Yeah, this was my fault but . . .

 . . . the birds are hungry. Yesterday afternoon the bare branches of the tree by our deck were full of chickadees, nuthatches and finches, all hungrily eying the empty hook where our bird feeder usually hangs. So I put it back up. I figured I’d take it down after a couple of hours. The birds swarmed the thing in no time. It’s been snowy and cold, and food is getting scarce.

Sooooo . . . yeah, I forgot to take it down. Shortly after dark we heard something on the deck. Damn, that bear is back. He’s BIG. Some of the bears around here aren’t all that big but this guy is huge. He’s pawing at the bird feeder again. Well, last time we turned on the lights and he ran off. This time the lights are already on. Crap. Dean opened the patio door a crack and yelled at him, and he ran off the deck.

But he didn’t leave. He went just far enough up in the back yard to be out of the light and hunkered down. We could see the outline of a big dark furry mass behind some bushes. Apparently he was waiting for us to go away so he could come back. We took the bird feeder down, of course. Then Dean got out the gun. I guess I should say “gun” – it’s a little pop gun we use to scare the squirrels away. He fired off a few shots and we saw this big dark furry form move farther back into the trees.

This morning the birds are all over that tree again, waiting for me to hang up the feeder, but it’s staying down until it’s cold enough for the bears to den up for the winter. We had snow and freezing rain last night, and that bear’s big paw prints are still there on the deck. Sorry birds.

Den up, already

Last night, 5:30: Woody was on the deck and started barking like crazy. Dean looked out back and there was a bear, standing in the back yard checking out the deck. He ran off when Dean opened the door. Me: “Damn, I guess I’d better take the bird feeder down.” But I was busy and forgot.

Last night, 7:30: “What the heck is that funny noise on the deck?” A bear, trying to get into the bird feeder I had forgotten to take down. He wasn’t as smart as the last bear that got into that feeder. That bear very nimbly took the feeder down, took off the top, tipped it up and ate the contents like it was a pixy stick. This guy couldn’t figure it out and just kept pawing at it. He ran off when Dean opened the patio door. Yes, I took the bird feeder down. But now it has a whole bunch of scratches and dents in it from the bear paws.

It’s snowing today so maybe they’ll den up for the winter soon. In the meantime, the poor little birds will have to make do with what little nature provides this time of year.

I broke the interwebs

So, I got a new keyboard and broke the interwebs. Or at least my little corner of it.

My internet connection has been a little glitchy lately. A couple of times a week it goes out for five minutes or so, then comes right back. So I didn’t think much of it when it went out again Sunday morning when I pulled the old keyboard out and plugged the new one in. The connection always comes back in a minute or two, and I have to call my ISP to ask them what’s up with that anyway.

But it never came back. I spent most of Sunday afternoon trying to get back online and finally called my ISP. They figured it was the modem, which is ten years old after all. So I can get a new one in town when the local ISP’s office opens Monday at 10.

Except I can’t because my truck is in the shop. So Dean left work at 10 to run and get the modem and drop it off for me. Finally. Five minutes now and I’ll be back online. Except . . . no. The DSL light that should be a solid green flashes, then turns red. Meaning it’s not connecting. Okay, let’s try all the possibilities again – cables, different phone lines, take off the DSL filters, move upstairs and try that line, etc. Still no connection and the light on the modem points to the DSL line as the problem.

I called our ISP and after going through all the possibilities, it seemed that the problem was in the phone line and they’d have to send someone out. Oh great. I can’t get online today at all? Well, maybe. They’ll send someone out as soon as possible.

Well, damn. I really need to get online now. So Dean said I could use his office and his internet connection at work this afternoon. I packed up my laptop, he came and picked me up and we headed out to the station. We were just turning into the station when he got a call. It was our ISP service guy. He was headed to our house. Could we meet him there? Hell yeah.

We turned around and went home, and a few minutes later he pulled up, came in and took a look at the line coming into the house. “Huh. This is weird. Never seen one wired like this before.” Oh boy. Doesn’t sound good. “Oh yeah, there’s yer problem.”

Apparently there are supposed to be five wires coming in. The little junction box holding them was loose and only one wire was still connected. That wire apparently gave us enough bandwidth for voice, but not nearly enough for DSL. Some of them may have been broken earlier, making my connection glitchy lately. I guess I broke the rest moving cables around when I hooked up my new keyboard. The line in my office is the initial line coming into the house, so it affected the other lines as well. “Have you fixed up in a couple of minutes. Really weird wiring and this box and these wires are all loose. You should get an electrician in to get this junction box installed properly.”

So I *finally* got back online Monday evening. On the bright side, I like the new keyboard.

Best Political Call EVER

Dear GPS Crossroads, STOP CALLING ME. I’ve already voted and you wouldn’t like the way I cast my ballot. All those political calls can be really annoying, but this one was awesome.

The caller ID showed the same number from two previous unanswered calls. I didn’t pick up because I knew it was another political call. Might as well pick up this time since they just keep calling back if you don’t. The caller was a woman with a soft, timid voice, haltingly reading a script.

Caller: “Constitution blah blah blah Constitution yadda yadda yadda Constitution something something something Constitution.” I zoned out waiting for her to finish the script so she could mark the call as complete and NOT CALL BACK. Conclusion: “So will you vote for candidates who will uphold the Constitution?”

Hmm. No mention of any candidate or party, but “Constitution” has kind of become code for tea party nutjobs, so I thought I’d see if I could find out if the call was being made on behalf of any particular candidate.

Me: “Which candidates would that be? Anyone who gets elected to a federal office swears to uphold the Constitution, so wouldn’t that be all of them? Or are there particular candidates you think I should vote for?”

Caller: “I don’t know about any particular candidates.”

Me: “Well, who will you be voting for?”

Caller: (very softly, hesitantly) . . . “Actually, I . . . don’t vote.”

Me: “Oh, you really should vote. What issues are most important to you?”

Caller: “Umm . . . education I guess.”

Me: “Do you have kids?”

Caller: “Yeah, two.”

Me: “Which candidate do you think will be better for education?”

Caller: “Probably Obama.”

Me: “I think you’re right about that. So you really should vote for Obama and any other candidates you think are going to be the best for education.”

Caller: (her voice a little more certain now) “I guess I should.”

Me: “I hope you’ll vote, for yourself and for your kids. Set the example that your voice matters, and when they're older, theirs will too.”

Caller: (more decisively) “Yeah. I think I will.”

Best political call EVER.