Silver Lake Cottage Resort 10.22.10

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?

Have a great week!

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.

Chapleau River, Ontario April 13, 2010

To appreciate full size, click!

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

Lake Muscoka, July 15, 2009

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!