Years ago there was a local Ellensburg Telephone Company. Fewer years ago, that became Fairpoint and then part of Consolidated Communications (CC), a company that bought up many small operations. Meanwhile, there was a company over in Tacoma that became Rainier Connect. In 2023, Palisade Infrastructure (an Australian Co.) bought Rainier Connect and small Washington parts of CC, including a couple of units east of the Cascades, including the EBRG area. Yippie!
The new name is Lightcurve. I was notified of the changes because the auto-pay set up via Consolidated could not transfer. I had to fix that. Meanwhile, my internet connection was dropping more frequently than I can tolerate. Two issues – coincidence? {update: As of Saturday morning the internet is working great!}
The first billing from Lightcurve seemed odd. My previous bill was just over $164 and the current one about $112. The billing was easily explained as a mid-month completion of the creation of the new company, so 1/2 of a Consolidated payment went to Lightcurve. Further, the “bundle” of services from CC does not exactly match the of Lightcurve. As I tried to wade through this stuff on the website, various pages still had old information and old names. In other words, the melding of the new Washington parts have not been completed. A support person called with the caller ID as Rainier Connect while the actual technician’s phone came through as “Private Caller.” Had I not been expecting the call, I would not have answered. He would have had to leave an answer, complicating his and my day. (He says this happens.)
As I write Wednesday morning, he (Dan) is here checking my internet and trying to install a new modem. Issues are (a) this is not his normal job. He is an installer/splicer/connector of cables. The local office is short-handed. He was instructed in this new gig. However, things are not going as he was told so he has been talking to several folks trying to configure the new modem. My old one is at least 4 years old, or more. Many sites on the web suggest a new modem every three years. Oops!
At 10:45 a second person has shown up. So, two here and 3 or 4 chiming in via phone (Dan had to find an outlet to charge his), all trying to figure passwords, codes, and a lot of other stuff. I passed through and they were talking about sending a supply of modems back and using a different one. I think. The passwords and “keys”, I told them, could be simplified. Nancy set some of these things years ago and there is nothing special about them except they are more complicated than they need to be.
Solved at 11:40. 🤠 A new and better modem is working. I just entered the new “key”
and connected to the web. The second upside is that the folks here and on the phones learned quite a bit and feel more comfortable responding to future service calls. I should send them a bill for using my home and equipment to learn their trade. Ah! So far the new modem seems to be at no cost to me. I’m not 100% sure on that – Jessica at Lightcurve thought there would not be a charge.
Outside, the creation of the boulodrome (playing surface) for Pétanque continues, as does the gravel road around the buildings. This involves many loads of crushed rock (Basalt). The base is 1.25 inch or smaller, the surface of the playing surface is 5/8ths and smaller. Much raking and smoothing is involved. Our 90+ daily high temperatures have dropped 10 or 12 degrees, making the effort more pleasant.
A side benefit of the effort is the removal and use of several piles of rock and dirt that were created years ago as we made horse-projects. One such was a serious leveling of an area for a training space – a “round pen.” That pile was pictured in the previous post.
I work about 2 to 3 hours, when I can do so in the shade. After the sun sets or shade appears where there is something to do, I can do another couple of hours.
Saturday evening a storm came ashore in Oregon and moved north along the Cascades, reaching Portland OR at 5:00, the Seattle area at 8:30, and me at 9:15 PM. Most of the storm was west of me, but I had rain/thunder/lightning. Nothing serious. Residents in the Puget Sound region are reporting a good display, but not great. The rain would have depressed fires from the lightning – and rain is good.
Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John