technology

Here we go again! Also, an excellent camera

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While my husband decided to skip going to town for his bloodwork today, I did still head out to the post office, to pick up a couple of parcels. We had warmed up to our expected high of -20C/-4F by then, though when I checked not long ago, we had actually reached -18C/0F!

With a wind chill of -28C/-18F

I’m extra glad that I did go out today, though. When I opened up the garage, the first thing I could see was a low tire.

The one we just got fixed.

My daughter had parked the truck after it was last unloaded by the house, after we’d had the leaking valve and dead sensor replaced, and we haven’t needed to use it during the worst of the cold snap. With an upcoming medical appointment (I’m also now extra glad my mother’s appointment in the city that would have been tomorrow, was rescheduled!), plus our usual end of the month runs to the city, and other errands, this really needs to be dealt with. I’m really hoping there wasn’t something on the garage floor that punctured the tire! With the cats knocking things about, it’s hard to know, though I’m sure I swept away all the broken glass from when the bin of lightbulbs got knocked off the shelf.

Once I was home from my outing, I texted the garage, explained what I found, and asked if I could swing by tomorrow afternoon to have it checked. Our mechanic said yes, so that’s now on the schedule for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I started the truck warming up – after discovering it had not been plugged in! It didn’t enjoy starting, but after a few minutes to warm up, it was running smooth again.

I also plugged in the compressor to pump up the tire, then went around to the emergency kit in the truck to get the pressure gauge.

When it when I heard a strange clicking noise and realized I was no longer hearing the compressor, over the sound of the engine.

Going back around, I turned on the light switch, and nothing happened.

The breaker was tripped.

This happened the last time I used the compressor, but not until after I’d been able to top up the tire. This was before it was taken to the garage. Because of where the breaker box is, we had to use the household step ladder and my daughter was able to climb onto the counter in front of the truck and reach the box.

I messaged my daughters and one of them came out with the little step ladder and took care of the breaker for me. The compressor, of course, was already unplugged.

By this time, I had gotten the hand pump out of the truck and set it up, so I could pump the tire after my daughter left with the ladder. This is a taller bicycle pump, with a built in pressure gauge, that I really like.

It was so cold, the pump had a hard time maintaining an air seal in its cylinder. Every now and then, I’d push down on the pump and it would just drop straight down, without any air to push against!

I got the tire pumped, though. By then, the engine had had time to warm up nicely, too.

I’d already gone ahead to open the gate, and I didn’t bother stopping to close it behind me, since I wasn’t going far. I’m pretty sure our vandal wouldn’t be out and about in this cold, anyhow. Particularly if he really is as sick as he claims to be.

When I got to the post office, the post master had stepped out briefly, so I did a big of shopping in the store. Along with some basics, like a couple of loaves of rye bread, my daughter requested some smorkchops (smoked porkchops) that she sent me funds for. After taking my purchases to the truck (which I left running), I still had to wait for the post master, so I started looking around the booze corner.

Which is where I found a pleasant surprise. Bottles of maple “sipping cream” whiskey! They even came in maple leaf shaped bottles. We bought one for Christmas a couple of years ago, and my daughters and I really enjoyed it, but we haven’t seen it since then. (My husband can’t drink alcohol, due to all the medications he’s on.) So I grabbed a bottle. My daughter had sent enough funds to cover the cost, too, so it didn’t even come out of budget, which was nice.

After that, I got my packages and headed for home. Once the truck was parked – and plugged in – I left my purchases on the driveway and walked back to lock the gate again. I had almost reached the garage again when I hear a noise in the willow next to the old shed with the collapses roof. It took a while for me to find the source.

Which is when I discovered just how much better the camera on my husband’s old phone is, compared to mine.

He had the Galaxy S22, while I had the Galaxy S21. The S22 has an extra lens, and it makes a huge difference when it comes to zooming in! My S21 really sucked for zoomed in images.

The camera could also “see” better than I could. What I’d heard was a prairie chicken fluttering up into the willow tree. At the distance I was at, it was basically just a shape in shadow. That shape was the only thing that set it apart from the trunk. Since I didn’t try to come any closer, it just sat there and watched me.

Once back inside and my trip to the garage tomorrow confirmed, I got to open one of my packages. My husband got me a new phone case. He had several, but they were all too big and too bulky for my uses. The “wallet” type one, with a cover over the screen, is the one I’ve been using because that cover is really necessary for me. Unfortunately, it had a zippered change purse in the cover, with made it too thick for my pocket and ungainly to handle. A strip of leather from the back with a magnetic closure on the front kept catching on things. It was also in two parts. The case that actually went around the phone, and the wallet portion. The case was held in place magnetically, and was constantly sliding around whenever I tried to press the buttons on the side.

All things that might not be a problem for other people, but were a real pain, for me – and this was the best of my options!

My new case is almost identical to the one I had on my S21, even though it’s a different brand. It’s about as simple as can be; the phone fits into a built in holder, and it has a cover the flips over. The cover has a couple of credit card slots, but that’s it – nothing that makes it any thicker. The back of it is also designed to bend in the middle, so that the case also acts as a stand while in landscape position. It cost only about $10. The plainest, simplest case with a cover we could find, and it’s perfect for my needs.

It is also a dark rose pink. Normally, I’d never choose pink, but it was the only colour available that fit an S22. The online photo looked like it was a really PINK pink, but in reality, it’s a much more pleasant shade.

I’m still not quite used to the features on this model, but it has a better camera (which is what I use my phone for the most), LOTS more internal memory, and now has the ideal protective case for my needs.

I need to remember that it also comes with a stylus. It’s tucked into the phone, and it’s easy to forget it’s there. Considering the troubles I have with touch screens, due to cuts and callouses on my fingers, this will come in quite handy.

I’m really, really happy with the new phone case.

It doesn’t take much to make me happy!

Hopefully, tomorrow, I will be happy again and find out there’s only something minor that left me with a low tire on the truck!

The Re-Farmer

Our 2024 Garden: first substantial harvest! Well, almost. Plus, good news

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With our garden not having the usual things that could be harvested throughout the growing season, the most we’ve had this year has been pretty small. The only real exception to that was the garlic scapes which, a much as there were and how much we enjoy them, is more of a flavouring than anything else. Aside from that, we’ve had handfuls of sugar snap peas, strawberries and raspberries. Much enjoyed, but not very substantial.

Today, I decided I wanted to cook with potatoes and carrots.

We don’t have any potatoes or carrots in the house at the moment.

A good excuse to see how the Red Thumb fingerling potatoes turned out! These are the ones we planted using potatoes from last year. They were small, even for fingerlings, and had been sprouting in the box they were hidden in (for some reason, the cats love playing with them!) for way too long. I shoved in as many as would fit in the leftover space, then dumped the rest in the compost heap. I honestly wasn’t sure they would grow.

Well, grow they did, and all of the, from the looks of it, unlike the Purple Caribe in the other 2/3rds of the bed.

The ones in the compost pile started growing later, are looking huge and are blooming right now. We’ll probably get more and bigger potatoes out of the compost pile than in the garden bed!

It’ll be a while before we can dig them up and confirm that, though.

I wanted just enough for tonight, so I only dug up a few at one end of the bed. There was a self seeded tomato in with them so, as soon as I had the space for it, I dug it out with a large amount of soil, so the roots would have virtually no disruption, then transplanted it at the very end of the bed. As I dug around for more potatoes, I built the soil around the stem a bit, then made the mound so that water would flow towards the stem rather than down the sides, where it would wash away the soil. I’ll put a mulch around it as soon as I have the materials to do it.

I ended up digging out three plants altogether, then went and harvested some carrots.

I had been wondering about the Uzbek Golden carrots. There’s lots of leaves, but there are no “shoulders” of carrots sticking out of the soil. Last year, they grew quite large, and we could see the carrot tops much earlier in the season.

Well, I found out why.

All the carrots I pulled up were still quite small!

Which is okay for a day’s meal. Still, what I harvested was almost a quarter of the carrots we planted, since we never had the space to plant more.

That’s what we get for starting ALL the mixed variety packs for winter squash and melons, and having an almost 100% germination rate. Plus extra melons! Plus transplanting all those overwintered onions for their seeds.

After harvesting these, they got hosed down a few times to get the big dirt off. Since they are so fresh, they just need to be scrubbed clean and the carrots trimmed, before being cooked unpeeled. Otherwise, I would never have kept some of the really tiny potatoes and carrots.

I did harvest the one ripe Purple Dragonfly pepper last night, but I don’t eat peppers, so the girls get to enjoy that.

I haven’t quite decided what I’ll be making with the ingredients I have right now. It’s still too hot to cook, so it’ll wait for a while!

On another note, my daughter’s transfers went through today, so she was able to etransfer to her father so he could use his credit card to buy her new computer. We were willing to drive to the city to pick it up at the local location, but it turns out they only have one location with pick up, and it’s in Toronto! So it will be mailed to us, by express post. Which means my daughter should have her new computer by the end of the week. Canada Post tends to be pretty good for that, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually arrived by Wednesday. Which would be awesome. I’m amazed my daughter has been able to keep her computer running at all! I don’t know if she got any sleep at all today, as each step of getting the funds transferred until the purchase could finally be made took longer than usual. But, it’s finally done. She still needs to keep her old computer functioning until the new one arrives, plus the time to set up the software she uses, make sure it can connect with her drawing tablet (that probably needs to be replaced soon, too) and both monitors, get the drivers updated, etc. until she can finally use it for work.

Even so, it’s a huge weight off her shoulders, just having it purchased and on its way!

I’d say today has been a pretty good day!

The Re-Farmer

Found the culprits!

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Today, I took the truck in to find out what the heck is going on with the tires and the old pressure.

Yesterday, I’d moved the truck so I could access it to add oil, only to find the oil pressure was back to normal. We checked the tires and all were evenly lower from when they were topped up, which could be attributed to the temperature changes.

I did not check the tires before I left, but I did notice that, as I was driving, the oil pressure gauge dropped again. The sensor for the left rear tire popped up a warning along the way, too. Previously, it has been front and rear, but just one got a warning this time. The “service tire monitoring system” warning is on all the time, so we do already know we have a sensor problem.

I took advantage of the situation and gave the truck a much needed car wash – I thought they might appreciate the undercarriage cleaning in particular! – then dropped the truck off. They had both bays occupied, so I just dropped off the keys. I did have a chance to talk to the mechanic about what was going on. One of the things he told me was that GMC has a problem with sensors in general; he’s replace many a sensor on GMC vehicles over the years. Of course, they would check anyway.

When I mentioned that the oil I’d bought was in the truck, since I never put any of it in, he asked if it was dexos oil. I could not remember seeing that on the label; I’d bought the oil at our local general store, and they had only one type of SAE 5W30, and it was a high performance oil. Beyond that, I couldn’t remember. He said he would take a look, when I told him where the bottles were.

I just checked and the dexos oil was developed for GM vehicles 2011 and newer. Our is a 2011. After I got home, I asked my daughter about it, as she was the one reading the user’s manual while I was driving, and she said the manual did say dexos, or equivalent.

Anyhow.

After dropping off the key, I headed out and had breakf… er… lunch at the next door Chinese restaurant.

It was excellent.

Then I headed over to a hardware store and got a few things I needed, including a small, folding step stool to keep in the truck. It was even 40% off, so that was good! I also grabbed some new deer screamers. I had an extra set I’d picked up a while back, but when I went to put them on, I found the self adhesive mounting foam was no longer self adhesive! Once I purchased this stuff, I headed back to the garage and grabbed the keys to unlock it so I could put things away, then applied the deer screamers. With so many deer out this winter, I did not want to be without them!

That done, I still had plenty of time, so I ended up walking over to the pharmacy. My husband had some prescription refills that needed to be special ordered in. Normally, those would have been delivered on Wednesday – two days from now – but since I was there, I checked. It turned out one of them had arrived just this morning, and the other was already in, so I was able to pick those up.

I wandered around for a while long, but there really isn’t a lot to do without spending money, so I headed back to the garage and waited in their office. They were just finishing up one of the vehicles in their bays, so it wasn’t long before that was switched out for our truck.

I got quite a chuckle when the mechanic went past me and asked, with a huge smile on his face, “are you a happy fly?”

I told him yes! Yes I was! 😂

Guess what song was playing when he started the truck?

I heard him ask our mechanic (the owner) the same question, but got a more confused response! 🤣 I love how excited he was to hear the song. 😁

The other thing he asked me was if I thought the problem could be the sensors, since the onboard computer also had the “service tire monitoring system” warning. I told him, yes, it could be – that’s what we need to find out!

He got the truck lifted up and started spraying the first tire, and right away I heard, “it’s the valve!” So of course, I went over to look (they let me do that! 😁)

This is the front driver’s side tire.

I came over to talk to him, and said I has been wondering if it might be the valve or the seal, because… well, these are brand new tires! He checked the seals, but there was no sign of a problem there, nor anywhere else on the tire.

After checking all four tires, two valves were like this, one was slightly less, and a fourth was so slight, he wasn’t sure it was leaking at all for a while. Interestingly, that was the tire that I got the warning for as I was driving in!

So they’re going to change all four valves.

But not yet.

I had a decision to make.

In talking about the “service tire monitoring system” warning with our mechanic before, I got a price of $60 for the part alone, but I didn’t realize the part was the valve. I didn’t know the tire sensors are in the valves. We’ve never had a vehicle with sensors in the tires before. He looked up and calculated the cost for me.

To get all four valves replaced, with parts and labour, will be about $420, plus taxes.

Ouch.

Or, we could replace them all with ordinary valves for about $100 now, and do the others later.

Or just do the ordinary valves and not have sensors.

If we did that, we would always have the warning light on, because the onboard computer would think we had zero tire pressure.

If we did the ordinary valves now, then did the sensors at a later date, we’d basically be throwing away a hundred bucks – but we’d have more time to save up the money.

Or we can just do the whole thing in January. It’ll be tight, but we could do it. Particularly since we’ll be done making payments towards that quarter beef we’re picking up in January. We’ve only got about $35 left on the balance for that, which will be paid on pick up day.

After asking how urgent it was, he said to just keep an eye on them and don’t drive on a flat tire.

So we’ll get it done in January.

While the mechanic was checking the tires, I mentioned to him that for us, we actually do have a possible vandal, and with both vehicles having tire issues, we can’t avoid thinking that someone is involved. He didn’t think that likely. He said that sometimes get dirt in around the valves which can damage them, and that, over time, aluminum rims like we have are more prone to it than other types of rims. He thinks that’s more likely the cause than vandalism. Which I suppose makes sense. This vehicle was used commercially by the original owner and, while it’s 4 years younger than my mother’s car, it already has more mileage on it. Until we have evidence to show otherwise, that’s the most likely scenario.

Then there was the oil.

Our mechanic looked at the oil I’d bought. It did not have dexos anywhere on the label, and he’d never heard of the brand before. Ultimately, he said to keep it in the truck, just in case, but he wouldn’t do an oil change with it!

The other mechanic, meanwhile did a thorough check for an oil leak while the truck was on the lift, then checked the oil again when it was on the ground, before topping it up.

The oil level was fine.

The dipstick is also different from any other vehicle we’ve had. It has markings on it, but no “maximum” or “minimum” markers, like I’m used to. Plus, my light when I checked it wasn’t very good, so I had a hard time seeing the level, anyhow. It just seemed like the shiniest part was low. It turns out what I thought was “low” on the dipstick is just fine. The truck is not low on oil. There is no leak.

Which means it’s another sensor problem.

Something to address another time.

Meanwhile, the tires got topped up and that was it.

They didn’t charge me for anything! I know they didn’t do any repairs, but they did use materials and equipment, not to mention their time, so I did expect to be paying something! Nope. He said we were good!

Well, that just means a little more from the budget towards getting the work done next month.

Once I got home, I called my mother. She has her telephone appointment with her doctor tomorrow morning, and I want to be there for it. Partly to answer any questions the doctor my have about the ER visits my mother may not remember anymore, and partly to help my mother understand what the doctor is saying. It turns out she thought it was today! Thankfully, she did have it written down on her calendar.

I wanted to know if my mother would need a shopping trip afterwards, since I would rather use the truck instead of her car, due to the icy road conditions in some areas. She’s still pretty well stocked up, she says, so she’ll just give me a list of the few things she needs, and I’ll pick them up without her having to come along. I’ve done enough shopping with her to know what she typically gets.

I’ll be driving the truck!

The next time I need to drive my mother’s car, we’ll have to make sure to check the tires on it, too. We’ll get it into the garage to see what’s going on there, too. Her tires don’t have sensors, though, so if her valves also need replacing, it’ll be a lot cheaper!!

So we got a mix of good and bad news today. We now know both why the tires have been getting low, and that it’s not the tires themselves that are the problem – which would have been a real shock, considering how new they are. The truck is otherwise fine. We mostly just have gremlins in some of the sensors. Nothing is urgent, from a safety point of view.

I do love technology, but the more technical things get, the more there is to break!

The Re-Farmer

A bit of a change for the next while

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One of the things I’ve tried to do is include at least photo with all my blog posts. I just find it more appealing. Of course, in general, this is a very photo heavy blog, since it’s also being used to document what we’re doing here on the property. We’re coming up on our 5th anniversary here, so that’s been a lot of photos!

Most of the images are taken with my cell phone, with others taken on the DSLR we have set up in the living room, though we don’t use is much anymore. With having to take down the bird feeders because of the racoons, there isn’t a lot to take photos of there anymore.

Not long ago, my husband traded his newer phone for mine, because of Bluetooth issues my phone had with the new OBDII reader he got for me. It takes better pictures, too, which is nice. It’s dimensions are also slightly larger. I carry my phone in my pocket while working outside, and quickly discovered a problem. The larger size meant it would get activated as I moved around, and I would suddenly be hearing voices from my pocket, as an app would start playing video. I could have set the lock screen, but when I’m in the middle of something and want to take a photo, I don’t usually have the time or ability to fight with a lock screen. So I got the thinnest wallet case I could find, which covered the touch screen, and that problem was solved.

After a while, though, I noticed something odd. Around where my thumb or fingers, depending on how I was holding the phone, rested while I was using it because to sort of bow towards the back of the phone. It seems that the pressure of my thumb or fingers was causing the case to be pushed away from the phone. This misaligned where the case covered the power and volume buttons, requiring more effort to use them. It may sound like a minor inconvenience, but with my osteoarthritis in my hands being so bad right now, it was actually quite painful.

Today, I decided to take the case off and see if there was some way to correct the problem.

Which is when I realized something.

It wasn’t the case that was bowing.

The back of my phone was coming loose.

Now, I didn’t remember this being there when my husband and I traded phones, but I thought I’d double check. As soon as my husband saw it, however, he just about had a fit.

It seems this happens when the battery expands, which is isn’t supposed to do. The phone could potentially explode or catch fire. !!!

Now, I happen to still think it’s actually been pulled away because of how and where I have to hold my phone with my wonky hands. The phone itself seems to be fine in all other respects.

Just in case, though, we went ahead and ordered a new phone on one of those $0 down, monthly payments for 2 years, plans. We are already in the habit of rounding up our bill payments, so there’s always a credit, but lately I’ve upped that so that enough credit was built up that, if necessary, we could skip a month’s payment or two. We’re not at that point, with any of our utility bills yet, but even with the new phone upgrade, the cell phone bill will still be under the budgeted amount.

Until it comes in, though, I won’t be using the phone I have now, nor will I take back my old phone from my husband. There’s no way I will drag around my daughter’s DSLR in case I want to take spontaneous photos, either. Aside from the bulk, I don’t want to take a chance of damaging it.

Which means that, until the new phone comes in, I won’t be taking any photos. Aside from the post I have scheduled for tomorrow morning, I won’t have any new photos to include with my posts.

Considering my WordPress media storage is at over 90% filled, I suppose that’s a good thing.

It feels weird to write a post without a photo, though. Those are often my “anchor” for what I’m writing about. Writing a post without a photo feels… naked, somehow! 😄

Ah, well. It shouldn’t take too long for the new phone to arrive. I’ll be getting a Samsung Galaxy S21. We’d had Samsung phones before and I was happy with them, but this one apparently has really excellent photo and video quality.

Not the best way to end up needing a new phone, though, that’s for sure!

The Re-Farmer

Technical oddity

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After making my last post, I had to lie down. I hate doing that so late in the afternoon, as I know it will mess up my night, but I just didn’t feel well. I do feel a bit better now for it, so I guess it was a good thing.

Before getting my daughter to do the driving for our dump run and trip into town, I was able to go through the trail cam files. One of the cameras did not behave normally when I switched out the card. Basically, it didn’t “wake up” when I took the card out, nor could I turn it on. Usually, when that happens (the camera is getting older, so it has a few quirks), I can just open the battery case enough for the batteries to lose contact, then close it up again. After that, it usually “wakes up” on its own, or using the power button works. Neither happened, so I just switched the cards and made sure to check that one first.

This is what I found.

What a mess!

Judging from the large files, you’d think it was recording video as normal, but I don’t have it set to video. It’s set to stills only.

Of course, I couldn’t actually view any of the files. My computer just couldn’t open them. So I tried to format the card, but that didn’t work, either. The start button wasn’t even active. After several failed attempts, I tried renaming the card to what is usually reads (SDHC), and that worked.

It’s been a very, very long time since I’ve had a camera do this. I can’t even remember if it was this camera, or the older one – which, amazingly – is mostly working again.

I really hope the new camera with the build in direct solar power works well in the winter. There are a few minor things about it I find irritating – like the fact that it shuts itself off while in set up mode, when the card is removed, but doesn’t turn itself back on when the card is replaced – but it’s working well so far, and the batteries are still at 100%.

As for the camera that did this, if things are at all like when it happened before, I should be able to get it going again by changing the batteries. Sometimes, the camera gets triggered and, instead of just taking a photo or video, it says active until the batteries are completely drained. Usually when that happened, there’s nothing on the card at all. I don’t know why sometimes it does this, instead.

I’d better head out and do that now, while it’s still light out.

The Re-Farmer

Morning bebbies, and catching up

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My original plan of the day was to continue mowing the lawn after doing my morning rounds. Unfortunately, I realized that I would need to get new SD cards for the new trail cam, which did not come with its own. Since I switch cards every morning, each camera needs two card, and the old SD cards we’ve been using for the past few years are starting to wear out.

Which meant a trip into town, after feeding the kitties.

So. Many. Kitties!

There are 10 kittens and three adults in this photo – with many kitties that hadn’t come out yet!

Except these ones, that emerged rather quickly, since they have their own kibble bowl.

Gotta love the one that likes to sit completely in the bowl!

The fifth kitten came out of the lilacs after I got this picture, then ran off before I could include it in a shot. It is pretty distinctive, with more black spots on is body than it’s mostly white siblings.

The only place in town that I could think of that would have memory cards was the pharmacy, so I picked up my prescription refill while I was at it. My doctor switched me from pills once a day two injections once a week, which he wants to try for a year.

Thank God for my husband’s insurance! The price went up, and it cost almost $70. Which means that, without insurance, it would cost almost $700. My dosages are still building up to what the doctor wants to be on. At full dose, I am probably looking at about 2 boxes every 3 months, if I remember correctly. As it is, one box now costs more than my husband’s bubble packs for 4 weeks, and he’s got something like 10 different medications spread over 3 times a day in there.

Ugh.

Anyhow…

The pharmacy turned out to not have any memory cards in their little electronics sections. The cashier suggested I try a store across the street. They didn’t have any in their electronics section, but when I asked, it turned out they have them behind the counter.

I was about to buy two of them when I realized they were micro SD, not SD cards. I tested a micro SD on the camera, and it doesn’t work.

After telling her what I needed, she wracked her brain then suggested I try a cell phone place a few streets over. So I did, and they did have one type in stock – with far more memory than I needed, and so expensive, I couldn’t get the two I needed with the budget I had.

The guy wracked his brain, then suggested a small computer repair shop. I’d completely forgotten it existed, because is shares retail space with another shop. So I went there.

They did carry memory cards – but were completely out of stock and would not get more for at least a week.

Crud.

The next option was to go to the small, slightly nearer city. They have a Walmart. I figured I should at least be able to find one there! I made a quick stop at the gas station, then home to leave my meds, then off I went again.

The trip took quite a bit longer than expected, though. This time of year, the provincial and municipal road maintenance crews are out in full force. They’re cutting the overgrown grass and saplings along the shoulders, scraping the shoulders free of weeds, clearing ditched and culverts for the winter, and even painting fresh lines on the highways. This particular highway was being resurfaced – finally! – leaving only half a lane open for traffic. We were all driving half on the road, half on the shoulder, for miles, while traffic in the other direction was having to wait. The road crews wouldn’t even let people make turns along the way, because the asphalt was so fresh.

Once I got to the Walmart, though, I realized it shared a parking lot with a Staples, so I went there.

I found two 32G cards (I would have been happy with 16G, or even 8G, but there were none in stock) at a price low enough, it actually made up for the cost of gas to drive out!

My daughter had given me her card and a shopping list, so I hit the Walmart, too. Then, it was home by a different route!

Once home, I formatted the cards, then finished my morning rounds, which included switching out the memory cards. Though we had a good rainfall yesterday, we’re heating up over the next while, and won’t get rain again for some time (if we get it in our area at all), so I gave the all the garden beds a good watering.

I’m just amazed by how quickly this pumpkin is turning colour! Obviously, it’s not going to reach anywhere near its potential, but we made no effort to do that. I prefer to have a pumpkin that doesn’t need a forklift to carry. 😉

I’ve been eyeballing our long range forecast and, so far, it looks like the mild temperatures will continue well into September. Our average first frost date of Sept. 10 is expected to have a high of 19C/66F, and a low of 10C/50F. The middle of the month is looking to have lows of 5C/41F. Forecasts that far ahead are far from reliable, of course, but it is hopeful. Every mild day is that more more time for all the stuff that’s behind in the garden to catch up!

It’ll also be good for the litters of kittens that were born later in the season, too!

The Re-Farmer

Old and New

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Today, we went into town to pick up my early birthday take out dinner (Chinese food!). I took advantage of it to stop at the Purolator drop off location to see if my new keyboard made it in. We were supposed to get a call from Purolator once it was delivered, and we hadn’t gotten one, but I figured I’d check.

It was there! Yay!

I am now typing this on my brand new, ergonomic keyboard, which is an updated version of my old one.

My old one is in the eco-waste pile, so I’ve been using the older one my husband was using, which had been mine before then. It works, but many of the keys are worn off, which is why my husband was willing to trade with me. He doesn’t do as much typing as I do.

As they are both Microsoft ergonomic keyboards, how the keys sit is almost exactly the same. Which means I am not having issues with finding keys, nor is their pain in my hands trying to type, as there was with the other keyboards I tried.

There are, however, some differences.

The overall dimensions are slightly different. My husband wasn’t interesting in taking the keyboard back, so I put it into the box for the new one, as an emergency back up. It was a tight fit, and the lid doesn’t close completely, so the new one is ever so slightly smaller than the old one.

The keys, however…

What the heck?

The first thing to figure out is the new key next to the left hand shift key. The space is the same, but now there are 2 keys in it, and the new key is on the inside. There are three symbols on the new key, but all I can get out of it are \ and | which are not shown on the key itself. As for the shift key, I’m going to have to get used to stretching my pinky out slightly further to hit shift instead of the new key.

The other things is, it’s in French for some keys, pictographs on others. The Home key is now a diagonal arrow, for example, while the Esc key is now Echap (I still haven’t figure out how to do the E with an accent). Entre is Entree. Print Screen i snow Arret Defit, which apparently is now an editable screen grab of some sort. I haven’t tried it yet. There are two Suppr. keys. The one above the arrow keys used to be the Delete key, and the one higher up now has Impr. and Suppr. keys, where there used to be Print and Lock.

The number keys above the letter keys now have an extra symbol on them, as do some other keys. Which would be handy, if I could figure out how to use that third symbol. Something other than the shift key must access it, but what? Also, the ~ and ` key next to the 1 now has different symbols on it – the symbols that the new key by the left hand shift now has.

There is a new key between the Ctrl and Windows keys which shows the same pop up as when I right click in my typing field. To the right of the spaced bar, the Alt key is now Alt Gr – and as far as I can tell, it does nothing. Next to that is a short cut to MS Office. Which I happen to have at the moment, but I just have a shortcut to Word on my taskbar. Then there is an emoji key.

Yes. I can now do emojis on my keyboard.

🍤🥠🍗🍚🎈🎁

Ok, look. I can illustrate my birthday dinner. :-D Oh, wait… 😃

Can you see them as emojis, or do they just look like weird symbols to you?

Oh, I just realized there is a third Suppr key. It’s the Delete key on the number pad. Which makes more sense than having one where the Lock key was.

I went to check the order on Amazon and, after several checks, I found where you could choose a French or English keyboard. English was the default. Yet we got a French keyboard. Not in function, but in labeling.

Today happens to be Amazon Prime day, though, and the keyboard is about half price.

My husband is ordering another one – making double sure that the English one gets ordered. French is his first language, so he can have the new French keyboard once the English one comes in. It really doesn’t make much of a difference, functionally, but it will be less of a distraction for me.

Aaannnd… It’s done. It should get here in roughly a week, and should come by mail this time, not Purolator.

Aside from that, I tried to find a keyboard map that I hoped would show me how to access those third symbols on so many keys. I’ve found descriptions of the new features on the keyboard, then it says to download an app to customize hot keys. I don’t want to download anything extra. I just want to know how to use the default functions.

I’m actually quite happy with it, and even as I type this post, I am getting used to things like reaching that left shift key, and not hitting the new key, instead.

The main thing is, I can type, and it doesn’t hurt, like with every other keyboard I’ve tried.

The Re-Farmer

All packed up… almost

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One of the things we got in the mail today was the packaging to send back parts of our old satellite internet system that need to be returned. It came with return postage, instructions and even a strip of packing tape to close the box up again!

Now, I finally know the names of the different parts. :-D

With my brother trying to mount the new dish to the old supports, one of the satellite dishes was already dismantled and in the basement. The other, however, still needed to remove the radio from the dish on the roof. I had been thinking it could be done after the weather improved, but it’s supposed to get worse over the next couple of days, not better. So my darling daughters dug the ladder out, and one of them climbed up to remove it. She ended up having to cut the coax cable, because it was stuck, but we were able to get that off, later.

With one of the radios already being indoors, we could pack it up with the modem, power supply and power cord, and it’s ready to go.

For the other one, we’ll have to wait for the rest of the snow to melt off, and for it to dry, first.

I’d already brushed off as much as I could before I took the above photo!

Which means we’ll be ready to return them tomorrow morning, or the day after, if I don’t get out before the store closes at noon. Since it’s postage paid, I could theoretically leave it in the mail box outside the building, but I don’t think the boxes will fit! :-D

You know, for all the issues we had with our internet, we actually got good customer service with them. They simply don’t have the equipment necessary to meet our needs, in our location. Having to have two satellites just to get enough data for our household was bad enough – mostly on our budget. As I write this, I can see the live feed from our garage security cam, and every now and then, it’s a whiteout from blowing snow. In weather like this, we would have had no end of connectivity issues, if not losing our connection entirely. With the new Starlink system, there have been no issues at all. With no data limit and the monthly bill less than half what we were paying, our old provider just can’t match it. At least not for our geographical area. I know in more urban areas, they can be much more competitive. In that respect, I would still recommend them. Just not for anyone living in the boonies, like we do!

The Re-Farmer