Wireless Router Problems Solved

I have noticed lately that I am getting 20 or so hits each week under the search terms wireless router or linksys wireless problems, etc, etc.

My problems that I posted about had been solved for some time.

My problems consisted of frequent dropped signal where I had to reset the router atleast several times each day.

All this was solved when I upated the firmware.  If you are reading this and you have these issues then try the update first.  Don't waste your time with some wanna be tech in India.

I have a desktop and laptop and both now connect effortlessly.  I even have a PS3 that is wired to my router and acts as a media server from my desktop.....accessing photos and music and even internet without so much as a hiccup.

Good Luck




Linksys wireless router WRT54GX4 Wireless-G Broadband Router

Surgery Is Rescheduled

Damn,

I got a call last Friday about 3:30 from Geisinger that my surgery that is scheduled for Jan 3rd has to be postponed.....the reason being that my Dr accepted a position at Hershey Medical Centere.  Damn, Damn, Damn.

They asked me if I had another surgeon in mind that I would want.  I had no idea so they said someone from the office would call me after the holidays.  Wanting to be proactive I called them this morning and had a couple of names and the person I talked to said one certain one would be the best choice.  Ok, all I know about the guy is what I have read so if he can get me in sooner rather than later, not a problem.

My appt is scheduled for Jan 23rd or sooner if there is a cancelation.  I imagine it would be a couple weeks to a month after that I would have the total knee replacement.

PS3 vs Wii

I have been ranting for some time about all things PS3.  For those of you living in a cave that means Playstation 3.   I have especially writing about the superiority of the PS3 to....well, anything else.

So, Zachary and Shelly have been clamoring for a Wii for some time so we got one for Christmas.  All through Dec it was very difficult getting your hands on one of these must haves.  Yes, I too was one of those mindless lemmings as those things were as hard to spot as hair on Brittany's kitty.  It was easier to have Kristy get one in Qatar where she is stationed with the Army and send one here than it was to try and find one here stateside.  

We got Zack on the camcorder as he was opening it.  We had him open one of the games first and we played it off like ooops, Santa must have made a mistake.

Mind you, I won't be buying any games for this as I am still prejudiced.  If anything else I still like the idea of a game system that will act as a media server from your computer as well as play movies in 1080p.  That's heavenly.

The couple of games I have seen on it so far of course aren't anything I would buy but I will say this about the Wii.....cutesy.  It's cute.  It doesn't stand up to anything else, it stands on its own.  That is neither good nor bad as it has many followers and it should be around for some time.

At 8:15am the day after Christmas, Zack has already been playing it for 15 min.

The Christmas Tooth Fairy

We headed up north last Friday after Zachary got out of school, Shelly got out of work and Troy who was driving from VA Beach to get here so he could follow us up.

We usually stay at the Carriage House when we go home since Shelly's parents have a dog and I wouldn't be able to breath and well....my parents house is way way too small for an additional three guests.  The weather up in northern NY was beautiful Saturday where it was just over 50 degrees.  We spent most of Saturday with my parents and then Sunday with Shelly's.  It's always nice to get back and see everyone.

Zachary and Troy were horseing around when one of Zack's loose teeth came out.  The immediate question was "Will the tooth fairy know where to find me"?  Of course she will was the reply.  This was Saturday when the tooth came out so we left seven dollars under his pillow that night....the next one is worth eight.  Inflation you know.  

Well wouldn't you know we walked out of the hotel Sunday morning and the $$ was still under the pillow.  Not wanting the cleaning lady to think it was a tip Shelly called the front desk.  She told the clerk that the tooth fairy had visitied us overnight but we left the money on the bed.  The clerk thought it was a prank call and almost hung up.  lol  She got the clerk to understand finally and both had a laugh or two.  When Zachary and I came back we asked if there was anything for our room and she pulled out an envelope marked "tooth fairy" and all was good.

We left Monday morning to come back home so Santa would know where to bring our presents.  It's probably the last year Zachary will believe in Santa.

Weren't we blessed with about 4 inches of snow overnight and it comming down about 1+ inches an hour.  From Sandy Creek on there was nothing and at home the grass was green and it was in the 40's.

Pre Op

My goal is to post daily or as often as I can after I have the surgery...... so here it goes.

Yesturday we were at Geisinger where we attended a total joint class at the hip and knee center.  

My previous and 9th surgery on my left knee was a patella femoral arthroplasty which is also called a resurfacing where the arthritis is removed and an artificial surface is cemented to the bone.  Since February of this year I have been having problems....episodes of pain and swelling that are increasing in frequency as well as duration.  When walking down stairs or down a hill I can feel the knee cap clanging against a bone.  There's definately no pain in the joint at all when I experience this but it is definately unsettling.

I chose Dr Maish because he was the only one in the area who does the procedure I had last.  I was told that my last procedure could be revised.  I might have been mistaken as I took it to mean that it could be revised with the same procedure and not to a total knee replacement.  Either it can't or it isn't suggested in my case.

So yesturday Shelly and I spent just about all dat at Geisinger Hospital which is only about 13 miles away so it wasn't as bad as it sounds.  We had a total joint class at 9am, a pre op physical at 12:30 then an anesthesia appt at 1:30.  The purpose of the class is to prepare us of what to expect in both pre and post surgery to include aftercare programs.  There are certain foods and medicines you have to stop taking in the one week prior to surgery and I will be on coumadin for 6 week after surgery.

So, after everything was said and done I am all set for surgery on Jan 3rd.  I am not looking forward to it as the last surgery was suppose to put this off for way longer than it has....2 years definately not long enough.

Richmond VA Tacky Christmas Lights - 2006

More Holiday Cheer

Tis The Season - Part Deaux

Raging Santa

Raging Rudolph

Posted Dec 11, 2006

"Bankin/Rass" presents the Martin Scorsese version of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Tis The Season

In honor of the holidays, enjoy some of my favorite Christmas videos.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: Unrated Version

Posted Dec 11, 2006

A Christmas classic retold with a dirty mouth.

Scott's Blog: The Traveler - Hawaii's Big Island

Scott's Blog: The Traveler - Hawaii's Big Island

The Traveler - Hawaii's Big Island

Wow, what a trip!. We actually started our little journey on Tuesday the 20th after Shelly got out of work. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn just outside of the Philly airport so we could easily catch our 8:40 flight. Our first stop was to Minneapolis and from there we flew to Honolulu and then from there we flew to our final destination of Kailua-Kona. We never had more than 40 min layover at any stops and all told we had roughly 12-13 hours travel time. We picked up our rental car and ended up checking into the Waikoloa Marriott. Our day started at 5am and ended at 8pm Hawaii time which is 5 hours behind.

We got up Wednesday morning had breakfast and went off for the day. Our plan was to drive around the entire island and take in the various sites. When we got outside we could see the area for the first time in daylight. It had snowed overnight on Mauna Kea. We hadn't planned on going to the top of the mountain cause our car didn't have 4 wheel drive but our valet said that you couldn't go above 9,000 ft. If you look close you might be able to see a little snow in between the clouds.



The Marriott is located on the Kohala Coast in an area called Waikoloa Resort and from there we drove north on the highway that runs around the island.

The first thing you notice in the area that we were in is how barren the landscape is. When you think of Hawaii you think south pacific tropics. You do get that in parts of the islands and The Big Island as well but because of the volcano activity over time you have almost all climates you find all over the world on Hawaii.



On one side of the highway you have the lava as in the picture above and on the other side you have what is below.



Nothing means desert more than a cactus.



That pretty much sums up the Kohala Coast which is the north western side of the island.

There are points on the highway where you go from just above sea level to close to 4000 feet. The next two photos are of the Kawaithae and Kohala Coasts.





There are a number of waterfalls on the island. The eastern side of the island gets between 129-150 inches of rainfall per year where in the western side gets between 15-23 inches.

Here are some photos of the waterfalls



If I remember correctly this is just to the east of Hawi

This one was taken at http://www.hawaiiweb.com/Hawaii/html/sites/akaka_falls_state_park.html



Here is one taken of the Rainbow Falls



In contrast to the images of the desert like area here is one of the rainforest.



The last several photos were taken along the Hamakua Coast which is on the northeastern side of the island before Hilo

In Hilo we saw King Kamehameha



From Hilo we followed the highway to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Because of earthquakes in July we were not able to see any molton lava. At the present time the only way you can see molton lava is by air in a helicopter or plane.

There are two types of lava, one that cools slowly and you find it relatively smooth and the other which cools abruptly and porously sponge like as the gas exploded out of it as it cooled. I hope I explained it right. The rougher stuff is what you see in the first few photos at the top near the highway. There are a number of trails in and around the volcano and you can actually walk around the bottom of the volcano called the caldera. Click this LINK to view a map of the park and various sites and trails.

Here is a view from the tope of the caldera to the caldera floor.



From where the above photo was taken to the floor below is roughly 4000 feet. It might be hard to see in this photo but there are people at the bottom.

Although you were free to walk on the lava from the various eruptions and even walk into the Caldera itself there is a bit of caution:



Behind the sign what you see is sulphuric gas....we didn't stay long.



Here is Zack on a lava flow



That was it, day one complete. We ate Thanksgiving Dinner at a diner in Hilo so from start to finish and accounting for all the stops it took us about 10 hours to drive around the entire island.

One thing I alsmots forgot to mention was the wind. There were times you needed a jacket and that is why you see Zachary in one at various times. When we were on the Hamakua Coast and at about 3000+ ft in elevation it was sooooo windy I could barely open the car door.

Day two we had scheduled our Hummer Tour. It was a three our drive through the back country on the island. The areas we went through are not necessarily ones seen by the average tourist or native islander for that matter. Most of where we went was through private estates. Our excursion started at Hawi and headed up to the hills. We learned quite a bit from our guide who was a native Hawaiian. Captain Vancouver, a British explorer who had become friends with King Kamehameha had given the King a herd of cattle from Texas. Some decendants of those cattle roam free amonst the high country today. Imagine that....wild cows??? Shelly can't get over that one.



On staurday's it legal to hunt the cows in certain sections.....unbelievable.

We saw and learned alot during our three hour tour. We had a little snack at this waterfall where Zack did some "fishing".




At this site we also saw wild banana trees as well as wild coffee!!



This is one of those "Lion King" trees



Here's on of Zack and our Hummer



Of course there are tons more photos. I actually filled up a 2gb card in the camera.

Day Three was a trip to Kona for Mine and Zack's submarine tour of the reef. Kona is a traditional tourist town with tons of shopping among many little shops. There's a number of restaurants to include a Hard Rock. You get used to eating outside in Hawaii as everything is open or at the very least you have the option of eating outside, so you get used to eating with the little birds lol.

Shelly gets seasick on boats for the most part so it was just Zack and I on the submarine tour and Shelly was left to shopping for the hour or so in Kona while we gone.

Forward area of our submarine



Aft area



I did take photos while we were under water but they came out all blue and I couldn't tweak them enough. I did take a couple 30 sec or so movies and they came out better so be looking for a blog soon with all the videos from our trip.

Hawaii's first church



Remember the trees in ABC's Lost where they hide from the polar bear???



Pretty much that was day three. We actually got back to our hotel in time to see the sunset for the first time!!





Our last full day on Hawaii was on our own for most of the day with a luau scheduled at the hotel for later in the afternoon. In the morning we went to the Place of Refuge or Pu'uhonua o Honaunau. "An ancient " place of refuge " lies firmly protected behind the mortarless masonry of the sixteenth-century Great Wall. Those who broke ancient Hawaii's intricate system of kapu (taboo) - perhaps by treading on the shadow of a chief, or fishing in the wrong season - could expect summary execution unless they fled to the sanctuary of a place such as this. As chiefs lived on the surrounding land, transgressors had to swim through the shark-infested seas. If successful, they would be absolved and released overnight"





There are a couple of beaches where sea turtles come to rest during the mid afternoon. There is only 36 or so nesting pairs in Hawaii and they are protected.









And now onto our luau where Shelly finally got to have her tropical drink. We did spend some time on the beach but certainly not enough so perhaps some day we will go back. If we do we've already discussed the things we would do.

It was started with a little singing by some performers and seems to have been sold out.



A pig was cooked in a fire pit all day. They usae mesquite wood and burn it down to the coals where they then throw in some river rock until the rocks get red hot. They place a couple into the cavity of the pig so it will cook thuroughly then they cover with leaves, burlap and then dirt.







During the show they asked for volunteers to go up onto the stage. The dancers were going to show them how to hula. Damn if you get me up there but Zachary went right up. I am so proud of that little bugger. It didn't phase him a bit.





That's about it. There are many many more photos but to keep this at some minimum I have posted the ones that best represent our trip.

To finish, here are some I took of our hotel

The pool and gardens. Our room is directly behind the canopy on the third floor. We had a great view of everything. I can't imagine what the "ocean view" rooms were.





There were several pools on the grounds between the gardens and the beach. There was a sand bottomed pool, a pool with a water slide and a HUGE infinity pool.



That's it. I hope you enjoyed my little presentation of our trip. Look for the videos soon.