Cellular Service at Last!
Way back on November 6th, 2009 I wrote this post about a crew laying fibre-optic cable along the ditch at our farm. The cable was to connect the cellular-tower that they were building to the main switching office, which I presume is in town. Originally, the tower was supposed to be activated before Christmas, and we've been waiting ever since.
The cell-site is four kilometres south of our farm, and they've had power out there since before Christmas. We could tell, because we could see the warning beacon on the tower flashing. It's just been a long waiting game, hoping that they'll eventually get the thing turned on. Our farm sits on the edge of a dead-zone, where you may or may not get a very weak signal, depending on all kinds of variables (phase of the moon, alignment of the planets, whether it's an odd or even-numbered day, etc.) We shouldn't complain too much mind you; This tower wasn't originally in the schedule for a long time, but last year the provincial government decided that there was enough extra cash in the coffers to put the cellular network into high-gear, and get more towers built ASAP.
They were about a month and a half behind schedule, but as of today the cell-tower is fully functional! As I was getting ready to head into town this afternoon, I turned on my cell-phone and was rewarded with a full-strength signal! I'm not sure what the range on one of those towers is, but as I said, we're 4km away from this one, and I was getting all six bars on my phone! I made a quick call to Trixstir at the bowling alley, and the signal was as clear as any call I would have made in town. Even better, this tower isn't treating a call to town as a long-distance call, which can happen if you manage to get snagged on the Eastend Tower instead of the one in town. This will be a great boon come summer, as I'll be able to be working out in the field with the machinery and not have to worry about being out of contact. I'm not overly concerned about people trying to reach me, I want to know that I have an emergency contact available if (Heaven Forbid!) something should happen out there. Farms are dangerous places, and having good cellular coverage out there is just a little extra insurance. :) It might even be worth re-activating the 10-4 feature (walkie-talkie) on our phones.
I also received my first official service-call from Sears today! The fax-line was ringing at the unholy hour of 7am, and at first I thought it was just another idiot who was going to get an earful of fax-machine when it picked up. Nope, turned out to be a legitimate fax from Sears, requesting that I contact the customer and see about servicing his snow-blower. He had just bought the machine, and upon setting it up at his home, he noticed a wire hanging out of the side of the engine and didn't want to risk starting it up until it was dealt with. I had a hunch as to what it was, and when I was able to look at the machine and double-check my manuals from Briggs & Stratton, I found that my hunch was correct. The wire was from the engine's built-in alternator, and would normally be used to charge a small battery, or light up a work lamp had the machine been so equipped. As it wasn't, this wire should have been tucked in under the engine shroud, but someone had missed a step. No problem for me - It took less than five minutes to "fix" the problem, and I can now send Sears a bill for my services. The timing was great, as I needed to go into town today anyway, and now I get paid for it! ;)
It would have been a near-perfect day if not for the bitterly cold weather. The ambient temperature is hovering around -20°c, and the wind-chill is taking it down around -32°c. That's frickin' cold, Mr. Bigglesworth! The wind is coming from the East, varying between a North-East and South-East flow, and it's pretty darn nasty. If you could find a sunny-spot in the yard, out of the wind, it was actually nicely warm in the bright sun, but in the shade or wind it was (and is) very unpleasant.
So new cellular service, first bit of contract work, not a bad start to the week! :)