Tech

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Needing a Day Off

I’m exhausted today. I can’t remember the last day that I didn’t push myself physically, either at the convenience store or working on the renos. I’m behind in the required hours for my contract, so I decided that today was going to be a multiple cups of coffee, sitting in front of the computer in my jammies, cat(s) on my lap, heavy production day.

Of course, the internet had other plans. It always does. Internet is sentient, I am now 100% sure of that. There is no other reason why it works fine when I have better things to do and doesn’t work when I need it. I’m sure inquiring minds want to know how I’m posting this; I’m in the living room of the house; at least wi-fi is working there again today (earlier it wasn’t).

The only work I did on the rig today was finish pulling up the wood flooring in the kitchen and start to chip away at the edges. I need to finish working on the edges and then figure out what I’m going to do in the entrance stairwell. The sides and bottom are metal covered by wood, so I can just pull up the wood and install the Allure over top the metal, but the back is an access panel. I might simply install the vinyl over the boards. Then, I need to take that dinette bench apart. I keep procrastinating on doing so because it’s my way up into the loft. Soon as I do away with it I’ll have to start focusing on making a new way to climb up. I might as well put this off as long as I can and just focus on getting the wood flooring out of the way.

My heart just wasn’t into it today, so I quit early and went to get pizza and beer for dinner. There’s a liquor store located two doors down from the pizza place in the Willowpoint stripmall, which is highly convenient. 🙂 I was asked for ID for the first time in my life! According to the cashier and the manager I don’t look a day over 18. I am going to be thirty-one next month. I don’t know if I should be flattered or horrified! I also seem to be aging backwards; when I was backpacking around Scotland at nineteen and going to pubs with people ten to twenty years older than me, they always got pinned as being younger than me. Very, very, very odd!

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Still Shopping for Internet

Part of the agreement for this upcoming season in Dawson is that my wages will be adjusted for the fact that I am going to be responsible for providing my own internet connection. My idea was to have the local ISP hard wire me. Thing is, I’m only going to be there for four months this year, and I don’t know if that will be cost effective. If I knew for sure I’d be coming back for a third summer, I wouldn’t hesitate to run the lines to my spot, but for four months it doesn’t seem to be the best option. I’d be better off investing in a mobile solution that could serve me in other locations.

Mobile internet options are slowly increasing in this country as cell phone service expands. Rates are, of course, usurious and coverage spotty soon as you head away from the US border. I don’t begrudge this last part; most of our country is wilderness! That said, I’ve been watching coverage maps increase along major highways and I’m pretty sure that this year I could get cell coverage for at least 60 to 75% of my trip to Dawson, provided I stick to the Alaska highway rather than the Cassiar, and that I’d be able to map out my trip to have internet service nine nights out of ten.

My cell phone is with Virgin Mobile. When we last spoke about coverage, they said they had no coverage in Yukon and were surprised that I had some in Whitehorse. I’m really happy with Virgin, feeling that it provides me with the cheapest and most flexible pre-paid options, so having to change carrier for my time in Dawson when I barely use a phone to begin with would be really disappointing.

Looking at their silly and almost illegible coverage map this week, it seems that they now do officially cover Whitehorse and maybe even Dawson City.

This is apparently due to a buy out by the biggest devil of ’em all, my nemesis, the evil Bell Canada. Crap. So long as Virgin can remain the company it has been the last year and a half while taking advantage of the far reaching Bell network, I will be okay with this merger, but if there is even an iota of Bellishness to Virgin, then I will have no choice but to take my business elsewhere. I meant it when I said that I will never again do business directly with Bell Canada. I still haven’t forgiven them for making me climb up the telephone pole in the dark in minus twenty weather because their technician was (apparently) colour blind (and that wasn’t their most major crime against me).

But I digress.

If Virgin’s coverage map has increased, and I’m hoping they will reply with a definite answer for me, then I will be able to get something called a ‘Mifi‘ that would let me create my own internet hot spot. Of course, the device is incredibly pricey and the monthly plans are expensive for the amount of bandwidth you get, but it would be enough for work purposes and focused surfing. There are cheaper devices that seem to offer comparable service, but they are for PCs only. The device doesn’t work in Manitoba or Saskatchewan, either, but at this point it seems like the best and most affordable solution to me.

I’m at a crossroads right now, business-wise. I can’t afford to seriously invest in the internet solution I need (ie. satellite), but I require reliable internet service to grow my business. A loan is most definitely not an option. I’m also not certain of just where the next year is going to take me. If I do manage to get to the US next winter and do that every winter from now on, then satellite wouldn’t be as necessary. I could do like my friend Donna and use a cell phone as a modem, an inexpensive option that is just taking off in Canada (at much higher rates, of course), while in the US, and then plan my time in Canada around locations where a device like the mi-fi works. This uncertainty is one of the main reasons why I would never lock myself into any sort of multi-year agreement for cell or internet coverage!

Even if I don’t have an internet solution by the time I head north, I do have a plan in place that will enable me to update the blog, to a certain extent, when I’m in cell phone range. I hope that I won’t have to put that plan into motion, but it’s there. I am nothing if not resourceful! 😀

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Technological Irony

I bought a new keyboard today. My old one died months ago and I was using my archaic (mid 1990’s!) one as a ‘temporary’ back up. It was a good keyboard in its day, but it’s definitely on its last legs, with some keys sticking and the command key not always responding. I’ve got too much on my plate right now to be working with an unreliable keyboard.

My last ‘good’ keyboard was a Microsoft Comfort Curve. Do y’all see the irony in that? I’m an Apple gal except when it comes to peripherals. The Apple keyboard and not-so-mighty mouse suck (my not-so-technical opinion, of course!). I was thrilled with my Microsoft keyboard. It was ergonomic, clicked pleasantly, and was spill proof. My only complaints with it were that the ‘hot keys’ don’t work with OS X, that the command key is where the option key should be (and vice versa), and the ù is in a really odd spot (to the left of the 1 above the tab); does anyone have a pinky long enough to reach up there?!

Microsoft Comfort Curve keyboard

One day, though, the whole left side of it just stopped working. I’d only paid about $40 for it and had had it for over two years, so I accepted the loss. I type a lot and am hard on my keyboards, so I try to buy them cheaper and am accepting that they need to be replaced regularly.

All that to say that when I got to Staples today and learned that the Microsoft Comfort Curve is now the cheapest Mac-compatible keyboard they carry (with a price drop to less than $30 with tax!), I decided that it’s going to be my official keyboard from now on!

When I brought it home, I didn’t have to shut down to install the new keyboard. I just unplugged the old one (that I still can’t bring myself to trash!), plugged in the new, and started to type. Macs are just so easy. Getting reaccustomed to the Comfort Curve’s layout took a few minutes and then my fingers felt like they had come home. The command key thing, however, is going to take some time to get readjusted to. 🙂

(no, this post was NOT sponsored by Microsoft or Staples! 😀 )

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Water Heater Woes

My water heater stopped working earlier this week. It’s an Atwood model with electronic ignition. When I hit the switch to start it up, the propane ignites and then the heater shuts off.

I took my problem to the Escapees forum where someone I trust to be an RVing and electricity expert gave me advice on how to troubleshoot. He warned me that while there were some simple things I could check first, my symptoms indicate that the heater needs a new circuit board.

Water heater access compartment. The circuit board is up in the top right corner.

The issue is heat detection. There is a ceramic probe in the path of the flame which is linked by wire to the circuit board. If the board does not receive a signal that heat is present, it will shut off.

Following the expert’s instructions, I cleaned the lead and connector for that wire. I had been instructed to clean and replace the probe if it seemed burnt, but it was still snowy white, so that wasn’t the problem. I turned on the heater and it worked for a short time before shutting off again. I then turned it back on to go see what was happening at the panel level, arriving just as the heater once again shut off. I just tapped that connecting wire and the heater kicked on for a nanosecond, effectively isolating the problem to a specific place, the circuit board, as well as confirming that the probe was well in the flame.

I posted my findings to the forum and am still waiting for a reply from the expert. Someone else chimed in and told me to make sure connections are tight. I did so and that significantly improved the heater’s performance: it heated up a whole tank of water before shutting off and refusing to restart. I really don’t think I dodged the bullet as to replacing the circuit board, but at least my hour’s tinkering this morning will be rewarded with a hot shower in my own home tonight. That’s more progress than I usually make when working on a problem like this.

Rather than purchasing a new Atwood circuit board, I will be going with one manufactured by Dinosaur Electronics, as recommended by the expert, because they have a three year warranty vs. Atwood’s one year warranty. Dinosaur does not sell at the retail level, so I will need to find a Canadian supplier. The American supplier who was recommended to me sells the circuit board for 95USD, plus shipping by UPS (which I prefer to not deal with), plus customs and brokerage fees. I will do some research for a Canadian supplier; Dinosaur says they exist but there is very little information on the matter on their site.

Miranda’s turned twelve in December so I had better get used to her systems failing one by one…

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Electric Space Heaters in RVs

Many RVers use electric space heaters to supplement their propane furnace. Some heaters are well suited to the purpose while others can turn your home into a death trap. An article recently posted to the RV News Service tells the tale of man in Oklahoma whose body was recovered from his burned out trailer before providing tips for safely using electric space heaters.

I’ve used cube-type heaters in the past and have always been worried my home would burn down while I was doing so, even with so-called safety features like tip-off switches and temperature gauges to shut off the machine before it overheats.

A fellow camphost in Oliver raved about electric oil-filled radiators and I decided to try one out, buying a large one on wheels at Canadian Tire for the front room. I liked it so much that this year I took advantage of a sale and bought a smaller unit for the dressing room and study.

The first heater I bought looks like this. It can run constantly without overheating. It's kept in the front room and I store it in the entrance stairwell when traveling. It can draw 600, 900 or 1500W, so there is some amperage flexibility since you can use 5, 7.5 or 12.5A depending on how much is available to you.

The first heater I bought looks like this. It can run constantly without overheating. It’s kept in the front room and I store it in the entrance stairwell when traveling. It can draw 600, 900 or 1500W, so there is some amperage flexibility since you can use 5, 7.5 or 12.5A depending on how much is available to you.

This is the second one I bought. It's tiny, but it gets a lot hotter than the big one! I occasionally turn it off to give it a chance to cool down. It's kept in the dressing room and stored in the toilet room when traveling. It draws 550W, so it only needs 5A.

This is the second one I bought. It’s tiny, but it gets a lot hotter than the big one! I occasionally turn it off to give it a chance to cool down. It’s kept in the dressing room and stored in the toilet room when traveling. It draws 550W, so it only needs 5A.

I like oil-filled heaters because they are:

-silent;

-safe;

-economical;

-low power consumers;

-dehumidifers.

These two heaters set on high can keep Miranda’s interior temperature to a reasonably comfortable level until about minus five Celsius. It’s a good idea in those kinds of temperatures to run a fan as well in order to circulate the warm air. I don’t have heated tanks, so there’s no reason to run the propane furnace when the electric heat is sufficient.

It’s been averaging plus four since before Christmas and I have them both set on low to cut through the dampness. This sure beats been woken up by the furnace cycling through the night and having to deal with the moisture from the propane in addition to the damp ocean air.

Electric space heaters exist in all price points and it’s definitely been my experience that the more expensive oil-filled radiators will pay for themselves if only in peace of mind.