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Thursday
September 1st 2011 After being up until one, I slept through to 8:35. From the forecast, weather in Alberta does not look conducive to a continued flow. Hard to say, though. If the flowers produce, the bees will get out and bring in the nectar. I spent more time trying to update the Tab and even called Samsung. They dropped my call twice on hold and then I got a knowledgeable, patient man who worked with me and finally concluded that I need to try the process from another computer. Interesting how the problem is always the customer's fault. This computer was running terribly slow anyhow, so maybe that is not bad advice. Anyhow, I ran out and bought another computer (a Samsung) at best Buy and spent an hour trying to get it working, then returned it and got another which has been updating all evening. It still is not ready to use, now, at midnight. Now that I have a new machine sitting here beside it, my netbook which was running slow has now sped back up and is quite acceptable -- at least as acceptable as it has always been.
I'm working on websites and ads and have been planning to go to Pine Hill, but have yet to get away. There is no rush in my mind since the weekends tend to be noisy and busy in Port Carling. Sitting at a keyboard makes me feel the need for more exercise. That walk the other day really was refreshing and good for the body. Somehow, I hate to take the time, but when I do, I feel better for it. In the evening, when I returned the computer, I also went out to Princess Auto and picked up a grinder for my boat project. I'm still planning the details. I checked Home depot for epoxy, but they don't carry it. Search | Selected topics | Honey Bee World Forum | HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home | Write me
Friday
September 2nd 2011 No honey flow today, I'm guessing., but the next week looks promising. When I awoke at 5 this morning, I was greeted by an email stating that I was unsubscribed from BEE-L due to too many email failures. That woke me up alright. I immediately notified the server crew and am waiting for an explanation. The day looks foggy and damp so far. I have some desk work to complete and maybe I'll drive south. I doubt it. * * * * * * * This turned out to be a long day, and a hot one. I spent time with the server support crew tracking some email problems, tried using Kies to update the Tab again (same failure). I also went for a short walk after supper and watched another episode of Monk as well as reworking the ad.
I've been using a lot of data between my cell phone and my Tab, several GB in the last day or two. Wireless tethering works great and even though it is against the Terms of Service for Bell (not Koodo though), everyone does it. After all, what business is it of Bell's what you do with the data you buy? I get over 1 megabits/second most of the time, although on weekend evenings like tonight, the service can slow and even come to a halt -- or close to it. Turning the data off and on often cures that, though. The phone or Tab works a a NAT router and I can see the other devices on the network and even use my wireless printer with them. I have had an ad to do for the BCHPA AGM booklet requiring a new shape plus some changes and have been waiting for the Muses -- plus I had been suffering though some really slow computer performance. I finished a pile of tasks and finally inspiration struck
Finally, once the deadline passed, I had two fast machines ready to rock and inspiration finally struck. I realised I could recycle an old ad with some changes and fired up The Gimp. I actually bought the new machine because, the way it was running, I doubted my netbook would be able to handle the graphics-heavy job. It was running so slowly that I figured it was due for a re-install of the operating system. On any of my computers that is a job that takes days since there is so much software to install again -- if I can find the media. As it turned out, I wound up doing the job on the netbook and it ran beautifully. I just don't know what had it so bogged down for days. That's Windows for you. Windows runs beautifully and then slows, then repairs itself. I've played with Linux in many flavours and none of them are nearly as bulletproof IMO. Search | Selected topics | Honey Bee World Forum | HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home | Write me
Saturday
September 3rd 2011 The scale shows a nine-pound loss since the 30th as of last night when Ellen took the picture, or about three pounds a day or less than a pound per hive per day. Hopefully that will turn around with the sunny weather coming this week.. I'm caught up with my deskwork, and the ad is done so I'm free to get on the road again. I think I'll drive to Pine Hill and tackle that Next Big Job -- Cloud 9. It is holiday weekend, though, and I prefer quieter times on the River there is no rush. I'm on the lake here in Sudbury and near stores and all the city amenities that I lack in Swalwell and Port Carling. I ran out of Dropbox space finally and am not going to pay $99/yr for more, so I took my son-in-law's advice and installed SugarSync. SS offers more space than Dropbox and also allows syncing any folder between computers and mobile devices. I'll continue to use DB, but have additional space. If you click this link -- SugarSync -- and sign up, we both get an extra 0.5 GB storage. M$ also gives me free cloud storage with M$ Office, but I have yet to figure out how to use it. I think Windows Live and all it's screw-ups, changes and mistakes in implementation has soured me on M$ solutions. I do like M$ Windows, though. * * * * * * * The morning passed quickly with some tidy-up tasks and Mom went to the market, so we had corn for lunch. I'll pack up now and head south. * * * * * * * I decided not to rush off and did some tasks all afternoon and had supper. By seven, I was packed and had downloaded the first third of "The Help" from Audible. I had spent a lot of time looking for a cheaper source and tried LibriVox, where I listened to some Nietzsche and some ancient Greek texts, but had decided that the quality of reading was horrible and that even if the material were terrific, the presentation was unbearable and that I would pay for a decent audio book. Maybe I'll look around LibriVox some more, but I wanted my first book to be good. I also decided that in spite of saying some memorable things Nietzsche was a tedious windbag.
After looking around, I chose "The Help" because the movie had been discussed on the CBC and because my mother had liked the book. I had an excerpt from "Arms and the Man" on hand too, just in case the book I bought was awful. It wasn't. It was very well read and engrossing. The readers used fairly authentic accents. I think that if they had been much more authentic, many people would not have been able to understand what was said. I recall having been at a restaurant in South Carolina and the girl serving might just as well have been speaking Urdu for all I could tell. The 2-1/2 hour trip passed quickly as I listened and I arrived home at Pine Hill without incident. The evening was quiet except for the inevitable fireworks that punctuate long weekends. I was up until one playing with the new computer and watching an episode on Monk. New computers need more attention than new babies. Search | Selected topics | Honey Bee World Forum | HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home | Write me
Sunday
September 4th 2011 I slept until after nine, then got up, drank a pot of coffee and and made my customary omelet and checked my email. Hmmmm. I got an email from SugarSync saying that I have another 500 MB of storage because two readers of this diary signed up! They got extra space, too. Bonus!. That made me wonder...
I tend to forget how nice it is here in September. As I sit on the veranda catching up on my notes, the weather is mild and the sounds of birds and children at distant cottages. A few boats pass on the River, but it is mostly quiet. I plan to buy groceries, go sailing and address the Cloud 9 job today. Well see how much of that I get done. I'm feeling great these days and getting lots of sleep. My foot is not bothering me. Now that I bought a replacement, this little netbook is running fast again. * * * * * * * Things were very quiet on the River today, so I was surprised when I went to town and saw the crowds in the Steamboat Bay shopping area and grocery store. I guess the cool, sunless morning had kept them off the water. Things are picking up now, though and a tour boat just went by. I'm still tuning up a website and tuning the new laptop. I see I missed this Audible offer and could have saved my $7.99 -- maybe. Search | Selected topics | Honey Bee World Forum | HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home | Write me
Monday
September 5th 2011 Labour Day It's a cool, breezy day here on the River and I am sitting indoors with my back to the fire. I spent an hour playing with Synergy2. It is, for me an essential program, but can be very frustrating to get working. I spent more than an hour when all was said and done and spent more time working on a new website. I think I am finally done. * * * * * * * It stayed cool and breezy, so I didn't sail or work in the boathouse today. I did, however, take a long walk into and around town, then back down the power line to make sure that there aren't trees leaning on the wires. It was a good chance to listen to another hour of my talking book. Listening to the book makes the time pass and the walking less boring, but it also distracts from appreciating things of interest along the way. I think I'll be more inclined to walk if I am entertained. We'll see. I'm three+ hours into "The Help" and I'm liking it. I'm realizing the these long years of being connected have changed my way of being to where I am dealing with many topics simultaneously and researching more topics in a day than would be possible in a week without a computer and Internet. I'm doing corresponding with and doing work for people scattered around the globe. Although it was chilly here and I had a fire all day, in Alberta the day was warm and from the picture Ellen sent, I can se that the bees have been busy again. In three days, the four hives have gained 26 pounds or 26/3/4=2 lbs a day and that includes a cool, wet day, so they are doing well. I don't know if it is all from flowers or if they are doing some robbing, but I imagine there has to be a honey flow on. Search | Selected topics | Honey Bee World Forum | HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home | Write me
Tuesday
September 6th 2011 Alberta gets another hot day, but here in Muskoka, the day dawned cool and breezy again. I lit the fire again this morning and took out the trash. I have finished the website for certain now and am looking around to see what is next. I went for a sail this afternoon. It was fairly short sail, though since the sun came out mid-afternoon and by the time I got out, the wind was dropping. The wind was shifty anyhow and blew from the west, then the north, then the east. I motored back the last mile.
I spent an hour on the phone with Alberta Blue Cross. Ever since Ellen became a 'senior', we're had problems with claims. Turns out they screwed up our registration and have me down as two different people. Will they make good on their mistake? What do you think? No. At least until I chase them and waste more of their time and mine.
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Wednesday September 7th 2011 Again, Alberta will be hot, but Muskoka is expected to be temperate today. I have nothing planned, but much to do. Also, yesterday, I discovered an add-on feature that makes Dropbox equivalent to SugarSync and eliminates a deficiency that gave SugarSync an advantage. SugarSync still gives far more space, but with folder sync, the two become more equivalent.
When I bought my new computer, BTW, I simply found the Dropbox folder on the old computer and copied it to the new computer locally, without using 3 GB of Internet bandwidth ($21 on Bell). Dropbox would have brought it across the LAN, without using the Internet (SugarSyc wouldn't) but I did not want to take the time, or the chance. I also synced my Evernote account by copying the database locally and avoided a large Internet sync that way. Here are some articles comparing the two. I have both, but still prefer Dropbox. Here are many more Dropbox add-ons, Apps and tricks. The wind has been switching from west to east and the sun goes in and out of cloud. I see that the weather here for the coming week looks very changeable. Ellen sends new pictures and it seems that the hives have gained quite a bit over the past two days: roughly 42 pounds. She had to add counter weights to the scale. 42 pounds for four in two days amounts to 42/2/4 = 5.25 lbs per hive per day! That is the best gain of the season yet. I'm glad I left them lots of space. I had her check around, and although there is some robbing going on, it seems there is a flow on.
She had just checked around the edge of the field, so I asked her to look further out when she gets around to it. I watched another episode of Monk tonight, then an episode of Leverage, on Netflix. Obviously, These shows are pretty silly, but they do entertain. Search | Selected topics | Honey Bee World Forum | HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home | Write me
Thursday September 8th 2011 The day is sunny and I intend to do outdoor things today, like take a walk, work on the boat, and maybe sail a bit. * * * * * * * I reserved a flight back to Alberta on September 23rd. I had been putting it off and watching the prices on the website go higher and higher. Finally, today, I got an email announcing a sale and a seat was available at a good time of day and at the lowest price I ever see for this route, so I took it. I also, out of curiosity, checked the flights right around September 14th that I had been watching, and they are now down in price again, too. I could have waited for a 14th September flight to come down in price, but I had an eye appointment in Calgary on the 14th and had to be sure. As I watched the prices climb and the date was approaching, I decided to move the appointment to the 29th to give me time here, and to allow more time for a sale to come up. I'm thinking that I'll close up the cottage and take my boat north before I head back to Alberta.
* * * * * * * In spite of best intentions, I spent the morning at the keyboard and in the kitchen. After lunch I took a hike up the road to the point. Cardio Trainer tells me that I burned 211 calories and covered 1.57 miles. I also notice that the GPS lost touch and the app drew a straight line on one segment. I listened to several chapters of "The Help" as I walked. The audio book is interesting and very well narrated, and it passes the time, but I am still not sure what I think of being distracted while walking.
The bloom continues. Ellen sent me some pictures and a report: Looks like a 23-lb gain in 24 hours or just over 5 lbs each a day! Here are the hives (below). I see that the field bees have drifted back to the south-facing hives and no matter how many times I rotated the pallets, they like it that way.
Ellen says:
I did not go sailing today, but I did get set up in the boathouse and began on Cloud 9. I also drove to Bracebridge in the evening and got to stroke a few things off my list.
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Friday September
9th 2011 Today is predicted to be warm and bright here on the River. For the first time this trip, the sun is in my eyes as I write at 7:30 AM. The day promises to be perfect for sailing and working on Cloud 9. I'll take a walk, too. The next three days look good, too. (The Muskoka forecast is at right). * * * * * * * I've been burning through the data lately and had to buy another 5 GB from Bell today, almost three weeks early! I'm realizing that data is cheaper than gas, and being able to research material for my projects on the 'net saves a great deal of time and travel. I did a lot of website work in the past week, too, and that burns up data. Uploading and downloading 300 MB websites uses a lot of data, and I downloaded the audiobook, too recently. I still have 930 MB left, but I like to have a new chunk waiting so I don't run out at an awkward time. The book is 18-1/3 hours long, and I've listened to 1/3 now and I've had it less than a week. I wondered how long it would take me to listen to it and figured I'd have trouble using up a book a month. Maybe not. I listened to it coming and going to Bracebridge and while walking for exercise. So far, I have not listened to the book while working since I want to actually hear it and I find that although I listen to the radio, I often tune it out when concentrating. I also sometimes find the content distracting if I am trying to do something demanding and also working on something that requires focus and have to decide which is more important. Driving in the country is mostly routine, and I don't find the book distracting. I drive a lot, and driving becomes automatic. I'm automatically scanning for situations and make appropriate adjustments without any conscious thought if anything potentially threatening appears ahead or behind.
Wow! I got another email from Dropbox saying that I have another 250 MB.
Dropbox has always been an application that I use all day on all my computers, phone and Tablet, but since I discovered the Dropbox add-ons page, I have developed a new appreciation for Dropbox. Although I have 5.5 GB available from SugarSync, I have yet to use any of it because Dropbox does everything I want, and Dropbox has LAN sync. That feature is very important to me and saves a lot of bandwidth for a person who has as much data and as many devices as I have . At one point, I did investigate hard links and used them to do what the app does, but found the process technical and confusing. I think I lost a folder using hard links because I did not know which was the real folder and which was the link. Now there is a simple way to do that job with little risk of error -- and there is a backup in the cloud even if a mistake is made.
* * * * * * * I swept the cottage kitchen floor, tidied a bit and then started on Cloud 9. I can see this is going to take a while. I was able to take off the trim tab, but when I installed the new one, the prop did not clear. I also found a broken ring on the prop. That means another trip to Bracebridge, this time to see the Prop Doctor. No rush, though. I won't need the prop for a while. * * * * * * * Here is today's report on the hive scale. I see another 20-pound gain in last 24 hours. That's 5 pounds per hive. I see the hives are bearded up.
I went to see the Prop Doctor and he looked at the prop and the leg and decided I should spend $750 to get them reconditioned. We'll see how the rest of the boat shapes up before I even consider it. I imagine I'll just recondition it myself. Search | Selected topics | Honey Bee World Forum | HoneyBeeWorld List | Diary Home | Write me |
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