Oct 23 & 24 2010 Haliburton Highlands Short Term Weather Forecast
A belated welcome to your weekend. Apologies that activities both enjoyable (a trip to the pumpkin patch) and those not-so-much ( disconnection of Internet for three days–waiting on new install–using my Blackberry as a modem!) have resulted in a slight delay.
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Overall, the weather in Southern Ontario this week looks pretty damp. Let’s look at some details:
Tonight, Saturday, expect the weather to be cloudy with showers with a temperature of 45°F. Overnight, light rain continues with a low temperature of 43°F. There should be 0.6 inches of rain in the period between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.
The light rain continues on Sunday morning with a temperature of 43°F climbing to 54°F, as the rain continues into Sunday afternoon.
By Sunday evening and overnight there will be a mix of variable cloudiness, scattered showers, and a low temperature of 52°F.
Haliburton Highlands Long Term Weather Forecast Oct 25 - 30 2010
The light rain continues on Monday with warmer temperatures. The high on Monday will be 59°F and the overnight low 50°F. Up to 0.3 inches of rain may accumulate.
Tuesday’s forecast is a familiar one: cloudy with showers. The temperatures climb a bit more–to 63°F so all in all, not too bad. Temperatures overnight will reach a low of 54°F. There may be up to 0.6 inches of accumulated precipitation.
Wednesday, expect light rain with a high temperature of 59°F. The low overnight will be 46°F and there could be up to 0.3 inches of rain accumulation.
Thursday again calls for light rain. Temperatures begin to drop with a daytime high of only 48°F, an overnight low of 43°F, and up to 0.3 inches ran accumulation.
Friday, October 29 calls for rain with showers and a high of 46°F. The overnight low will be 37°F and there may be a trace of rain.
Saturday will bring a bit of sun mixed with scattered showers. The daytime high will be a brisk 45°F, the overnight low will be 34°F and there is 0.4-plus inches of rain forecasted.
Maybe it’s a good week to finish putting away your early fall clothes and make sure you’ve got your early, early winter stuff at the ready?
Weather Friday & Saturday Aug. 13 - 14 Haliburton Highlands
It will be cloudy overnight on Friday with a low of 18°C.
Tomorrow Saturday, will be mostly cloudy with sunny breaks and a high of 26°C.
Expect thundershowers and a low of 23°C by evening.
Saturday overnight continues with thundershowers and a low of 20°C
There could be 5-10 mm of rain from Saturday morning to Saturday overnight; higher amounts in thunderstorms.
Long Term Forecast through August 20
Sunday brings yet more thundershowers, a high of 24°C and a low overnight of 20 C°.
There may be from 5-10 mm precipitation accumulation.
Monday will be mainly sunny with a high of 24°C and an overnight low of 18°C. There is no rain in the forecast.
Tuesday will bring sunny periods and a high of 23°C. The overnight low will be 16°C. There is no rain in the forecast.
Wednesday, expect cloudy periods and a high of 21°C. The overnight low will be 14°C and there may be up to 1 mm precipitation.
Thursday look to be a day with isolated showers leaving the results rather up in the air.The temperature is forecast to be 21°C. and the overnight low 14°C. There may be 1-3 mm of rain.
Finally on Friday look for a clear, sunny day with a high of just 20°C. The overnight low should dip down to 13°C. There is no rain in the forecast.
EDIT/One of the things that is so wonderful about Haliburton County is the people who live and work there! I have a new post to write but suffice at the moment to say that I was WRONG,WRONG,WRONG, about Internet access and I will be updating with the correct info. later this weekend.
Scenes like this one I found today make me long to return to Maple Lake. Unfortunately besides it being ridiculously early to head up there, I have a huge logistical problem– again it is the Internet–lack of it specifically. In case you’ve actually been reading this blog’s personal posts, especially early on, I whinged about lack of Internet access other than the ridiculously expensive alternative–”High Definition Satellite Receiver (service).” Buying that was the only way to be able to be at the cottage and work. Beyond that, we could watch videos, play games, stream music and so forth by paying through the nose. The weather last summer was truly putrid and one begins bouncing off walls without diversion (and yes, we did play cribbage and Uno). The Internet saved our sanity.
It cost $400 CDN for the install (it was dollar to dollar at the time). To have fast enough Internet to watch video/stream music, etc. we needed a “plus” type package which was $65 CDN a month. Did I mention the two-year contract? No “cottager’s special” for us. Long story short, the work aspect mixed with the shitty weather aspect mixed with some atrocious behaviour by “guests”-not-mine regarding my (father’s) property, really made it “not worth” having a satellite receiver. Our contract is up at the end of this month and so, as part-time cottagers, what are our choices?
I had high hopes for “the stick” as folks had been calling it but upon investigation into this Bell Canada offering I found 1. COST: $180 CDN install 2. 1-year mandatory contract 3. Mandatory rental of Bell-compatible modem–you can use your own but you’ll still be charged(!) and of course, the need for the stick–the least of all this.
Again, I’m looking at the cost vs. benefit and there’s no way to justify the cost of “the stick” and may I say a 1-year-contract is a great way for Bell Canada to stick it to the non-year-rounders?
So bluntly put, right now I’m pretty screwed. I realize Canada may think that those of us that use the Internet in as essential a way as land-line phones used to be, may think us strange–but you’ll catch up–or not. I really don’t care. I just want and need to have Internet if I’m to be gone anywhere for weeks at a time.
Right now I cannot get a good idea on Internet services for short-term use (less than a month per year) in Haliburton County. If I can’t, I can’t go to the cottage–it is as simple as that. I’ll keep my “big American” dollars here and Haliburton County will lose one more “tourist family’s” spendings. Wonderful.
Fleming Collage, Haliburton Campus (Photo: Roger Corrao)
Hey there!
I’m spreading the news about the Internet Outreach Program’s series of courses through Fleming College that is being offered to folks in the Haliburton County. It’s been a long time coming but with the funds from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Farm, and Rural Affairs’ (OMAFRA) finally released Haliburton County can finally join the information age with the Internet. I’ve supplied all the information you should need (below) no matter if you are an absolute beginner, beginner through intermediate, or perhaps a business person building a brand on the world wide web.
I’m truly impressed with the diversity of offerings and the token fee involved for each series that should make this endeavour one that anyone can undertake.
It’s my understanding that broadband service is now or soon will be available to 95% of Haliburton County residents and the cost is extremely low.
I’m looking forward to taking advantage of this service next summer. Unfortunately, since the funding was held up and I needed to work from the cottage my spouse and I committed to a 2-year contract with a satellite Internet provider and the cost is ridiculous. I’ve been told by a Broadband Outreach Program representative that this provider will need to lower his rates to be competitive but I’m not holding my breath as he’s made no offer yet.
As my cousin’s spouse remarked, this guy should be paying us as we agreed to be the point of origin for his satellite dish so he could offer services to the folks on Maple Lake.
I thought he’d put some effort into marketing as we were promised a lower fee when 5 more people signed up. He never did much–at least not via his website–and he certainly won’t now and it’s become a real pain. Lesson learned. I simply wanted to spend more time at the Lake but the reality was I couldn’t afford to do so without working. Now I’m paying over two years many times more than I made in the sum total of two months using the service.
But back to you smart people for whom the waiting is now paying off. All the info on the almost-free Internet classes is below.
Enjoy!
County of Haliburton- Broadband Outreach Program
Internet Courses for individuals and businesses
at Fleming College for only $10
This series of courses is being offered as part of the County of Haliburton’s Broadband Outreach Program.
This program is made possible by general funding received through the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Farm, and Rural Affairs’ (OMAFRA) Rural Connections Broadband Program. Everyone is encouraged to take advantage of these reasonably priced, yet very interesting courses.
To register for the below courses, please contact Heidi Hudspith at the Haliburton Campus, 457-1680 ext. 6734Internet, Email, and You
This introductory level course is directed at individuals interested in learning about the exciting world of the Internet. Course content will include web browsing, email, social networking, accessing government services, and other uses of the Internet.
Section 1- Tuesday, September 15, 6:30pm- 9:30pm Section 2- Thursday, November 5, 9:00am-Noon
Section 3-Saturday, November 21, 9:00am-Noon
Instructor: Peter Smith
Fee: $10.00Internet Safety and Security
This beginner-intermediate level course is directed at individuals seeking to understand and manage some of the perceived dangers of the internet. The first part of the course will address data and systems security in the face of spam, phishing, viruses, and junk mail. Secondly, the course will help in ‘webproofing’ systems and children from undesirable content and social interactions.
Section 1- Tuesday, September 22, 6:30pm-9:30pm
Section 2: Thursday, November 12, 9:00am-Noon
Section 3- Saturday, November 28, 9:00am-Noon
Instructor: Peter Smith
Fee: $10.00Your Domain-Your Brand This introductory level course is directed at small/medium business operators interested in raising a profile of their brand through a customized web domain. A customized web domain offers businesses a unique address on the internet. This brings businesses a high level of portability, visibility, and general perception of professionalism. The course will help in finding and developing a domain. Specific items to be touched upon will include business website and email basics.
Section 1- Thursday, September 29, 6:30pm-9:30pm Section 2- Thursday, November 19, 9:00am-Noon
Section 3- Saturday, December 5, 9:00am-Noon
Instructor: Peter Smith
Fee: $10.00Understanding Web Design
This intermediate level course is directed at small/medium business operators looking to manage the development, or redevelopment, of a business website. The objective of the course is not to teach people how to program their own website, instead it is designed to help business operators effectively work with web designers. Essentially, the goal is to teach what is happening ‘under the hood’ of a business website. Topics to be covered include HTML, Flash, cgi scripting (php, ASP, Javascript, etc.), and database integration.
Section 1- Tuesday, October 6, 6:30pm- 9:30pm
Section 2- Thursday, November 26, 9:00am-Noon
Section 3- Saturday, December 12, 9:00am- Noon
Instructor: Peter Smith
Fee: $10.00
To register for the below courses, please contact Heidi Hudspith at the Haliburton Campus, 457-1680 ext. 6734
It’s difficult to put into words the feelings one has when about to embark on a trip that will keep them from home for the better part of a month. I have a to-do list in my head which I really should transfer to text–if I could find the time.
Last year I burnt up quite a bit of time at the Lake by working. Cottage County installed the base station for internet at (on, actually) our cottage so even though I swore I’d take a week off from work, I never did.
This year is decidedly different in that work has changed considerably. I’m doing more work independently but with that comes more juggling of saying “stop!” to it for the duration. As much as Canada doesn’t seem like a foreign country as far as mail service it is. Certainly in terms of internet access to a number of United States-based websites it is. Both these restrictions may prove either incentives to work less or work more.
Trying to find a workaround for them could consume large chunks of time and may ultimately prove fruitless. If I just say “no” to work completely then I won’t have to fret about getting access to the websites which provides a good deal of substance which I transform into content (I create content for put simply, things I like). I suppose it would be smart to find out just “how ” restrictive using the Canadian internet will be . (Is there such a thing? It’s probably using the Internet in Canada, right?). I hear so much about China and North Korea and other countries being crazy restrictive. I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.
I can keep my freelancing gigs to a point but there’s also a point where I’m defeating the purpose of vacation. Ten days to go and I’m juggling so much that I’m not even worried about the weather.
Guess it just proves that old saying about everything being relative. I do hope we get some good weather though. I’ve been watching the forecast for Maple Lake and right now, I see the first couple days of vacation ( should I say “holiday”?) look good temperature-wise though there is rain one day. The upside of regular rain is less fire hazard (though one must always be cautious–we are in the woods after all). The downside besides literally putting a damper on things is the bugs! My cure for too many bugs generally has been to stay in the Lake but not in the rain. See? Fret. Fret. Fret. Always wanted to be a Type “B” personality–never got there.
And where are all the people on Maple Lake who were supposed to sign up for Internet so our fee could go down? Don’t you know you can get television, too? No separate service, simply be slightly savvy and you can find your programs through the Internet and since it’s high-speed and since if you live on the Lake you cannot be far from us–the base station–your reception should be good. What are you waiting for? I’ll come over and show you the ropes as I’ve already –with son and spouse– gone through it. I’m seriously concerned that if people don’t sign up I’ll lose my service because I cannot see paying for 12 mos. of service and using it for barely one month. OK. I’d say I’ve fulfilled my fretting requirement for one day. Have a good one!
Kincardine Channel, Penetangore River, Lake Erie, Ontario
As a Canadian ex-pat who married an American and is currently raising my youngest son in the Chicago area, I must admit that there are times when I just ache to get a glimpse of my beloved homeland Ontario, Canada
Though I long ago left my birthplace Toronto, (my father was transferred here when I was a child) I’ve continued to enjoy a spot in Haliburton County that my family has owned for going on 70 years.
Once a week or so I pick through the webcam shots which are available through the Ontario Weather Networkand I click to the areas that are closest to our cottage with the hope that I’ll get an approximate glimpse of an area much like ours. Every time I’m disappointed and disheartened by what I see–which is very unlike what I see in person when I come to stay each summer in the gorgeous Haliburton Highlands.
The area that is closest to our cottage geographically is the town of Haliburton, 12 miles from our lake.
The webcam for Haliburton is hosted by Halcom Communications Ltd.where one must often click through to their advertisements before getting a glimpse of the webcam shot.
Unfortunately, I’ve never seen a webcam shot of Haliburton that wasn’t out of focus. The person representing Halcom Communications Ltd. who set up the camera overreached and the camera is insufficient to render the entire top half of the webcam shot as anything but a haze, on my screen currently, a purple haze. The camera also to put this charitably, is at such an angle that Haliburton’s best side is not showing. It is also at such an angle that I feel compelled to adjust it.
This would not be the end of the world though no matter what, it is an exercise in waste of resources but Haliburton County depends on people realizing what a jewel it is and visiting –perhaps for an extended stay?
What’s the best advertisement for Haliburton County? Haliburton County itself! And if you cannot see the county in person, a webcam image like the ones below (except the Haliburton one) should capture the area so you get a general feeling of it’s great attractiveness.
Though I have emailed Halcom Communications Ltd and politely asked them to adjust their webcam, I have gotten no reply and worse, there’s’ been no change in the quality of the webcam image.
To sum up, Halcom Communications Ltd does a terrible job of representing Haliburton and thus Haliburton County with their poor webcam image that the entire world is privy to via The Weather Network webcam feature.
Halcom Communications Ltd. takes full advantage of offering it’s crummy webcam feed to flog their services to the public yet gives virtually nothing in encouraging folks to visit Haliburton County.
I know first hand that there are some wonderful professional photographers in Haliburton and I urge anyone that cares about contributing to the economic health of Haliburton County to alert them to this wasted opportunity to promote the town and county and at the same time their services. A number of town like Barrie for example have more than one webcam image ( Barrie has 4!)
Please, pro photographer or amateur please consider adding your webcam feed of the beautiful Haliburton Highlands to the Ontario Weather Network. It is in fact free advertising that can potentially reach millions of people. All you have to do is care enough to show off the place you live.
Thanks!
Please note: both Kincardine photos are showing as pixelated because the originals are small. I should not have included them in the gallery but I love these areas–so excuse, please. The main point was for you to see Haliburton, which is offered as a large image by Halcom and contrast that with Reach Harbour in Lakefield, Ontario which is a very good, large webcam shot.
At top is how Kincardine is supposed to be viewed, I have enlargef them slightly which is causing a bit of pixelaton but even so, there is far more detail in their small shots of the harbour than the ginormous one taken of Haliburton by Halcom.
Lake Muscoka, Gravenhurst, Ontario - March 19, 2009
Yesterday, whilst we were taking our dog Raven for her nightly walk, my husband remarked that “the snow is melting off the docks on Lake Muscoka.” He’d been looking at the webcam shot available on the Internet as he made the assessment. Since “the melt,” as I’m calling it seems to be underway (I’m never certain that there is not going to be another freeze of any duration–is anyone?) I thought it best to see what I could pull up on the Ontario webcams.
As much as I hate sounding curmudgeonly there remains only a couple of public webcams in the entire province of Ontario that give access to a nice scene. Otherwise webcams , especially those that are sponsored by business’s like oh say, the Toronto webcam by CBC television are absolutely unremarkable. The shot CBC shows could be of “any city” and it’s any city of not great beauty. Conversely, a second shot of Toronto Island sponsored by The Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto, though a long shot, is in focus and gives a wonderful view of the magnificent vista.
Toronto Island - March 19, 2009
It still flabbergasts me that a province like Ontario that depends so on income from tourism does not take advantage of the ever-burgeoning use of the Internet and strategically install tourism-inducing webcams in some of Ontario’s most gorgeous areas. I’m sure if the province put a bit of money into this and found some competent people to periodically make sure that the camera was pointed in the right direction, in focus, not obscured by dirt, debris, etc. that the pay-off over time would more than outweigh the initial cost of installing the cameras and the recurring cost of bandwidth that allows the showcasing of the picture pretty Ontario webcam shots.
If I sound discouraged, I am, mostly because it’s such a wasted opportunity for the province and frankly, that sharp minds in Ontario haven’t already thought to do this when so many residents have been industrious enough to do so, despite the fact that they are almost always selling something. I don’t mind adverts but in the case of Haliburton’s webcam shot “sponsored by Halcom Communications,” one must go to their site, which many of us are reluctant to do as doing so as a practice makes one vulnerable to cookies attached to one’s browser. I’ve actually written to Halcom asking it they could adjust/clean the lens of their webcam–got no reply. So they get free advertising and they give us next to nothing in return.
Kincardine Harbour, Lake Erie
Indian River, Port Carling, Ontario - March 19, 2009
Lake Kawagama, Dorset, Courtesy Mountain Trout House
Sincere apologies to the small group of folks who read Maple Lake Ontario that the site has been unpredictable in it’s availability over the past couple of weeks.
I was using a host company that became increasingly less dependable and after trying to work with them to resolve the difficulties only to have them suggest ultimately that I take down most of this blog _permanently_ to “fix it,” I opted for another host for the website that had been recommended by a number of fellow bloggers.
It’s understandable now if you are wondering, “Was it her own fault?”
Nope. Don’t worry, I triple checked on that myself but the giant fumble in forgetting to fully transfer Maple Lake Ontario over to the new sever was not my doing. Being a brand new customer I should have had as my new host trumpets, them “do all the file transferring” for me. It should have been as simple on my end as essentially plugging in in a new address to send the Maple Lake Ontario name to it’s new host. “Should” being the operative word here.
They forgot to move the Maple Lake Ontario files and I ended up dealing with a succession of people at the new host, two of whom told me it was not their responsibility to help with that. One, I caught when he “found something” on his end (duh!) and he let out an involuntary “oh-oh.” With that he said he’d put in a ticket–but failed to get complete information so my website languished yet another day.
Again, I apologize to anyone that may have come back here after getting essentially nothing for two days.
As you may have noticed, in order to make some pocket money and pay hosting fees (and this year buy myself my first full-length winter coat in a decade–50% off at Old Navy) I do some posts for which I am paid well, pocket money.
I choose who advertises here and believe me, I turn down far more than I accept. But my point is the advertisers have a right to have their posts that I wrote on their behalf be accessible and my new hosting company prevented that, too.
I’m not sure what to do. At this point I’m adopting a wait and see attitude because there’s not too many other options.
Getting a post-high school education is something that people of all ages and stages in their life, as well as from a spectrum of economic backgrounds consider.
Added to the roster of many financial considerations which have popped up in the last year or two is the cost of transportation. Especially if you were considering commuting to school, the cost to get you to school and back must be factored in as a major expenditure. And so it’s unsurprising that pursuing Online Degrees is an option that five times more people chose over getting a degree in the traditional fashion.
If you are interested in a comprehensive search directory of where you can pursue online degree programs and/or courses please click the link above.
I love to travel whenever and wherever finances permit. I guess that’s no surprise–given that I’ve dedicated this blog to a place that affords me the opportunity to see many interesting things as I make my way to and fro’ several times a summer–not to mention the unforgettable sights I see once there.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate that just about everyone has an interesting story to tell and their stories are often coloured by their place of residence or the various places they’ve been.
For example my friend “E,” who now lives near my parents about 700 miles from here and with whom I’d very much like to spend some time, spent most of her life in Australia, her native land. I have always wanted to travel to Australia and will someday but until then, hearing first-hand tales from an Australia native is as close to being there as I can be. I would love to share some of her amusing tales of growing up Aussie but she has a particular fantastically humourous way of relating her life story. I have to have her varbatim contribution. She is that funny. It would be neat to (with her permission) switch on a little recorder and later use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to transcribe a post of E. sharing her story. If you are unfamiliar with what I call “the Dragon,” make sure to have a look atDragon Reviewsand get a good feel for it by takingDragon’s typing speed test!
Back to my Aussie friend. What has made her life even more fascinating to me is that now she lives in an area of the country that is trying to make changes intrinsically to morph itself from slums into middle class neighbourhoods. She has a condo with her spouse and because she lives in this uncharted territory she constantly witnesses interactions that must boggle her mind though she puts an amusing spin on them when writing of them. I can’t even begin to get a grip on what it must be like to be an Aussie ex-pat transferred to the seedy side of a big American city, witnessing drug transactions from your back porch, gunshots as a semi-common background noise, drunks staggering past, between you and your little path to your front door–moments after they’ve taken a wee on your front gate. :p
The Dragon could take me a long way in committing to the written word so much of what is conveyed but ends up either lost in translation or forgotten due to my imperfect photographic memory. That’s kind of how I envision Dragon NaturallySpeaking–as my photographic memory-travel blogging assistant.
