Hodge Podge I can’t get online”
The Internet, phones and snow are my beef this week, we’ve all seen the adverts for faster, better Internet services, that’s great, good for you and them, it’s all fabulous, unless you live outside of town like we do. And don’t get me started on the phone 5G? What’s that? Unobtainable I say, we’re lucky if we can get a phone signal at all. Even with a booster some days we can’t use the phone. So when the power goes down and it does frequently for one reason and another we are dead in the water communication wise. There have been times in the past when I’ve had to stand on a chair on my deck outside with my phone held high above my head and shout to the person on the other end of the line if I was lucky enough to be able to make a call. And it’s not much better now either.
Like everyone else we pay a small fortune for our provider yet, most of what they promise is a mere fantasy for us, most days the on demand service is not usable and watching a film it’s not possible unless you like it punctuated with that little white circle thingy that chases its tail in the centre of your picture, whilst it buffers, it’s maddening. What it would normally take you to watch a film is extended far beyond what I want to wait to see the end. Even watching a series seems to be impossible, the actors start off alright then they soon slip into a Madonna moment, where they “strike the pose ” and stand around with their mouth gaping in mid sentence as it buffers yet again. It ends up we give up and go and do something else. Maybe that’s why we have so many crappy DVDs. But you would think in this day and age a good strong Internet signal would be doable. That they deliver what they promise for once, like most people I just want it to work, that’s all, no gimmicks, no tricks, just work properly please and have a higher loading speed than dial up.
Even playing on-line games is difficult, FaceTime, nope, you can dial the number say hi, and then it’s gone, you have to reconnect. I talk to a dear friend in the UK once a month if I’m lucky using FaceTime and it’s tough to stay connected, some days we have to call each other back multiple times, not just once or twice, but many, many more times.
It spoils it. Our son very often can’t play his games either or talk to his friends or siblings because it’s not good enough a signal.
Practically every week, we get flyers and letters from the same company we use saying how great their service is, that they are putting up more towers in our area, that’s great but it hasn’t helped us much I see people posting things about who’s the best provider in our area online and people vent, they vent hard and long about the service they are currently getting and with whom. Some companies have waiting lists some don’t, some are very long, others a matter of weeks. The bottom line is there seem to be more users than the bandwidth can support, so we have a shortfall, perhaps that’s why the signal cycles and goes on and off, I’m no expert but I do know when I’m being lied to, there a saying it goes..”dont p--s down my back and tell me it’s raining” from the film The outlaw Josey Wales. Yeah I feel I’m being lied to, me and a lot of others around here.
It doesn’t matter how many fancy high gloss leaflets and letters you send out, your service needs looking at and improving please.
I heard on the news yesterday that travellers are being asked to turn off their phones when flying now as 5G interferes with the plane’s equipment, that’s more than a little worrying for me, I am already a nervous flyer so to think that someone’s phone nestling innocently in their pocket or bag can bring the plane down is more than a little unsettling, didn’t anybody think to check that first before making it available to the general public? Wouldn’t that have been a good idea? These things and more, make me shake my head and keep me awake at night, where has common sense gone these days?.
The last part this week is about snow, Edson council has had a lot of complaints from local residents about its removal or lack of it I should say, some roads still remain impassable according to postings on local groups. Yet you can still be fined for not clearing your pathway outside of your house, I ask you, is that fair? You can’t drive on the roads but they can still fine you for snow on the sidewalk.
I know it’s still only January but I’m already done with the snow. Our temperatures are Schizoid and continue to swing back and forth and freezing rain, mmm, not my thing either, so dangerous and so many people hurt or even died. if you really don’t need to travel they say don’t go out, not easy if you have to get to work to support your family. I think this year though has been the only time I’ve read in the last four years that tow trucks can’t come and pull you out of the ditch because it was too dangerous even for them to operate, that’s scary.
Stay safe everyone , stay home if you can. Wear a mask and wash your hands, And above all, be nice to one another….