Out to lunch

I am so not getting anything done this week.

(Random note - a game I used to call Cross Sums 30 years ago is now resurfacing as "Kakuro".  just like Sudoku was something else when I used to play it.)

So, we've been having some minor issues with the DSL at the house lately.  Mostly related to the router, a WRT610N, which apparently has a minor problem with upnp configurations.  I had to turn that off.  But while troubleshooting, I discovered that the speed was only 1.5 Mbsp download.  I thought it was faster.

After talking to Earthlink, I found out that we could upgrade from 1.5Mbps to 6 Mbps for just $5 a month - since we'd signed up years ago, the prices and offerings have, obviously changed.  You'd think they'd call up and notify you or something.  Oh well.

Anyway, net result is that, some time today or tomorrow, the bandwidth on the line goes up 4x.  Should make for fewer saturation issues.

I also updated the firmware on the modem and made some network configuration changes that should improve the stability of the environment.  The fun part is that this involved telnetting into the modem, changing some moderately advanced network settings, and reconfiguring the router.  How the hell do non-technies even know to do this sort of thing?

If you make a system so complex that to set it up properly requires moderately uncommon technical knowledge (I don't know that many CCNAs), you have to expect that the majority of the time it will *not* be set up correctly.  The result is the huge problem with hacking and spam that we seem to have in the modern world.  If you want to stop all that, make this shit more intuitive.

On a separate note - yeah, so not going to reach my visual physique goal for Maui.  I'm at 149ish right now, which is great (and means I'm net down 30 lbs over 7 months), so I'm certainly not complaining.  And I'm going to keep it up and see if I can't get it by Blizzcon.  But I'm a little bummed.  Ah, well, no sexy time for me yet.

I also haven't gotten confirmation of my Hana hike yet, which is a little unsettling.  If they don't get at least 3 people to hike on the 28th, 29th, or 30th, I'm like not going to be able to go.  Which means driving there myself and seeing what I can do.  I've got a book on hikes now, so I know where to go - but damn, that's 5 hours of driving just to get there and back.