Why My Posts Have Taken So Long Between....

 What Defines A Monopoly?

                       Sometimes after writing my blog. They sit for days waiting for a fast enough internet speed to upload them to the internet. The more pictures that I add, the longer they take to upload. I really don't know why. I pay for the highest speed internet available in my area. There is only one choice, and unfortunately it is Comcast. I'm working with an older computer, so I thought that that may have been my problem. I recently had it checked out and cleaned up a bit at the local Mac dealer. I had two choices for that incidentally: iCapeSolutions and The Mac Express. iCape Solutions wanted $125 and to keep it for at least 24 hours. The Mac Express did it while I waited and only charged $29... Who do you think I went with? This post is not about where to get your Mac serviced however...

                       With my iMac functioning better than ever, I now was forced to find the real cause of my problems. After checking back in with The Mac Express, on their recommendation, I did a speed test on my internet service provider; Comcast. The results explained it all. Now I'm not a really technical person. So my tech-speak may be a little off, but my math is pretty good. Upon looking at my bill, I can tell two things. I pay just about seventy dollars a month for 20 mbps of internet service. I don't get anywhere near that. Upon talking with the fine folks at Comcast they still wanted to blame My equipment. "How old is your computer?" was a recurring question... "Not nearly as old as yours...", I said pointing over the counter at hers, "do you have fast internet?"After going back and forth for sometime, I was finally able to get her to dig through my account. She thought maybe I should replace their modem. So I went home, got the modem, brought it back to the Comcast office, where they did, finally, give me a new one. I took it home set up my network and... Wait for it... Wait for it....

NOTHING HAD CHANGED!!!

                          So you can see how slow my TOP DOLLAR INTERNET SERVICE really is, I have included some screen shots of my internet speed tests. To be fair, I tested the speed on all of my devices. (Maybe it is an equiptment problem on my end) Also I tested it several times. So what you will see are the mid range readings that I found. I used my Desk top, my iPhone, and would have used my iPad, but the internet speed was so slow that I was unable to download the App. Here are the results:

 This is a somewhat fuzzy but readable screenshot of my iMac.

This is a screen shot from my iPhone.

                           Does Comcast not like Mac users?

Does Comcast not like me because I don't own a television and get my programming from the Internet?

Does Comcast just provide an inferior service at a premium price?

Is there a way to get fast internet service on the Cape, and any level of customer service?

I would really like to know.

I'll keep you updated on my progress.

In the meantime buy art and support a working artist!

CapeNative.com

Buh Buh Buh Blinded By the Light...

                       " Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience... "

Baz Luhrmann
(Or that guy who really wrote it, whose name I forget, but apparently he gets royalties from Baz, so I guess that makes it okay...)

                        It's been far longer than I anticipated between writings. In my last post I told you about my adventures in plein air painting. Had I taken Mr. Luhrmann's aforementioned advice, this post would not be necessary and there would be, I'm sure, another blurb on my painting, perhaps a post with some photos of finished work. Unfortunately, I  did not get a painful sunburn... Not on my skin anyway. (I tan pretty well for an Irish/Swedish mutt.) Standing in the bright sun for hours and hours each of those days, staring at the sky and sea and the reflections and subtleties of the light, leaning my head out from the nice shade of my umbrella, my eyes wide open to try and take in every little detail,  what burned was not my skin at all (like some of you may have assumed by now)... But my Cornea. On Friday morning I woke up and could barley open my left eye through the glare of  the sunlight streaming through my bedroom window. It took several hours of adjustment before I could keep it open. Luckily, I work in a dark bar room. 

                       

                       It was not just the sensitivity to light that bothered me but a haze that had come over my vision. I have been bragging about my 20/15 vision for years, even if it is only in my left eye. (My right being just an average 20/20.)  By the end of my shift. I could keep the eye open while inside, but it still reflexively closed in the daylight. For the next few days I had a blurry spot high in the left corner of my eye. I made an appointment to see an Eye Doctor and that is when I realized that it wasn't just the hazy spot, but my vision in that eye was now down to 20/75 and there had been some damage in my right eye as well. The doctor assured me, after a long lecture about the importance of proper eye wear, that the haze that I was seeing was new cells repairing the damage and my vision should return, but he could not guarantee that, "at my age", it would ever go back to my 20/15.  (Yes, he said that... That son of a bitch!) 

                        So what is an artist to do? I can't wear sunglasses that will change the color of everything I see. Perhaps, through Rose colored glasses my paintings would be a bit a bit more appealing? But I really don't want to be seeing or painting for that matter something that isn't really there. My artists perspective already does that for me. So I think, maybe, a hat. Van Gogh rocked one!

                        There are several that I'm contemplating. I'd love some feed back on which you think I should wear. Here are some options:

It worked for Van Gogh, but I'm not sure that I could quite pull it off.

Classic. Sinatra and Deano would be proud.

Not sure if this one is cool, or if it screams,"Gay Cowboy!"?

There's no way.

       Anyway... I'll see you next time!

Can you guess which I went with???

Support a living artist!

CapeNative.com