So I can't spring clean out the basement garage and shed yet...

[mamabear]

After that awful storm we have more snow...so it will be another week or two before I can spring clean. That day of emptying everything out and doing a Clean Sweep just isn't happening.

So I am focusing on cleaning the main level...this is not necessarily a bad thing. We're getting projects done, like new fixtures we bought a while ago finally installed in the bathroom and bedroom, and the office area decluttered completely. (It looks gorgeous...I will post pics soon I promise! I am getting satellite internet on Saturday!!!! - now before you scream, it is a biz expense, we lost both modems in the storm even through surge strips (second time this winter), and I am currently on an external modem that's buggy - I absolutely need to have internet connectivity for the writing, we found out for sure that highspeed wireless is NOT coming to us, and the biz can pay for it, so we are getting it, finally!!!!)

But I'm itching for a sunny day and to see the grass so I can spread out those tarps and start decluttering! We are even getting a dumpster.

[Marina]

Do you have your computer running through a UPS?

[Sandi]

the thaw will come Hang in there

[mamabear]

Thanks! Looking at the forecast...Fri and Sat, low 50s and sunny - YAYYYYYY!!!!!!! It's been a really rough winter - well not the start but getting all this late-season snow has been rough. Esp the St Patty's Day storm and last week's storm...before that it was thawed and about to start blossoming!

Marina - I have power - we only lost it for a few hours the other day, but it went off and on multiple times. But despite having my phone line go through a surge protector, the phone (not the power) going out and coming back on, actually fried the modems in the computers. We have really crappy phone lines - it's still very crackly. This happened back in November when we had a wind storm too.

It's just time...I've been *so* patient and waiting until my income w/the writing could not just cover the satellite, but cover it with ease - and it can. It will cost me only $22 a month more than dialup is costing me right now (I pay $28, $20 for dialup itself and $8 for callwave to take calls while I am online, which I use daily). They are running a special for $200 to lease the equipment through Wild Blue with an 18 month commitment, free install. I have saved up enough in the writing account to fund that.

Anyway I am excited...this will give me quite a boost in productivity!!! I spend a lot of time waiting for web pages to load. In fact it's part of why I post a lot...message boards load quickly and I can load and read a page while I wait for other more intensive pages to load.

[herc]

naj ups is uniterrupted power supply Tripplite Internet Office 700 UPS, Uninterruptible (Universal) Power Supply w/ 6 Outlets, Surge Protection - Discount Online Store Houston Texas it is basically like a big battery. it gives you abt 20 min after a surge/power outage to get everything saved and your comp turned off. It is much more hardcore than a surge strip and will protect from almost anything. It immediately swaps to reserve power if a surge comes through, so it protects everything. Lots of businesses use them to protect their equipment.

[mamabear]

Oops, I misunderstood the question and thought Marina was asking how was I online without power.

I do have everything plugged into a UPS including the phone line. When I was saying "surge protector" I meant UPS!

However - the phone line isn't powered, yk? So I think what happens is when a surge comes through the phone line it can only protect it so much - it's not like it can switch the phone line to battery power. I don't know how/why power surges through the phone line when it goes off (or back on) but it has happened multiple times to us. Remember, I'm on dialup so have the phone line plugged into the computer (then into the UPS, then into the jack - the UPS is supposed to protect against modem damage and phone line surges but obviously it doesn't - and it's a high quality one with a warranty against damage, under a year old).

Now my laptop is under warranty still, and last time they replaced the modem for me, but I have to drive almost 2 hrs each way, twice, to get it fixed - once to diagnose (duh! but they won't take my word for it, of course) and once when they get the part in, to replace it. I'm sure I could dig out the CyberPower UPS warranty and pursue reimbursement through them if the warranty denies it - but what a hassle!