I added the BirdTrax gadget to my side-bar today. Looks like a cool little gadget that helps keep track of bird sightings in the area. For the moment its reporting sightings within 50km of Shoppingtown Mall in Syracuse NY, as I figured that was a generic location. That might change depending on my mood…..
Wildlife
We’ve still got the trail camera’s up, there was a pretty slow period where we didn’t see much, but when I checked them yesterday….
Pumpkin!
So, Sunday when I checked the pumpkin I noticed it had developed a soft spot (probly got whacked a few to many times, I didn’t have a good spot to let it be, that should be fixed by next summer). So I made puree! I’d planned to let it sit another week or so, but it was plenty ripe enough to work with and taste yummy.
It turned out well. First recipe tried was this one. Very good, though kinda mild. I’m on the hunt for the next recipe to make!
Initial Review: Foscam FI8910W Wireless Camera
So, my mom sent me an Amazon gift card for my birthday. Love those things, and she knows it. So, I’ve been wanting a wireless “webcam” for a while. Partially to watch the bird feeders when I couldn’t be there, and partially to catch the neighbor’s dog(s) in the act (on my property) so I can hand more proof to Animal Control. I’d poked around and settled on the Foscam FI8910W camera as an inexpensive model that would likely do what I wanted.
It arrived Wednesday, and I spent several hours setting it up. It shouldn’t have taken that long. The biggest issue is that although the packaging says it’ll connect via Wireless B/G/N and my router supports all of those AND (supposedly) features a “mixed” setting so as to support all of those at once, the camera refused to connect. None of my other wireless devices had that problem, but the camera did. I had to set it to one of the options in order to get the camera to connect. But it took me a while to figure out why the router could see the camera but the camera said it wasn’t connecting.
It also kept rebooting itself, which was annoying as heck. But updating the firmware seemed to fix that.
I set it up at first without any recording, just to see how it would work to view from. Quickly decided that with the bird feeders placed where they were it wasn’t going to work to watch the birds, but it would work fine to keep an eye out for the neighbor’s dog. I debated moving the bird feeders.
Thursday it started rebooting itself constantly again. A factory reset fixed that problem this time. I was starting to get a bit peeved.
Sunday morning, it had worked fine Friday and Saturday after the reset, so I decided to go ahead and set up the motion detection and recording options. Discovered that it only detected motion in the center of its viewing window. Thats a bit annoying, but its hardly an expensive camera, so I guess I get what I pay for. Adjusted the viewing angle to cover the driveway better so as to catch what we wanted to catch. Debated moving the bird feeders.
Sunday afternoon it started rebooting itself constantly.
I unplugged it and sent an email off to Foscam’s tech support. As of now (Tuesday morning) they’ve not responded, but I’m willing to give them a little time at least to catch up from the holiday weekend. If I haven’t heard from them by tomorrow though I’ll just call them (since I’ll have time tomorrow during business hours).
Current review: less than impressed. At least some of the problem IS that I was looking for an in-expensive camera, if I was willing to drop more cash on the problem I’m sure some of the issues wouldn’t be issues. On the other hand the whole thing has turned into an exercise in frustration. We’ll see what tech support says……
(disclaimer, I bought the above mentioned camera with my own money/gift certificate, I was not asked to do a review and am receiving nothing for doing so. The above link to Amazon IS via my Amazon Associates link, and if you buy something via that link I’ll earn a few cents.)
UPDATE 12/5/13 I called tech support yesterday, and after explaining the problem, and what I’d done to fix it, was informed it definetly has a mechanical issue and they will replace it. I received the RMA info along with return instructions in my email today. So hopefully we’re good to go! I will however say that it is QUITE frustrating to give a company my email as part of a tech support request, and to then get a sales email for every single day since, and still not get a response to the tech support email.
Additional update HERE.
I survived another Black Friday….
….and even managed, again, to do so without murdering a customer member (the new corporate approved terminology)!
The joys of working retail again.
And just to clarify. Its not the CROWDS on BF that are the real problem (though they do add to the stress), its the attitudes.
Just because its BF and you have 10 more stores to hit doesn’t mean you get to treat me like I’m your slave. Nor does it entitle you to be a rude jackass to me and the other customers around you. Just because you hit 5 other sales before coming here and we’re out of the one item you wanted doesn’t mean you’re entitled to scream rant and yell when I point out that the ad specifically states that there will be no rain checks. And no, you’re not clever when you demand to know “is there even a manager in the STORE!!!” because it took them 10 minutes to get back across the store to tell you that I’m right and there will be no rain checks for BF ad items. And asking me that question WILL get you a rude and sarcastic answer (and no, my manager will not reprimand me for that either).
I’ve worked answering phones for AAA on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. I knew going into the job that AAA was considered an emergency service and I would likely end up working holidays for them. But you know what? 90% of the people who called in for help on a holiday or BF, or a holiday eve, were all pitifully grateful that we were THERE on those days. We got effusive thanks and gratitude for sending someone out to jump start their car, or unlock it, or pull them out of a ditch.
Not so in the stores. And now far to many stores have decided to try to pre-empt online sales by opening on Thanksgiving itself. What used to be one of the very few holidays that retail employees could be sure that they could spend time with their families just got taken over by their jobs again. So now not only do we not get to spend time with our families on what is traditionally a family day, but now we get the equivalent of TWO Black Friday days to deal with jack-asses who think that because they’re spending money they can treat me like dirt.
What I found quite interesting yesterday (and Thursday night), locally at least, there weren’t half the crowds that had been expected. Local news covered the Thanksgiving opening of a local Target store. Instead of the expected several hundred shoppers waiting for the doors to unlock…..there were maybe 50 people. And the folks who worked the 8pm Thanksgiving opening of the store I work at (not a Target), reported that although business was steady for the first few hours, it was by no means a normal “Black Friday” opening. I also know that although Friday was certainly a busy day for us, it wasn’t a normal BF crush either.
I’m wondering if people are starting to react to the idiocy of corporate America……or maybe just the bad weather Thursday night/Friday morning kept them home.
One last gripe: I know the ad stated “all boys fleece” but if you’re going to picture a very distinctive fleece hoodie in the ad then you damn well need to make sure that its available for sale……
(and no, I don’t think a higher minimum wage is the answer to ” retail employee problems”, I do however think that any employee who works Black Friday (and Thanksgiving) damn well ought to be paid overtime wages for doing so)
The .GOV is at it again
Several months ago (maybe even a year ago) I was made aware that the EPA was looking at extra restrictions on wood-burning stoves/fireplaces/furnaces/etc.
I was, of course, less than thrilled at the idea. But I wasn’t worried about it for ourselves PERSONALLY. The stove we have is the Lopi Patriot and according to the manual its rated at 4.4Grams/hour (scroll down to the bottom of page 6):
4.4 Grams Per Hour (EPA Phase II Approved) – Tests conducted by E.E.S.P.C.
Well below the 7.5G/h for non-catalytic wood burning stoves that the EPA was going to require. Heck, its even within the stricter requirements for the state of Washington.
Well, the EPA has finally released its new regulations along with a list of approved wood stoves.
Guess what stove isn’t on the approved list.
And its not because its no longer in production. If you check the above linked list they list several stoves that are no longer in production.
Sure its not going to affect us NOW. But I suspect that if we ever have to move it, change it, or anything else that technically requires a permit from the town or county to do work involving it we could run into some issues…..
Comments and Spam
My spam count has suddenly increased dramatically again. This time its mostly the fake drug spammers. 10+ a day most days for the last couple weeks. If you posted a comment and it got held for moderation and you don’t see it posted to the blog it may have gotten caught up with the spam, please either re-post it or email me and I’ll see if I can find it in the spam folder!
ObamaCare
I’ve not posted on it, and I expect that this will be about it unless something happens. Among other things, since I’m in NY, I can’t just hop on the .gov site and get a list of quotes. I have to create an account on the NY site and give them all sorts of personal info. And since at this point in time I don’t need their assistance I’m quite reluctant to do that just to see whats going on.
However my Aunt, who lives in FL, has been working her way through it as she’s been hoping to retire a bit early and health insurance has been the big stumbling block.
She had all sorts of problems getting quotes. Website based problems.
This past week she finally managed to get all the ducks to line up……
My Aunt is 62. She’s never given birth to a child, never adopted a child, never had custody of a child. To the best of my knowledge (and certinally since they got married) the same is true for her husband (substitute fathered for given birth).
ObamaCare is requiring her to buy pediatric dental coverage.
Whats almost worse, in my opinion, its apparently so common a problem that her preferred health insurance company has a no-cost pediatric dental coverage policy specifically for people like my Aunt.