Saturday, July 23, 2011

Got the Tablet

And the Heat Continues

I hosed the Boys yesterday afternoon for the first time. They have been generally OK every other day--but  yesterday!! Temps over 100F got to them.

Toby was rather indifferent and actually seemed annoyed by it. Once done, he went off an rolled in the sand.  Tucker was another story. Not only did he lean into the water, but he was making all kinds of  happy faces and insisted I let him drink from the hose.  Chance, who I've not sprayed much at all, caught on really quickly and seemed to enjoy it as well.  Neither he nor Tucker rolled afterwards, so they stayed wet when they went back in to stand in front of their fans.

I am going to get a sprinkler today and I'll set it up in the front paddock for a while in the heat of the day to see if they go play in it.  Not many other options left as air conditioning in the barn is out of the question.

My tablet came yesterday as well. I tried to set up my Internet connection through the ATT&T MiFi WiFi to no avail. The tablet kept giving me the message that it recognized the network and that the signal was strong and clear, but every time I put in the password code to establish the link, it told me it could not connect. Unlike PC operating systems that have lots of "back doors" to get something done, the Android tablet interface seems pretty direct, so I had no way of trying to configure the connection any other way.

So, I called the "Geek Squad" at Best Buy and told them my problem.  Soon, I was on the road to the store, to get them to set it up as I'd been promised when I placed the order.

The Geek was a really nice young man. I explained the problem, and he started to work on the tablet.  In short order, he did EXACTLY the same thing I had done, with EXACTLY the same results. Now what?

I knew the MiFi worked OK, because it connected my laptop to the Internet. Was the tablet OK?  There was in in-store network active, so my geek tried to connect my tablet to it. No problem. Therefore, the tablet's wifi seemed to be working.

My geek tried putting in the password in lower case letters. He tried a different password. We looked at the instruction manual, and then had to just keep repeating the same technique over and over--find the network, click on the connection, put in the password.

As my very clever, intelligent geek said, "You know, this proves we are insane. We keep repeating the same action, expecting a different result."  In the middle of our laughter--suddenly--CONNECTION!! The exact same technique, repeated, actually did produce a different result.

My geek (Chris, for he now had earned a name and my gratitude) saved the connection on the tablet, and, as we both held our breath, turned the tablet off.  We let it sit for a few seconds and turned it back on. To our relief, the Internet connection was still active.

Now I am still a bit stuck here as I cannot seem to get the tablet to post to Blogger. If I can't fix that, I will find some other way to post from the hospital, but for now, things seem to be working OK. Could be there is some kind of issue about the posting protocol for Blogger?:

Anyone know. The tablet works as an Android, as far as I know......still learning. I have a month.......

Addendum: I think I have figured out how to post--by sending an email to Blogger. I will try later, mostly because I have burned out my techno brain trying to figure this out.  I had, at one point, three computer devices running at once and was trying to use the mouse to control the wrong one. I think I have had enough geeking for one morning!

5 comments:

  1. I have no idea how those tablets work so no help from me there.

    The only thing to do for the herd in this weather is give them baths and fans and shade and earn their undying appreciation. Ours enjoyed their baths yesterday too. We had a few hose drinkers also. Ours stayed in all day and out again last night. Hope this nonsense breaks soon.

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  2. Anonymous10:39 AM

    No help on the tablet from me, I'm afraid.

    Hope you and the boys survive the heat OK. Dawn likes being hosed, and Pie and Drift have decided it's not so bad in the heat.

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  3. I've been hosing everybody off a couple times a day. They tolerate it, but only because they get to eat grass in the lawn while I'm doing it. They have grass in their pastures, but lawn grass is somehow better. *shrug* If it gets the job done....

    I can barely use my cell phone, those tablets are way out of my league!

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  4. download the blogger app from android market, works perfectly for me

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  5. I am very curious to see if they stand in the sprinkler.

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