they're the 'phone company. they don't have to care.

[OT from cottage renovations]

it is customary to dislike the 'phone company.  Lily Tomlin's "one ringy-dingy" skit is still one of the best telco rants ever: not only is it funny, but we can all relate to it. 

the cottage relies on Verizon DSL for broadband internet access which is shared by several devices and applications. 

• inbound and outbound ATCS data streams are always running but need negligible bandwidth. 
• streaming audio is also low impact and only runs when somebody connects to it, which isn't very often. 
• the porch webcam needs the occasional burst for uploading image captures triggered by motion detection to the HSP in Toronto. 
• the remaining usage is on-demand: email, web browsing and image transfer for this journal, of which the latter two can be bandwidth intensive though again only in bursts. 

for the most part it just works.  but now and then something happens: there's still connectivity, but the throughput drops to a trickle.  of the uses above, the first two continue without interruption and the rest basically shut down.  when it happens, as it did Monday, I check all the devices attached to the house network, the router and DSL modem, and reboot everything.  that's just a ritual, though, and like most is completely pointless because the problem is on the Verizon end of the connection. 

excruciating as it is for data to not move (even simple web pages time out), far worse is the prospect of interaction with the carrier's support staff.  trouble calls generally result in 15-20 minutes of being on hold and are answered by folks who insist the problem is on this end and who absolutely cannot and will not deviate from a canned script that's completely unsuitable to the situation and configuration here.  they also refuse to escalate the query to a supervisor, which would generally be the only other way to get the information to a technician who could actually do something about it.  it is, in a word, hopeless. 

I have come to associate these network disruption with sightings of telco repair trucks in the neighbourhood.  it seems that whenever they turn up somebody's service or otherwise touch the infrastructure, circuits get switched to different wire pairs and the line ends up on a voice grade rather than a data grade pair. 

I've learned -- the hard way -- that the only workable approach is to ride it out and just wait for it to go away.  it did just that, about 24 hours after it started (this time I lucked out as sometimes it goes on for days at a time). 

so I spent the day puttering in the yard, an activity infinitely more soothing than waiting for the web that wasn't there or trying to take on the carrier.  even taking Meg to the vet for checkup and booster shots (she's fine) was better than that. 

build a better mousetrap

[OT from cottage renovations]

last weekend's Mousetrap concert featured the Amelia Piano Trio.  I happen to have heard them a few years ago when they were in residence at Public Radio for a week and never thought we'd be able to attract them to the Grove. 

the official Mousetrap photographer was unable to attend due to a schedule conflict so I showed up in his stead to capture these images. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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M^cCathran Hall

( ... four more, taken before the performance ... )

after intermission


applause


after the performance

forsythia

[OT from cottage renovations]

though I'm not really partial to bright shades of yellow (too much association with migraines) the appearance of forsythia always adds bright spot to early spring.  though much of its genius is in the timing, that's O.K.: the effect is well worth appreciating. 

(click through this thumbnail for higher resolution image)

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Bittersweet Cottage garden

forsythia

the branch behind the flowers shows signs of the vine from which I freed it last autumn.  for better results next year, once it's finished flowering it will be time to trim the [colourful expression] out of it.  normally I find it hard to take cutting tools to anything that isn't a weed or invader, but the forsythias will benefit from it. 

bluebell update (4)

[OT from cottage renovations]

a couple of days makes a huge difference at this stage in its growth. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

Bittersweet Cottage garden

27 March

detail:

27 March

( ... previous days ... )

Mertensia virginica

recognition

[OT from cottage renovations]

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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it is related elsewhere how some years ago I happened to find, in a waterfront park in Alexandria VA, a small part of the U.S. Navy submarine on which my late father served during the second World War.  my father, his shipmates and I were all under the impression that nothing had remained when it was cut up for scrap in the early 1960s. 

news of the discovery of this artifact was passed along to surviving crew members who were as pleased as I was (and as I know my father would have been) but who shared my dismay that the exhibit lacks a sign or marker with any information about its source. 

shipmates from both commissionings requested of the City of Alexandria that the display receive suitable signage and though it has taken a while to get things together, this evening the Mayor and City Council of Alexandria passed a resolution with a proclamation and presented a handsome plaque to several crew members who turned up for the occasion. 

proclamation - click to enlarge

the plaque will be taken to this year's crew reunion in Manitowoc, Wisconsin where the submarine was built and where its bell, discovered last year, is on exhibit in the city's maritime museum.  the plaque will then be returned to Alexandria for mounting on or near the propeller and will be dedicated during a Memorial Day ceremony. 

Emilio and Lou (SSR-267) and Al (SS-267)

it was an honour and a pleasure to be able to attend the City Council meeting and see the presentation of the proclamation and plaque.