If you have visited a Google search page today you would have seen the image here. Because today is my birthday and I heart the internet, I wanted to do something special on it. So I commissioned this piece of claymation style birthday art and broke open my piggy bank to get the folks at Google feature it.
Ok, ok, that is not exactly correct, the image is there because I just happen to share a birthday with a famous internet search site.
The other day we were in Staples, trying to find out what happened to the rebate we were supposed to get for a shredder we had bought, when a display of Wireless N Routers caught my eye. Donna noticed and asked if we needed that. “Not really, but it might help with streaming Netflix,” I answered. So today, when the $20 rebate showed up in the mail, she said, “Let’s use that for that router.”
I brought home a shiny new Netgear WNR2000 for $30. Before I disconnected the ancient Linksys WRT54G I went to various spots in the house where the laptop is typically used and took some signal strength measurements.
Disconnected the Linksys and put the Netgear router in place. First I tried to discover my type of network connection using the router’s setup wizard. The next steps caused me to drop my connection to the net. So, I rebooted both modem and router and tried it again. Same results. Reboot modem and router again. Next I ran a cat5 cable from modem to PC just to make sure I did have internet access. I did. Then I tried to follow along with the included flyer to do a “No CD” install. That met with the same fate as before.
The last option was to try the install with the included CD. I followed the prompts and, holy cow, it installed just fine. The install took a lot longer than I thought it should, but it worked and didn’t install a bunch of crap on the PC either. Should went that way from the start…
After setting up the security, I logged in with the laptop and walked around the house rechecking the signal strength. It varied from 6db to 13db WORSE than the old G router. The reported speed read 65 vs 54, but every time I tried a webpage it was very slow loading.
Disconnected everything and put the old router back in play. Guess we are going to Staples tomorrow and getting the money back.
Right now, from where I’m sitting the FRS have really earned their F. They have lost the first of two against the Yankees today and Tampa Bay has won their game, so what once was a 9-1/2 game lead in the AL Wild Card 3 weeks ago is now just a 1/2 game. If the Red Sox lose the evening game they’ll be tied for the last playoff spot with just three games to go. And what with the way they are playing, I’m looking at my evenings being free after Wednesday.
Everyone else got a souvenir, so it seems only fair that the Purple Whale get one too. Behold, a small purple dragon sticker placed in the center of the top part of the rear window.
We got a couple of photographic souvenirs from our trip through the gap, so it is only fair that the Canadian Cousins get a couple too.
I ended up picking two photos from two different photographers.
This afternoon I washed all the carbuncles, barnacles, algae and sea weed off the Sonata that had accumulated over the trip.
This is what the sky looked like last night when Donna and I came out of Kroger. Even though we had some frozen food items in the trunk we drove around for a while looking for places to stop and take more photos of the orange, purple and black sky. Didn’t find any, and the longer we drove the less exciting the sky became. I guess we had to have been done shopping about 15 minutes earlier…