Hillswicks weather and its internet connection

Blue sky over the water

Unfortunately, we no longer have the clear blue sky that we had for the last few days. It really was lovely and well worth going out and enjoying while it lasted. Now we have a little cloud cover and a very, very light breeze blowing at around four or five knots so not worth getting worked up about.

And because it's a Monday all the children are off to school and all the working adults are doing their bit to support society, or more likely, to support themselves and their family. This means that I have no problem getting connected to the internet – at the moment!!!

There are times when things are a little different though. First thing in the morning, between six and eight, every day of the working week, it can be almost impossible to go on the net. Every day of the working week, from four o'clock in the afternoon until perhaps six o'clock in the evening it is more use washing the windows because again, you won't get onto the internet then either.

All these promises that they make!!!

There is, of course, a reason for these problems. In effect we live, here in Hillswick, Northmavine in Shetland, at the end of the line and all the people further down the line suffer this problem less and less as they get to the beginning of the line.

Now I don't know about you but this annoys me. I pay for this service just like everyone else but I don't get the same service as those further down the road and I do not get any discount for that.

I do know that they can install what they call a “Cabinet”, please don't ask me what it is because I don't know. What I do know is that it is the solution to the problem we get in this area, as told to me by BT.

Please, please, make a real nuisance of yourselves. Moan and groan incessantly at British Telecom. If we don't do that then things won't improve.

The price won't go down either, it will only go up.

Internet problems in Google Chrome

Anyone having trouble with MyStart by Incredibar and would like some help getting rid of the problem?

In the top right of google chrome there is “Customise and control Google Chrome” Click on it then click on Settings/ Manage settings where you’ll find a list of search engines. Right down at the bottom (You may have to screen down) you’ll find Incredibar. Delete, run spyware, have a coffee and smile!!!

This won't keep the problem away for ever, it'll reappear regularly but it gives you a solution that works until you pick it up again.

In hospital for perhaps two weeks

What do you do when you are stuck in hospital for perhaps two weeks and there is no, wait for it, internet connection available.

Personally, I am lucky in many ways as I have my eReader with me which means that I have all my eBooks with me too. I also have blogs etc on board it, which, surprisingly, update as and when there is an update available. That’s great but it would also be good to have internet access with your laptop as well, so that you could remain in contact with your friends, or if an idea came into your head you could follow it through on the internet, at no cost to the NHS, or yourself,  whatsoever. If you were able to remain in work while in hospital then there would be no time off sick and therefore no loss of earnings.

Here in the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, in sunny northern Scotland, we are told that things are on the change. Supposedly, in December of this year, there will be internet access across the board for firstly the staff working here and  secondly, the patients who can remain here for large periods of time with nothing but the copy of the Scotsman that they arrived with and a magazine about fishing that they used to get every month.

I live about three hundred miles north in the Shetland Islands, which is an absolutely gorgeous place to live, but it is very small so there is no more than purely basic medical services available. This means that you go down to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for attention to your problem when necessary and that is where I am at present.

I must admit that I’m wallowing in the care being taken but miss access to the internet terribly. As I said earlier, this will change, hopefully in December when Internet access is provided across the hospital for all and sundry to enjoy.

The staff all care very well for me but the internet will make the difference.

To B.T or not to B.T, yet again

I got up at around half past seven this morning, a pretty normal time of day to get out of bed, (The only normal thing you ever do, I hear you say!!!) and, as usual, switched on the computer first. Then I went and made coffee, took tablets and all the rest before sitting down at the computer.

When I sat there, what a surprise, there was no access to the internet. There was nothing wrong with the system, I just couldn’t connect although BT charge me, like they do you, for 24/7 connectability.

What I found this morning is nothing new, it happens so regularly that I think that in future I’ll order the newspaper. Not quite as up-to-date but more chance of getting it.

The question has to be, why, oh why, up here in such a beautiful place as Shetland does BT get away with charging us the same price for a system that doesn’t work, as it does the rest of the country for a system that does work.

If you, Mr B. Telecom, have an answer to that, then I would be delighted to hear about it.

On the other hand, if you don’t have an answer, I’ve already heard the bullshit.

Are British Telecom getting worse?

It's absolutely amazing just what British Telecom sell you - and then you see what you actually get. I've written about this before, possibly because it gets the frustration out of me and possibly because it actually lets everyone know what the truth is, instead of the crap that they tell you.

It certainly makes you aware of the difficulties we in Shetland have in getting anything that is useable from the internet.

Despite the promises, despite the promises that we pay for every month.

Despite the hope in our hearts.

This is the best of three tests. Just as well the post box is just up the road :(

I thought that Shetland had drifted too far north

Oh goodness, gracious me, I thought that Shetland had drifted too far north but perhaps not. Perhaps they've fixed it this time, perhaps BT has decided that we're worth re-connecting to. I wonder just how long it'll last this time around.

I've been disconnected from the internet for twenty-two and a half hours this time. I, like everyone else, pay for 24/7. Will there be any discount in the next bill I wonder, you know, just to say sorry.

I must admit that it may not be the whole of Shetland that has been affected, it might just be Hillswick for all that I know. Regardless, it proves time after time what a crap system they are operating.

But they keep on charging - and they don't blush.

Is Shetland getting ripped off

Is Shetland getting ripped off when it comes to paying for the Internet or is it just as bad as everyone else in the U.K?

When you initially set up your Broadband Internet, you expect it to be available 24/7 – but it is not. First thing in the morning, between 9.00 and 10.30am you very often cannot get on because the rest of the U.K is doing what you want to do. Now, the rest of the country’s schools are closed mid-term and all the children are playing on the internet so it is impossible to get on-line.

The kids have as much right to the internet as we do, I hope that they are learning from their visits to wherever and enjoying it as well – but why am I paying for a full-time service that I get on a part-time basis? Why am I getting ripped off, not supplied with what I pay for?

What are B.T going to do about this system that they sell us – when, in effect, it doesn’t work?

At last!!!

My Internet connection went down on Tuesday and it's now Thursday and it's just come back up again. Thirty-six hours on my own, lonely, no-one to talk to, no contact with society. The whole time it has rained and the wind has blown - they didn't switch that off, now did they!!!