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View Full Version : I'll be MIA for awhile too!


KA9MOT
11-22-2011, 10:24 PM
Can't pay the cable bill this month and I was already a month behind.......So we'll be winging it. No TV, No Phone and no Internet. I'm not sure when, but they will be shutting it off sometime this week.

Jeez.... I'm going to have to entertain myself the old fashioned way....chasing the old lady around the house.

Speaking of which...... The last time I caught her, I made her scream! She screamed, "Get off of me you fat bastard!" lol

See ya'll when I get my shit together......it's hard to live on $900 a month.
kc7jty
11-23-2011, 02:36 AM
It's more than I get, but I'm flying solo. Good luck OM.
KA9MOT
11-23-2011, 03:35 AM
When I was single I had a camper I'd pull from Job to Job. It was a decent way to live and cheap. I don't have clue what I spent all money on. Now I am married, worn out and cant work and I really wish I still had that camper....... lol!
PA5COR
11-23-2011, 04:17 AM
Good luck to you both, hopefully things change for the better financially.
Sometimes i'm glad we have our social security system, but that doesn't help you guy's...
No hobby's that could generate a small additional income, repairjobs etc?
rot
11-23-2011, 07:59 AM
Wish you the best man. Hope it is a short lived situation. I often wonder what the deal is with N9FE (if I recall the call correctly) as well. Nice dude who had to go MIA in a similar scenario. Anyhoo..hang tough man.

rot
WV6Z
11-23-2011, 08:17 AM
Hey good luck man. Trust me, I know how it is as things have changed to an extraordinary degree around our homestead this past week. I think when I have figured out how to live without insulin, which I will no longer be able to afford, I will have it dicked.
K7SGJ
11-23-2011, 09:55 AM
Sorry to hear about your cicumstances. I wish you well. Maybe when you're out and about you can pop into the parking lot of a hotel/motel/or hotspot and checkin and let us know how you guys are doing. Best of luck.
NQ6U
11-23-2011, 10:20 AM
Good luck, Steve, hope to see you back here soon. Having just come off two years of unemployment, I know whence you come—access to the Internet got cut off here for non-payment during that time as well.
W3WN
11-23-2011, 11:02 AM
Hang in there Steve, it will get better.
KC2UGV
11-23-2011, 11:04 AM
Hope things get better quickly Steve...
KA9MOT
11-24-2011, 10:23 PM
I can check in with my old Android phome if I can find wifi. WV6z, I sent you a PM about your insuline.
KA9MOT
11-28-2011, 03:45 PM
And... I am back! Temporarily. I managed to get Comcast to give me an extension until Dec. 5th. Now I have to raise cash or it will be gone again.
K7SGJ
11-28-2011, 03:51 PM
Welcome back. I hope you're able to keep the service connected.
KC2UGV
11-28-2011, 07:44 PM
And... I am back! Temporarily. I managed to get Comcast to give me an extension until Dec. 5th. Now I have to raise cash or it will be gone again.

If you can't get the cash raised, you can at least empty a can of soup, or ravioli (The big, monster cans), and do one of these:
http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html
WØTKX
11-28-2011, 08:18 PM
Yea, you got any neighbors with Internet? Maybe you could borrow some bandwith.

Hello Neighbor, can I borrow a cup of DSL? Will Barter for Bandwidth! :lol:

Of course you might be able to stealth it, but I'd simply ask, and maybe offer to do something for them. Since you are down on your luck, they might do it for free. Hamsters are usually pretty good at fixing things, barter your time. Having radio and the Internet to play wth keeps a person sanely insane, eh?

Heck, if you can find one (Corey might be into this) some wireless Atheros chipset units can be tweaked into the ham bands for legal antenna and power boostage, and the security of NOT being in the Part 15 Spectrum where most of the hackers are. I've thought about playing with those toys.
WV6Z
11-28-2011, 10:49 PM
Great news Steve and thanks again for all of your help and concern. As soon as I hit the lottery, your choice of ISP will be paid for for life. ;)
KC2UGV
11-29-2011, 11:48 AM
...
Heck, if you can find one (Corey might be into this) some wireless Atheros chipset units can be tweaked into the ham bands for legal antenna and power boostage, and the security of NOT being in the Part 15 Spectrum where most of the hackers are. I've thought about playing with those toys.

It can be done, but the problem lies with talking to a non-ham station using your ham gear (Verboten). So, you'd need another HSSM operator to hook you up with the connection.

But, then all other Part 97 rules come into play: No encryption and no commercial activities. Those two right there kill pretty much all web activities, short of posting on HI (Unless it's an HTTPS connection).
KA9MOT
11-29-2011, 05:34 PM
If you can't get the cash raised, you can at least empty a can of soup, or ravioli (The big, monster cans), and do one of these:
http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

I built one of these for a buddy of mine. It tied his workshop to his house wifi quite nicely. We used it on a cheap ebay (I got 2 for $12) TrendNet wifi router as a repeater so he could move around the shop. I think he still uses it.





Yea, you got any neighbors with Internet? Maybe you could borrow some bandwith.

Hello Neighbor, can I borrow a cup of DSL? Will Barter for Bandwidth! :lol:

Of course you might be able to stealth it, but I'd simply ask, and maybe offer to do something for them. Since you are down on your luck, they might do it for free. Hamsters are usually pretty good at fixing things, barter your time. Having radio and the Internet to play wth keeps a person sanely insane, eh?

Heck, if you can find one (Corey might be into this) some wireless Atheros chipset units can be tweaked into the ham bands for legal antenna and power boostage, and the security of NOT being in the Part 15 Spectrum where most of the hackers are. I've thought about playing with those toys.

I have a back-up plan, but we are trying to save our cable. I'm fighting with them because we are supposed to get TV, Internet and house phone for $119 and they have been charging $153 a month. So, we are trying to get them to reduce my services to a more manageable level (price) while trying to avoid losing to much and we are trying to get them to work with us on what we owe them.

My neighbors are mostly old and I don't know who has what although the last time I looked at the status screen for my router, I had numerous Android Phones, Angelas iPad, and a couple of computers connected to my open signal.........I encrypted it yesterday.......



Great news Steve and thanks again for all of your help and concern. As soon as I hit the lottery, your choice of ISP will be paid for for life. ;)

No problem Tom. When one has extra, it hurts nobody to share.
N2CHX
11-29-2011, 09:16 PM
Glad you're back, but I hear ya on the cash situation. We're doing OK because Dan socked away a crap-ton of cash for a rainy day, before he got laid off from the bank, like the shrewd Jew boy he is... But we completely cut cable out months ago and got DSL instead. Our bill went down from almost $200 a month to about $35. Now we watch shows on Netflix and Hulu and that's enough. Trying to keep as much of that nest egg in the bank as we can while things are tight. Dan has another year of school and I will have one major expense gone in six months, so we'll be better off then.
WX7P
11-29-2011, 11:15 PM
Glad you're back, but I hear ya on the cash situation. We're doing OK because Dan socked away a crap-ton of cash for a rainy day, before he got laid off from the bank, like the shrewd Jew boy he is... But we completely cut cable out months ago and got DSL instead. Our bill went down from almost $200 a month to about $35. Now we watch shows on Netflix and Hulu and that's enough. Trying to keep as much of that nest egg in the bank as we can while things are tight. Dan has another year of school and I will have one major expense gone in six months, so we'll be better off then.

Exactly, Steve. Lose the TeeVee and get a cheap connection. We have Comcast here and the only time we watch the TeeVee is during football season. The rest of the year, it's dormant. I'd dump it now, except that Sarah signed one of the two year deals, so we have it until then. After that's over with, TeeVee is gone! I can watch Jon Stewart on the intertubes!
KC2UGV
11-30-2011, 07:30 AM
Glad you're back, but I hear ya on the cash situation. We're doing OK because Dan socked away a crap-ton of cash for a rainy day, before he got laid off from the bank, like the shrewd Jew boy he is... But we completely cut cable out months ago and got DSL instead. Our bill went down from almost $200 a month to about $35. Now we watch shows on Netflix and Hulu and that's enough. Trying to keep as much of that nest egg in the bank as we can while things are tight. Dan has another year of school and I will have one major expense gone in six months, so we'll be better off then.

I second this. You can cancel TV and Phone; just keep the cable connection. You can get phone via VoIP (Skype, SIP services, et al); and Just sign up with Hulu+ or Netflix (Or even Amazon's service).

You'll never look back :)
ab1ga
11-30-2011, 09:25 AM
Exactly, Steve. Lose the TeeVee and get a cheap connection. We have Comcast here and the only time we watch the TeeVee is during football season. The rest of the year, it's dormant. I'd dump it now, except that Sarah signed one of the two year deals, so we have it until then. After that's over with, TeeVee is gone! I can watch Jon Stewart on the intertubes!

When my wife and I moved from town out to the boonies, and rabbit ears were no longer effective, we were faced with a grim decision: either Sara would have to tolerate the presence of a monthly cable bill in our lives (she HATES recurring charges), or I would have to find a way to conquer gravity to the extent necessary to erect an antenna. We chose to do neither. The recurring bill was for Internet only, and the TV was replaced by NetFlix and library loans.

Besides the money saved, the time it freed up was tremendous. All of a sudden I had all of this extra time to tackle new projects or take naps.
I've been enjoying the naps immensely.
K7SGJ
11-30-2011, 09:32 AM
When my wife and I moved from town out to the boonies, and rabbit ears were no longer effective, we were faced with a grim decision: either Sara would have to tolerate the presence of a monthly cable bill in our lives (she HATES recurring charges), or I would have to find a way to conquer gravity to the extent necessary to erect an antenna. We chose to do neither. The recurring bill was for Internet only, and the TV was replaced by NetFlix and library loans.

Besides the money saved, the time it freed up was tremendous. All of a sudden I had all of this extra time to tackle new projects or take naps.
I've been enjoying the naps immensely.

Funny how that works. Now you have the time to dream about the projects, eh?
ab1ga
11-30-2011, 09:55 AM
Funny how that works. Now you have the time to dream about the projects, eh?

I tell the XYL that I'm perfecting them on the drawing board of my mind, minimizing the threat of wasting precious material resources.
She smiles whenever I say that, signaling her approval.
K7SGJ
11-30-2011, 10:11 AM
Yeah, I tried that and the wife wasn't fooled for a minute. She found it more effective to use the drawing board of the heel of her boot up my ass.
ab1ga
11-30-2011, 10:52 AM
Yeah, I tried that and the wife wasn't fooled for a minute. She found it more effective to use the drawing board of the heel of her boot up my ass.

Wow, she's mean! :)

Here's a suggestion: next time you want to take a nap, buy one of those little bouquets of flowers and place it between your napping place and where she's going to enter. That usually distracts them.
K7SGJ
11-30-2011, 10:56 AM
Knowing her, she'd put a headstone next to the flowers and think they make a nice pair.
N2CHX
12-02-2011, 05:13 PM
Exactly, Steve. Lose the TeeVee and get a cheap connection. We have Comcast here and the only time we watch the TeeVee is during football season. The rest of the year, it's dormant. I'd dump it now, except that Sarah signed one of the two year deals, so we have it until then. After that's over with, TeeVee is gone! I can watch Jon Stewart on the intertubes!

n/m lmao :lol: