Service, Interrupted

UPDATED: I am pleasantly impressed to say that the service guys were very capable. Polite and efficient even. The one guy who initially arrived had a "whao dude!" moment after checking out the tree and did call in back-up, but they had everything repaired and service up in about two hours on the Monday after. 

It's a relief to be able to say something nice, which is actually a sad statement about our expectations of service calls. It's also the other side of the damn-skippy-I-pay-enough-every-month coin. 

At any rate: well done chaps. 

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We've been offline. Actually, we still are. I'm posting this out here during my lunchtime at "the day-job"... 

It's a drawback associated with large, old, largely dead trees. 

This one fell in the ravine behind our house. Thankfully it fell in the only way it could without damaging anything around it. Except for our internet/phone/TV service. I would guess the raccoon that was living up in it is also not happy about the free circus ride. 

Well... there's yer PROBLEM!!

Boy, the teenagers were not amused. Although without XBOX, we Wii-ed. Which was actually a lot of fun. 

Quick fix? I hope so...  I would really like to walk away from this feeling good about giving so much of our money to our service provider every month...

Rather than feeling, oh, I dunno, so unsupported. Disconnected even...

Snow Day = Soup!!

Snowing here in the Milwaukee area. Our home is close enough to Lake Michigan (not even 600 yards as the crow flies) for lake effect snow as well. We have 5-6in so far, another maybe 7in yet to come...

If you're observant, you will notice we did not get the de-decorating done yesterday...

Speaking of soup: time for a good warm-your-bones soup like Split Pea with Ham. Ours is a pretty basic sort from America's Test Kitchen, but I like to use Julia's method of making ham stock, and we're using leftover ham roast (that's where the meaty-jointy bits came from for the stock). Add a batch of biscuits warm from the oven, and we are good to go!

Stay warm!!

Winter Robins

Robins are by far my favorite bird. They were my Grandma Gladys' favorite too, but as I child I found them plain. I had no appreciation for the subtlety of their charm. As an adult who regular plays in garden dirt, my perspective is entirely different. They sing well, eat lots of bugs, and usually signal the return of Spring. Usually. I say that because for the second winter in a row, we have a flock of resident robins. Today in the rain they are hunting bugs and worms venturing out in the mild weather. Last winter they gorged themselves on every last fruit left on our cherry tree.

According to Jim Bucholz's Wild Wisconsin Web, about 2% of robins don't bother to migrate south. Another site mentions that winter robins are usually males hoping to get a jump on grabbing prime nesting territory in the spring. In fact robin migration is far more complex. 

I don't much mind what their reasons are, they are a welcome and cheerful sight. 


Image courtesy of HD WallpapersCool. Although the birds in our cherry tree looked pretty much like that.