The Hughesnet call center is located in one of the mega call centers in India.  What I have learned after spending nearly six hours on the phone is that their only objective is to find some way to get your system to pass a “web responsiveness test” with a time lower than 13 seconds so that they can get you off the phone, close the ticket and move on to the next complaint. They don’t really try to fix your slow speed issues.  In fact I was told by the call center person that speeds below dial up were acceptable because they do not guarantee download speeds!!  One trick they will use is to keep passing you to a new person to help diagnose your problem.  Eventually they will ask you to start making changes to the setup of your browser network setting that force your system to access their site through a “proxy server”.  Once you use the proxy server I have found that magically your system will pass their test.  However, when you reset your settings to the recommended values (no proxy server) things degrade again.  In other words this is just an approach they use to get you out of their hair so they can close the ticket.

The bottom line is I am becoming very dissatisfied with the Hughesnet service and I am particularly dissatisfied with their India based technical support.  The technical support is worthless.  You might as well just wait for the problem to self correct or use dial up!  It is interesting that they never ask one to fill out a customer survey.  I am sure they already know what answer they will get.  Some searching on the web has turned up some class action law suits against Hughesnet.  Perhaps their house of cards will begin to crumble.

I am told that Comcast may be coming to our area soon.  I will switch in a flash.

Well enough ranting for now.

Fred

The other day Laura went into the barn and didn’t see Inspot in his run.   When she started looking for him, she found him in the fenced in area that is between his run and a large fenced in area that houses several of our younger males.  He was enjoying the fresh grass that had grown up in this area during the nice spring weather we have had this past week.

Incspot’s run is surrounded by a 6 foot high chain link fence with a 2″ x 6″ wooden top rail.  At first,  Laura thought he might have jumped the fence but on closer inspection she discovered he had actually crawled under the fence!  He had pushed his nose under a 3 foot by 4 inch gap that had been eroded during the winter. After he had managed to get his head under the fence he must have realized that he could not pull it back out because the chain link fence was just like a Chinese handcuff (remember playing with these as  a kid?).  With only one option left, he managed to push his entire body under the fence.  When Laura found him, he was having a grand old time devouring all of the new grown grass and intimidating the younger males on the other side of this area.

Who would have thought a 375 lb llama could slip his entire body under a 4 inch gap in a chain link fence!  So Laura opened the gate and lead him back into his own run thinking it was just a fluke.  Well to make a long story short, the next day he was back in the forbidden area!   Since Incspot had learned a new trick I was forced to take action. So, I spent a couple of hours yesterday installing a second 4″ x 6″ wooden rail across the bottom of the fence.  While I was sawing, drilling and screwing the new bottom rail in place, Incspot spent the time watching me crawling around in the mud with a bit of a smirk on his face.  When it was done he made several passes up and down the fence before he realized I had blocked the path to his new found freedom.  Believe it or not you could see the smirk turn to an expression of disgust!  Then he laid down in his dust pile, put his ears back and had a good sulk.  Now what will be his next trick!

We are currently enjoying the bountiful daffodils our hill is famous for.  Unfortunately, most of our tulips succumbed to the ravages of either the moles or the hungry deer, who ate the young plants before they could bloom. But I have been pleased with the display of daffodils, including Dutch Master, Chromocolor, Replete and Ice Follies that I planted last year.  It was also nice to see the tete-a-tete, Winston Churchill and Mount Hoods from years past.  But our display pales in comparison to that at the Goethe Link Observatory, about 1/2 mile from our house.  Since Mrs. Link passed away about three years ago, we were afraid the daffodils would not be cared for and eventually die out.  Much to our surprise and pleasure, we found her large cultivated field and wooded areas to have even more blooms that we remembered from before!  We were lucky to visit on Easter evening, when someone from the Indiana Daffodil Society was present, handing out leaflets on daffodil culture.  The Society has been tending the daffodils and dividing them, spreading their beautiful colors throughout the front of the property.  We were so glad that they are taking on this task.  The gates to the Observatory are open when someone from the Society is there, and the public is welcome to walk through the daffodils, although no picking is allowed.  Our only disappointment was that we could not longer walk back through the rest of Mrs. Link’s property, which has a pond and many specimen plantings.  Still it was a treat to visit and a nice destination for us on our daily walks.

We found out that the New York Times reprinted a 1981 article written about the Observatory and the daffodils, and this has brought more visitors to see them this year.  The grounds should be open throughout the daffodil season, but the gates may open on a hit or miss basis.  Most likely weekends during the day are your best bet if you want to visit.  Although our llama farm is are not staffed for public visits, a drive down Observatory and left turn on Goat Hollow Road will bring you past our llama pastures, on both sides of the road.  More daffodils and spring flowers can be viewed at our neighbor’s beautiful gardens from the road as well.

For more information on the Observatory, try these links:

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/01/travel/a-flowering-of-daffodils-in-indiana.html?sec=travel

http://scican3.scican.net/preservation/Most_Endangered.htm

laura

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and will have a Happy New Year in 2009!

laura

Got My Vote, aka Jimmy, catches everyone’s eye with his striking reverse appy coloration and gorgeous head and ears. When you look closer, you will see that his correct, square and straight conformation and heavy bone complete the picture for this young male. He has an abundance of presence with his upright stature, and a very sweet and trusting disposition. His full Chilean bloodlines include the best ancestry including Chilean Avalanche and Black Jack on the top side, and Cima Bandado/Top Flight on his dam’s side. Jimmy quickly earned his ALSA Halter ROM in limited showing and Top Ten placings in both the Celebrity and Gold Rush futurities. We just love this guy and we know you will too!

laura

Many of you have met Lewis during his brief years with us, while many more of you have only read his story online.  He was a courageous llama that taught us so much about life and happiness and overcoming adversity.  His memory will be with us always, and the many thoughts and prayers from his “fan club” and our friends have indeed helped us handle his passing.

laura

In 2000 while we were at the ALSA National show, Lewis’ left rear leg was badly fractured when vandals broke into our farm and left gates open allowing our male llamas in with the females and Lewis.   Lewis spent nearly 7 months at the Ohio State Veterinary hospital recovering from a very severe rear spiral leg fracture and several post operative infections.  After four surgeries, months of antibiotics and tons of love and care from many veterinarians and students, Lewis walked out of the hospital under his own power.

Over the subsequent eight years Lewis has taught Laura and I about courage and the importance of enjoying life’s simple pleasures.   Lewis’ simple pleasures included a good back scratch, nice flakes of alfalfa and talking to Laura and I with his honks which signaled his need for attention.

This past winter we realized that Lewis was having increased difficulty walking.  Favoring his once-broken rear leg had eventually resulted in the joints of his other three legs breaking down prematurely.  When the warm weather of spring finally arrived we saw some improvement.  However, over the past two weeks Lewis starting spending most of the time in his stall, only getting up to eat and drink.   During the past few days Lewis could no longer stand even though he made many courageous attempts.  Even though Lewis could not stand he still enjoyed his meals and getting his back scratched.  Unfortunately we knew that it would only be a matter of time before the lack of exercise would result either in depression or other health issues that would lead to infection or pneumonia.

One of the most difficult things we have had to do during our 15 years of raising llamas was asking our vet to end Lewis’ life.  Even during the procedure, Lewis demonstrated his courage by gently leaning against me as our vet inserted the needle that would end his life.  Lewis quietly fell asleep in my arms as Laura and I struggled with our grief.

The coming days will be especially difficult for Laura and I when go to the barn at feeding time and are not greeted by Lewis’ gentle honk and demands for his daily back rub.

I’m sure God has a special place for gentle companions like Lewis.  I’m sure Lewis now has a perfect body that allows him to run and play in a perpetually green pasture full of rich alfalfa, with perfect eyes that let him finally see all that he has missed these last ten years, and he has angels waiting to scratch that special spot.

Fred

However, I have noticed a significant improvement in the evening download speeds over the past three weeks.  Perhaps, Hughes Net is finally starting to move a significant number of their customers off of their overcrowded satellite to the new satellite they launched earlier this year.

Overall, I continued to be satisfied with the service since it is so much better than the ISDN speeds (128kb/s) we were getting before I installed the satellite system.  I’ll continue to provide updates when I can.

Fred

I can tell Laura is already getting attached to the new additions to the barn because I’ve caught her picking them up and snuggling them.  It appears there are three girls and one boy.  As soon as they get a little older, mom and her kittens will get to visit Country Critters (our vet) for their shots, spay and neutering.

I guess the word has gotten around to all of the cats in our neighborhood that the llama farm has good food, shelter and a great medical plan!  They know if they can just limp in, life will be wonderful.

Congratulations from Laura and I.

Fred

P.S. The Brownies were wonderful.

Early this morning we attempted to drive to Bloomington to pick up cat food and other essential items from Sam’s Club.  As we headed down the hill, we got about a 1/2 mile south of our house and found the road littered with large chunks of stone which had been washed out of the large drainage ditch along side the road.  We finally made it to the bottom of the hill and found the Southbound lane of Indiana highway 67 closed by a mud slide.  We turned around and headed back North in an attempt to do our shopping in Indianapolis.  We only got to Mooresville before heavy rains started to fall again.  Feeling it was too risky to proceed to Indianapolis we headed back to our home to wait out the storms.  In the hour and a half we were gone, we had received an additional 3 inches of rain!

The final insult came when I headed to the basement to get a screw driver,  only to find that we had about an inch of water in the basement.    This was not supposed to be possible since the floor of our basement sits above our pond.  Unfortunately, our spillway could not handle the high volume of water flowing into our pond,  so the surface of the pond had risen over the top of the drainage tile from our basement floor drains.  Fortunately, most of the things in our basement which could be damaged by water were already on shelving or in water proof containers.  Once the weather subsides I’ll need to deepen the spillway so that we can avoid this problem in the future.  We have never seen this much rain in such a short period.  Our pond had not been this high during the 15 years we have lived here.

This has been a very unusual spring.  It started with unseasonably  cool weather in April and May with an immediate jump into the 90s this week.  Then last night this unbelievable quantity of rain.

I am listening to the scanner and have never heard it so active.  There are peopled stranded on the roads trying to get home.  There are others, trying to get out of their homes because they are about to be flooded.  Several dams are overflowing and at risk of breaking.  Hopefully the rains will subside soon before the whole area turns into a disaster zone.

Fred

Fred

Our pet llamas such as Buster and Lewis also receive full body cuts.

Heat Stress is the largest risk most llamas face during the hot summer months.  Shearing your llamas is absolutely essential to protect them from the often fatal effects of heat stress.  For information on shearing your llamas check in the General Care section (http://www.ywl.com/?cat=13) of our Llama FAQ.

Fred

 However, I do notice a consistent pattern of the speed dropping off in the evenings by 50% or more betwee 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm.  I suspect that Hughes Net is overselling their capacity in anticipation of their newest satellite coming online within the next several weeks. 

I’ll continue to post my experiences–good and bad for all of you rural dwellers like me that do not have another high speed internet option.

Fred

But he is finally loosing his grip.  The daffodils and crocuses are also popping up throughout the yard.   Finally, this weekend the temperatures moved into the lower 60’s.  This weekend even gave us two days of very welcome sunshine.  

I ventured out through the maple grove near our house and into the clearing by the pond. Just then, the sun shone through the forrest behind the pond at a late afternoon angle. The ice crusting the trees was so illuminated by the sun that I could barely look at it. The depth of the forrest was shown by receding layers of refracting light as though passing through every diamond ever cut and faceted by man. It was breathtaking.

As the sun continue to get lower in the sky, the effect continued to morph, and all afternoon was a wonder with displays of sparkling beauty and ever-present shower of meltwater and ice from the trees. An occasionaly loud crack could be heard when a weary limb of a old pine finally gave in to the weight of the ice, not able to wait until the melting caught up and relieved its heavy load.

The next day, we noticed once again how “the hill” seemed to be singled out for this ice event. North of home, where we work, and south of home, where we went out to dinner, the ice was completely gone and forgotten. On our hill, however, the ground and roads were still strewn with ice chunks and the trees still carried a shimmering rind of ice, even late the next afternoon. Whether this was due to the elevation difference or the depth of the surrounding woodlands, we don’t know. But we do seem to have a micro climate on the hill that occasionally gives us spectacular weather events not shared even by our nearby friends and neighbors.

laura

As I walked to the barn the warm and humid air reminded me of a late April morning instead of early February.  Unfortunately, our short excursion into Spring is only a tease.  The temperaure is supposed to drop into the upper 30’s tonight and the weather forecast includes a chance of snow for  Wednesday.  At least the brief respite into Spring is bringing much needed rain to fill our pond.  Unfortunately the thaw and rain will also expand the boot sucking mud flats around our barn.

Fred

I fired up my MacBook, typed the camera IP address into my web browser and hit return. No response! After an hour of trouble shooting I finally discovered a bad network connection on the back of the camera. I did a little cleaning and adjustment of the cable and the camera sprang to life. I was pleased to see the image was much sharper than the original camera.

I hope all of the frequent visitors to llamacam enjoy the new camera. Be sure and let us know what you think.

Fred