Shifting homes has complications (a bonus post)

by Rain Trueax

the view up our Tucson driveway as we arrived on Sunday

Yesterday was a frustrating day with trying to get our electronic world up and connecting us. Changing homes has that complication as when we know we won’t be in the desert home for enough months, we put the services on vacation. The Oregon home stays active as our son takes it over when we are gone.

So, knowing this, before leaving Oregon Ranch Boss had called DirecTv and our wireless service to start it up by November 1st. The voice at the other end of the line assured him it was working. It never has been, but hope springs eternal. It though came as no surprise that we arrived Sunday and neither worked. In all the years we've done this shift, and the years when this was a VRBO rental for the winter, it never was as simple as they made it sound. Turning it to vacation goes smoothly, getting it back up—not so much.

The attempt for the internet came first as we had been using up our HotSpot to get down here. Most parks claim they have wireless, but it’s usually slow—plus risky to use as you never know who is a hacker nearby. When we tried to connect with the service, there was a phone number to call. Did not work and their business office did not work on Sunday, which had made it a good day to travel and a bad day to get internet. We bought another GB of HotSpot to get us to Monday ($15).

The call to DirecTv was more successful until we saw not all of our channels were there (one of the missing ones, Hallmark, mattered to us). That's when we learned Direct was reducing the number of channels that would work without HD. So, we said send out someone to upgrade us. Monday it was promised, which was good news.

We've had the same dish here for the 20+ years we have owned this home. It has needed virtually nothing in all that time; so we were fine with changing up. Where it got frustrating was Monday morning when they kept texting when he’d be there only he wasn’t. Since I wanted Ranch Boss (our techie) to deal with whatever had to be done, he had to be here. When we get to Casa Espiritu (our Tucson home), it takes restocking and that had to be put off. First, they sent someone to sign us up for extra apps. Ranch Boss told him we wanted none. After he left, we waited, with more notices of when the techie would arrive and still no internet without our HotSpot. That meant watching none of those RV YouTubers I like as they gobble usage.

After two more updates when the techie would be here but wasn’t, finally he arrived and within an hour, he had us up and running with a new dish and receiver. The technician said he’d also had frustrating day with them redirecting him from the office. He said it was lucky we did it now. By the first of the year, they will make every channel only HD, and there will be a long line of people waiting to get upgraded. The technician was a nice young man who had emigrated from the Dominican Republic. He talked about what he does besides be a technician (buy and flip houses). Ambitious guy who said he loves our country for what it lets someone do if they are willing to work hard.

The TV was better than ever, yay HD, but still no internet. Ranch Boss headed off for the restocking. By the time 3:30 rolled around, I suggested he call again or it would not get fixed. This time, he got a person who knew what he had to do and did it. All the previous ones to whom he had talked apparently hadn't cared. One out of maybe five? Finally, we had internet without having to buy more GBs for the HotSpot. We are very happy with the speed and reliability of it, much faster than the farm and no limits on how much we can use..

So, yesterday was a frustrating day but led to meeting that nice young man. He was the second such on this trip. In one of the RV parks, the guy in charge was a mixed race of some sort and had come from Germany as a child. He surprised us by saying he was a big fan of Trump and the wall. I hope my mouth hadn’t dropped open when he said it. He didn’t fit the stereotype the left has of Trump supporters. He said he met him when Trump bought a telecom service company he was working for. Trump was so nice to them, took 5 minutes to talk to each of them individually. He was a walking advertisement for Trump. He not only runs the RV Park maintenance but is fixing up and flipping homes in the nearby community. Both of these young men fit the conservative views of life fit the Trump supporters I know personally. While the guy here didn't comment on politics, his view of life was one for working and getting ahead-- what conservatives used to be about.

Anyway, today is a new day, and we are connected to the world (you can decide if that's good or not). It was good that we got to watch the new Hallmark Christmas movie last night-- a good one. They aren't all but they are all worth us watching as a positive look at life.

Possibly related, I did have an odd dream last night where I was walking into a business and saw a sign that said that the business reserved the right to refuse services to any white person. I wondered if I’d get what I needed, but I did. That was followed by dreaming I was among a bunch of attractive younger people and also felt like I was not part of the establishment. The dreams might have related to the day I’d had or maybe what someone said on FB, that the country belonged to the young, not the old. I think some of us, who are old and white are beginning to see that there is a thinking out there that wants us to get out of the way, that we screwed things up and now should have no rights. It could explain that fish out of water dream…