Speedbumps in Life

As our sojourn in Florida continues, we are now spending time in Naples with old friends from high school who have built a lovely winter retreat here. We picked them up at the airport and will spend a week visiting them. Since they are living here for a portion of the year, they have to arrange services, including water, power, cable, internet, phone etc. . . . .

I don't think I will swim here

When we arrived at their house he discovered that the TV was not working, and he decided that a trip to the local TV/Internet/Phone provider was in order. He warned me that it would probably be a zoo there. The provider was notorious for providing slightly less than exemplary service. In fact as we drove up to their storefront service center, he expressed relief that the line-up did not extend outside down the sidewalk.

He did warn me that I might be in for a bit of a wait, but I went along anyway, and as he waited inside eagerly anticipating his number being called, I stood around outside chatting with people as they came in for service.

This being the end of the season here in Naples and many of the “Snowbirds” were headed back north hoping for the arrival of spring in New Jersey, Chicago, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and had to return their Internet routers, TV Receivers, DVR recorders, and assorted other IT bits and pieces. I actually had a good time standing out making new friends in Naples Florida. 

First person I met was a gentleman from Ireland who had seen a condo advertised for sale in Naples on E-Bay. It looked interesting, and on a lark, he put in a couple of bids before going to bed for the night. He woke the next morning to an e-mail announcing that he was the successful bidder and now owned a condo in Naples. Our spirited conversations about visiting Ireland and Nova Scotia drew other people in and the cranky people waiting to complain and bitch about their TV, their Internet or their Phones suddenly started smiling and chatting.

One girl said she had already gone and enjoyed a starbucks coffee, but her number in line was still far enough in the future that the neighboring shop offering pedicures was starting to appeal as a way to pass the time.

Yup . . .  Southern Eatin

Then we all stopped to watch the newest arrival. A man and woman approached from the parking lot. He was clutching a red bag containing his TV receiver and Internet router, and she was clutching his arm. These were serious ‘snowbirders’ determined to spend as much of their golden years down here in the Naples warm sunshine. They slowly inched across the road in front of the office. But between them and their destination someone had installed a speed bump. He hit the bump, but his shuffling gait only got him half way up before he was bounced back. Determined to return his IT gear so it would be here for him next year he made another shuffle at the speedbump, but again was unable to make it up and over. He turned to his wife holding his arm, and she gave him a bit more push on the next attempt and with a satisfied smile he made it over and continues his journey to the shop.

Ask me if I'm relaxed yet?

Now this was extremely funny to watch, but stop and think for a minute. This guy was probably over 90, and had a very difficult time getting around, but he arrived in a car, was returning IT gear from his visit to Florida so was probably returning to someplace colder in the north, and he and his wife were doing it on their own. I say good for them!

I hope I have to tenacity to make three attempts at speedbump ascent when I am their age. Live life to the fullest while you can. 

*** Please note the pictures in the post are just general pictures from Florida - I did not take shots of the Speedbump attempts . . . .  ***

Internet Caution

 

I know my way around the Internet pretty well. I can say that so far I have not had any problems other than the normal viruses and worms that manage to find their way into the old Microsoft based PC's I used to use, But the other day I was almost taken in. I thought I'd write about this one, because it is so well done, and if you fall for it, you can lose a lot of money.

I was on the Internet the other day and found an add for a Language Learning system called the Pimsleura method. Now I have travelled to many countries and I've always managed to get along with my English and a few words in the local language (Hello, thank you, etc.), but I have always felt I really should put more effort into speaking the local languages when I visit a country. The problem is that I am really no good with languages. I only passed Jr. High French once and that was because the teacher kept me in every day for weeks drilling me. This system seemed perfect, advertising a natural way to learn. There was a video where a pleasant girl explained the system, and she had me convinced it would help me learn Portuguese prior to our trip to Portugal this year. Best of all, it was a deal; only $9.99. Even if it didn't work, I was only out ten bucks. I was almost ready to click the button to pay my money.

I finally thought, wait a minute, lets actually see how well this works. The internet has lots of reviews and testimonials of anything. I went to Google and typed “Reviews of Pimsleura Language Program.” Now be careful here, because like most of these Internet scams, they have themselves created numerous so called “Review” sites that extol the virtues of their product, so look at lots of the sites and find “real” reviews.

WOW, I never did learn if the system works. What I did learn is how one individual could make millions using the Internet to bilk people out of hundreds of dollars.

This Internet scam works by depending on people saying, like I did, “I'm only out 10 bucks if it doesn't work.” If you read the fine print, and even then it isn't clear, you will find that although it sounds like the $9.99 price is all you need to pay, in reality you are signing up for an ongoing $64.00 a month subscription that goes on forever. There are lots of statements about “Money Back Guarantee.” and “No Obligations.” but from the reviews and horror stories in the reviews of this company, they do not work.

Basically what happens is that once you sign up and pay your $9.99 with a credit card, they start charging you $64.00 a month, and it is almost impossible to get them to stop. Even if you send the product back (You pay return and shipping fees)they deny receiving it and continue charging your credit card. There were stories of people finally having to cancel their credit cards because they couldn't even tell the card companies to stop charges. All the testimonials emphasized that they found it almost impossible to get the charges to stop.

Another example of if it sounds too good to be true, read a real review.

Internet Access?

El Lobo Marino bar in El Campello

The apartment in El Campello does not have internet access. The owners did not promise that we would have internet, but said that it was available just across the street at the waterfront bar. When we contacted them and asked about this, they suggested that you could sometimes pick up the Wi-Fi from the bar out on the balcony. I was a bit concerned about being able to access the internet because we did not have a cell phone and had no way to contact anyone other than through e-mail. As well I was hoping to write a few blog entries if I could find time.

We tried the “Balcony” thing the day we arrived and although we were picking up four or five Wi-Fi signals, the one from the bar across the street was not one of them. We tried this off and on the whole time we were here and could never pick it up. I suspect that the bar owners have moved their router from when the apartment owners accessed it. It is now in the side of the bar facing the beach so the signal would have to go through the concrete building for me to get it, so I am not surprised I cannot pick it up.

Oh, well, that just means I have to actually go to the bar to use the Internet, and I'm not going to just go in and use their Wi-Fi; I'm going to order at least one beer. Someone suggested we just go out front and “Steal” their internet by sitting on the bench out front, but that just doesn't seem right to me. Of course anyone who knows me, knows that I am not adverse to forcing down a beer every so often if there is a good reason to do so.

I tried the Passatge Bar across the street first, and was able to get on with both the Mac and the IPad, and I checked my e-mail, and let everyone know that we were here and doing fine. However, the next time I went over, the Mac would not find the Wi-Fi and I couldn't get on. The IPad worked fine, but I was typing up my Blog entries in OpenOffice and pasting them into the blog, so I had to use the Mac. I tried a couple more times and couldn't figure out the issue, so I gave up.

Then walking down the beach I noticed that the bar on the corner also advertized Wi-Fi. When another attempt at the Passatge Bar did not work, I packed up and went down the street. This bar is called the “El Lobo Marino”, and it has become my Internet connection to the world. Like most of the bars along the El Campello waterfront, it has a small inside bar, but depends on a waterfront patio to provide room for most patrons. We usually have the inside to ourselves. The bar is decorated in a nautical theme, and reminds me of one of my favorite “pubs”, the Knot in Lunenburg Nova Scotia. It is decorated with pictures of ships, with rope wrapped pillars and framed “Nautical Knot”. I have never found anyone working in the bar that speaks a word of English, but we communicate well. I hold up two fingers and point to the draft beer spigot and two nice cold beer appear before me. If the server sees me first, she does the same and waits for an affirmation from me. The first time I went in, I had some problem figuring out the password for their Wi-Fi, and finally the server that evening simply motioned me over to the bar, and she pulled the Wi-Fi router out of the back room and handed it to me – problem solved!

One thing I do not understand, and have never been able to figure out is that the bar plays great English music all the time. I have heard 50's rock & roll, modern pop, country and one evening I went in and B. B. King was filling the room with his great blues. I tried to ask why the American music instead of Spanish music, and although the owner knew I was asking about the music, she couldn't understand, so after several attempts, she shrugged her shoulders and I simply gave her a thumbs up to show that I appreciated the music, and we left it unanswered.

Actually, I think the fact that I have to order a beer every time I post a blog probably keeps them coming on a regular basis.