three" in survival. Most people think these apply when you are out in the elements, but the same rules apply in urban survival as well. Let's review the rules:
Three hours - this is how long the human body can survive exposed to the elements without shelter in extreme conditions without permanent damage.
Three days - this is how long the human body can survive without water under normal to moderately extreme (hot/cold) conditions without permanent damage.
Three weeks - this is how long the human body can go without food without permanent damage.
In an urban survival situation, if you are at or near home, your chances of surviving are much better. Your shelter is already there, but if it is winter and you just lost your heat, what next?
As you can see, the rule of three applies to urban survival as well. You need to get shelter first. Once that is secure, you need to assess your water supply and then your food. This is where it gets hard for the urban and suburban dweller.
Life in the city and suburbs is all about convenience. Microwave this, instant that, the internet...everything is geared for making life easier. There is nothing wrong with that. That is what you pay for. But if things got bad and you were without all these trappings, what would you do?
Living in the 'burbs, think about these things...especially when I hear about survivors of natural disasters. While these people suffer, the good news is that unaffected nations come to aid them. But what if it happened to you and no one came to your aid? You follow the rules of three.
1) Make sure you have shelter and are warm/cool. You can be exposed for up to three hours in extreme conditions before you suffer damage.
2) Make sure you have water for the next few days. The human body can only go without water for three days before it begins to show signs of damage.
3) Make sure you have food. This is last because you can go up to three weeks without food before you suffer any real damage.
Back in the days of The Great Depression (late 20's and early 30's) many poorer people took on a "packrat" mentality. They would tend to collect things and never throw anything away. While this is not normally a healthy lifestyle, in a survival situation this attitude becomes a necessity. When SHTF, nothing is garbage. Everything can be used beyond what it is designed for.
If you lived in the city and this were to happen, things would get ugly very quickly. Mob mentality would quickly set in and people would begin looting and destroying. Your safety would be threatened. Survival would be difficult. But not impossible.
In my previous post I mentioned "The Rules of Three" in survival. Most people think these apply when you are out in the elements, but the same rules apply in urban survival as well. Let's review the rules:
Three hours - this is how long the human body can survive exposed to the elements without shelter in extreme conditions without permanent damage.
Three days - this is how long the human body can survive without water under normal to moderately extreme (hot/cold) conditions without permanent damage.
Three weeks - this is how long the human body can go without food without permanent damage.
In an urban survival situation, if you are at or near home, your chances of surviving are much better. Your shelter is already there, but if it is winter and you just lost your heat, what next?
As you can see, the rule of three applies to urban survival as well. You need to get shelter first. Once that is secure, you need to assess your water supply and then your food. This is where it gets hard for the urban and suburban dweller.
Life in the city and suburbs is all about convenience. Microwave this, instant that, the internet...everything is geared for making life easier. There is nothing wrong with that. That is what you pay for. But if things got bad and you were without all these trappings, what would you do?
Living in the 'burbs, think about these things...especially when I hear about survivors of natural disasters. While these people suffer, the good news is that unaffected nations come to aid them. But what if it happened to you and no one came to your aid? You follow the rules of three.
1) Make sure you have shelter and are warm/cool. You can be exposed for up to three hours in extreme conditions before you suffer damage.
2) Make sure you have water for the next few days. The human body can only go without water for three days before it begins to show signs of damage.
3) Make sure you have food. This is last because you can go up to three weeks without food before you suffer any real damage.
Back in the days of The Great Depression (late 20's and early 30's) many poorer people took on a "packrat" mentality. They would tend to collect things and never throw anything away. While this is not normally a healthy lifestyle, in a survival situation this attitude becomes a necessity. When SHTF, nothing is garbage. Everything can be used beyond what it is designed for.
Survival Of The Fittest
Last weekend I was scheduled to go camping with PapaKilo at ESP but that just did not work out. While I was all game for it, the weather forecast was calling for temps near ZERO degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill below zero. While I am far from a coward, temps that low can be dangerous so we skipped it.
Sad that we did since that was the last weekend in January we both had off. However, this weekend (if the rain stays away) is shaping up nicely and next weekend is looking the same. While I will not be heading out with my BiC (Brother in Christ) PapaKilo (PK as we call him) I will be able to try my hand at solo camping. I am looking forward to it.
All this desire to get back to camping has moved me to read more on survival tactics. One rule that has stuck in my mind since ever I heard it a few weeks ago is "The Rule of Threes":
Three hours - this is how long the human body can survive exposed to the elements without shelter in extreme conditions without permanent damage.
Three days - this is how long the human body can survive without water under normal to moderately extreme (hot/cold) conditions without permanent damage
Three weeks - this is how long the human body can go without food without permanent damage.
So, with this in mind, when you set up camp, you know what you need to do first. You need to get shelter and build a small fire, if possible...shelter first. Once this is done, you work on acquiring water and lastly, food.
While camping is enjoyable for me, I do have an ulterior motive. I am hoping to get to a point where I can hike into a secluded parcel of land with just a pack and survive a few days with just what I bring with me. Ultimately I would like this to include trapping small game (rabbit) or using a slingshot (wrist rocket) to bring down a squirrel to use as food. Of course I am no where near this stage yet. My current level allows me tent camp without a lot of the trappings of home life. I have not tried to build a shelter or get a good night's sleep without a blanket or sleeping bag. Right now I am in the process of gathering all I need to tent camp comfortably solo. Once I reach that point, I will work on "lightening the load" to allow me to backpack camp (carrying everything you need to your camp site on your back in one trip). Once I get to that point, then I can work on "survival camping" where instead of backing in with a full hikers pack (50 + lbs.) you pack in with a smaller hunters pack (25 lbs or less). Obviously survivalist camping requires you to pack less and what you do pack should be multipurpose. Pack as little and as light as you can.
Sad that we did since that was the last weekend in January we both had off. However, this weekend (if the rain stays away) is shaping up nicely and next weekend is looking the same. While I will not be heading out with my BiC (Brother in Christ) PapaKilo (PK as we call him) I will be able to try my hand at solo camping. I am looking forward to it.
All this desire to get back to camping has moved me to read more on survival tactics. One rule that has stuck in my mind since ever I heard it a few weeks ago is "The Rule of Threes":
Three hours - this is how long the human body can survive exposed to the elements without shelter in extreme conditions without permanent damage.
Three days - this is how long the human body can survive without water under normal to moderately extreme (hot/cold) conditions without permanent damage
Three weeks - this is how long the human body can go without food without permanent damage.
So, with this in mind, when you set up camp, you know what you need to do first. You need to get shelter and build a small fire, if possible...shelter first. Once this is done, you work on acquiring water and lastly, food.
While camping is enjoyable for me, I do have an ulterior motive. I am hoping to get to a point where I can hike into a secluded parcel of land with just a pack and survive a few days with just what I bring with me. Ultimately I would like this to include trapping small game (rabbit) or using a slingshot (wrist rocket) to bring down a squirrel to use as food. Of course I am no where near this stage yet. My current level allows me tent camp without a lot of the trappings of home life. I have not tried to build a shelter or get a good night's sleep without a blanket or sleeping bag. Right now I am in the process of gathering all I need to tent camp comfortably solo. Once I reach that point, I will work on "lightening the load" to allow me to backpack camp (carrying everything you need to your camp site on your back in one trip). Once I get to that point, then I can work on "survival camping" where instead of backing in with a full hikers pack (50 + lbs.) you pack in with a smaller hunters pack (25 lbs or less). Obviously survivalist camping requires you to pack less and what you do pack should be multipurpose. Pack as little and as light as you can.
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