Call it a rant if you will, but I’m fed up. I chose to park at this beautiful location this summer at the North Rim because of the canyon view and the fact that I could get internet via the hotspot on my phone. The later hasn’t been working out so well. I bought a bigger better antenna for the Wilson booster, no help. I went for a two year contract on a Verizon Mifi and bought a new battery for the phone. Verizon is the only possibility here and that’s working off a tower on the South Rim. Even with the Mifi cradled in the booster it’s useless. Only gives me 1X which just doesn’t cut it. In fact the phone is now working better than the Mifi, not even in the booster. But it’s spotty at best. I have 8 days to return the useless box and get out of the contract.
I’ll admit to being an internet junkie. But it’s not so much fun when I can’t keep up with reading blogs and keeping up with Facebook friends. I’m loosing my desire to write posts when I can’t get them to upload.
Of course it’s still as beautiful as ever at the North Rim. No bad views of the Grand Canyon. But for the last several days the wind blew so bad I think erosion increased and now it’s all on top, or in my hair, face or RV. Spring is usually windy in the Southwest, but this is over the top. Then again, what’s normal about weather anywhere?
Still busy labeling photos from the South Africa adventure and am missing the travels and Joan also. I dream of returning this winter but am not sure I can afford to.
After blogging for almost six years I really thought I’d get some sponsors to help defray the costs of travel, but that’s not working either.
And now I’m kind of thinking of a fall American road trip, visiting National Parks that I haven’t seen in over 35 years plus some that I’ve never seen.
But first to get through the summer season. It’s a good thing I love my job, as I’m really tired of working.
And now to see if this will go out.
Maybe I just need a change in attitude.
I so understand your frustration with a spotty internet signal. Especially maddening for we Blogger folks for sure. And it always adds insult to injury when potential problem solving devices do not perform as advertised. That kind of thing drives me Bonkers & I always have to defray myself from throwing things out the window or into a garbage can. If it wasn’t for Kelly’s patience in these matters I would for sure have a full garbage can of all this technical stuff. Also know the discouraging feeling of not being able to publish posts. Just makes one want to throw in the towel & say the hell with it. But it’s that creative urge in us to churn something out that always seems to prevail & somehow wins in the end. Hang in there……………………:))
Thanks Al. I have been feeling like throwing something lately.
OH Gaelyn, I can imagine how frustrating this must be when you thought you’d have service. Can you return to where you have been parked in years past on the North Rim since you had service there? Don’t keep the 2 year contract if it isn’t working for you that’s for sure. Wish I could help with some advice on funding the Africa trips. Revisiting places in the US that you haven’t been would be good but where would that be in the winter time?
The only reason I had service in the old parking spot was a landline and DSL, which is no longer available to us seasonals as it was all sent to the South Rim.
I was thinking of a quick fall trip to the north then south for an American Road trip.
Total bummer about your internet. The only thing I can think of which might help is a directional antenna hoisted as high up as you can get it (i.e. on a loooong pole) pointed directly at that tower on the south rim. They definitely make a difference compared to omni antennas. Sure hope it improves for you. If it’s any consolation your pic is fabulous, as usual. You may have lost your patience, but not your well-honed eye for beautiful shots 🙂
Nina
When I get time and signal at the same time I’ll look into the directional antenna. Thanks for the suggestion.
Gaelyn, I am so sorry you have had such lousy internet service. it would frustrate me into giving up as well, but it would also bring me to tears! I hope you can work it out as we would all miss seeing your posts and reading your comments on our blogs!
This has certainly brought me close to tears plus a lot of loud swearing. Good thing I don’t have close neighbors.
Very frustrating for sure! I love technology when it works, but when it doesn’t I wish we could go back to when it hadn’t taken over our lives. Hopefully you’ll find some kind of solution to your problem. We’d all miss your beautiful photos of the Canyon and South Africa and all the other places you’ve been. Hang in there!
Thanks Elaine. I too sometimes wish for pre-tech days.
I feel your frustration my friend. If one is a internet and particularly a social media junkie then not having internet is extremely frustrating. The same goes for your blogging situation. I’m been blogging for 6 years now as well and is the foremost travel blogger in the Eastern Cape yet I’m lucky if I get an invitation to anything once in three or four months, not even mentioning any sponsorship. People around here just don’t seem to get bloggers and blogs like they do in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Sometimes, like this morning, I can get a connection that is slow. Other times none at all. Having sent 100s of pitches for sponsorship and being ignored does get old. Guess I’ll just have to survive it.
I feel your internet pain but I guess I can’t complain. I am at my summer location in MN and have spotty internet. I can only load 1, maybe 2 pages at a time and it takes forever it seems to upload photos. But at least I have a connection. I hope you can work out your situation because I sure do enjoy your photos.
The most frustrating part is the inconsistency. Sometimes it works and sometimes not.
We seem to have the same problem in Congress….just so slow even though we are one of the lucky ones that have DSL. It seems there is a waiting list for that and I think someone has to die first in order to move up…ha! I think that is why I have not let the internet become too important to me…it just gets too frustrating at times and I can feel my blood pressure rising when things aren’t right. A fall trip sounds wonderful…
In Yarnell we can’t get DSL so most have gone to Mifi. I guess I need to wean myself off internet for the summer at least. Still thinking about that fall trip.
“I’ll admit to being an internet junkie. But it’s not so much fun when I can’t keep up with reading blogs and keeping up with Facebook friends. I’m loosing my desire to write posts when I can’t get them to upload.”
Hi, my name is Ed – I’m an Internet addict.
What I am going to suggest is not much of a solution but it will help those of us that depend upon you for your postings. Write your blogs posting as you normally would and save them. Then when you leave the North Rim, every 10 days – two weeks, and have a good connection post them all at that time. Your frustration with not being able to read blogs while at the Rim will not be fixed but we, selfish readers that we are, will continue to receive your postings.
Hi Ed. Your suggestion is good yet I don’t leave the rim that often and then it’s quite frequently to a place with no better connections. And I really miss keeping up with you all on social media. Maybe I need a 12-step program. 😉
RV Sue has a link on her blog explaining what she uses – a pvc pole and a directional antenna. Or try the technomedia blog they have a lot of info and are rewriting their book about RV Internet.
Thanks Teri. If I can stay online long enough I’ll check this out.
Really sorry for the Internet tribulations……but, wow, would love to see posts from a tour in the U.S. this fall and winter!
Well maybe just fall as I can’t get south enough in the US to be warm all winter.
It’s hard – we can barely function without the internet in our lives – and s-l-o-w internet is probably worse than no internet at all. Hopefully, you’ll find a fix sooner than later because like the others, I’d miss your glorious photos of one of my favorite spots on the planet. And I’m all in favor of a road trip around the USA, we’ve done 3 long-haul trips – the last one logging over 8,000 miles – and I’d go again in a heartbeat.
Right now it’s slow and dropped a lot. I bounce back and forth between phone FoxFi hotspot and the Mifi, neither good.
It’s been decades since my last major US road trip. This would be pretty much fall in the west but I don’t do cold winter.
It is so easy to get ticked off about almost anything with the internet. One day everything works perfectly and turn around and CRAP! nothing is working. Well I feel that way too.
The Ravens here are screaming and shouting about I don’t know what. Maybe they lost service too–LOL
Persevere!
MB
LOL. Thanks, I needed that. Our Ravens probably get a better signal than I do because they can fly to the South Rim where the tower is.
Oh no I am so sorry to read about your internet problems; it is frustrating to be without it even for a short while when we’re traveling. I am happy today because it’s a rainy Saturday and we’re having a rest day and we have a decent internet connection so I can catch up a bit.
I can’t imagine you not blogging. I don’t understand any of the technical stuff and would be lost if in your position. Good luck.
Yes it is frustrating. But I think it’s getting better. Or I’m getting more patient.