Live in the Philippines

Live in the Philippines helps expats with visas, moving and other services regarding the Philippines.

The Bataan Y2K Zone Part II

Communications, Expats, Weather / by

Don’t miss out on Part 1 of this article.

And that Sunday passed like cold molasses, on a winter’s day in New England. My daughter could not make it due to flooding on the farm, which I was notified of, at 17:30 Sunday evening. So Marlon the Magnificent, was called and arrived at 18:00 hours on Monday to save the day, or would that be two days?

Guess what, the Tattoo connected and the Wi-Fi worked, but that’s where it all stops, there is not enough signal to do anything. I couldn’t even get on to LiP! Paul, dumb Paul, the buyer’s remorse was telling you that during the entire trip home, and 3 days later, Mr. Murphy raised his hand and smote you, for not listening.

Tuesday 9 August I spoke with the Globe service technician via the phone and was told to push this button, then that button, and a signal appeared. Not the strongest signal but better than yesterday. Now I’m Tattooing away, downloading music, paying due diligence to our great Lip readers and answering any comments and or questions they might have. My mood is good and I’m once again joking on Facebook, all is right in my little corner of the world, Hell, even my dogs were happy to see me smiling! And then the signal stopped, never to appear again! But you all knew that, didn’t you?

This story is not over by a long shot, the same day, yes the very same day, while at the bottom of the hill by the main road, I spy a man up a latter, hooking something to the pole. He saw me and shouted down; “Hey Kuya, you’ll have “BROADBAND” in your purok within the next 3 to 4 months” I smiled, and thought; “Of course!”, now that I’m locked into a two year contract, of course they’ll install broadband 100 meters from my house.” But before I go off like a Turkish Whirling Dervish, I’ll take a wait and see attitude, because I’ve be misinformed many, many times before.

I went back and read my contract with Globe, and gleaned the fact, that for the paltry sum of P8,800, I can buy my way out of the contract. Oh! Joy for me! But again, I won’t act rashly; I’ll wait and see how the situation plays out. But I doubt if it will ever be 100% in my favor.

But here is what Globe decided at the Globe Telecommunications Emporium, the technician, also failed to get a signal, and deemed it was a “Faulty Sim Card” he quickly installed a new one and a signal appeared!

The return home was with my breath held tight, I dashed to my computer and plugged in my dongle (Lord, I love that word) and had a halleluiah moment. The Tattoo lit up with a strong 3G signal, I went on line like a rocket, but that’s not the test, the test is how long it will take to down load an mp3 song, using my cell phone it would take ten minutes per song. I hunted and found an album I wanted, clicked on download and five minutes later it was perfectly downloaded all 12 songs on that album. I must admit for the first time in eleven years of living on the mountain the wall of internet gloom and doom has lifted, the Y2K bug is defeated. I’m online with dependability and more importantly “Speedy Access to the Internet.” I’ve allowed one weeks passing, before I finished writing this part, as only time would tell.

Is it all worth it? Yes I’m quite sure it is, but know for a fact, that I didn’t sell my cell phone, and when or if everything goes south on me, I can still use it to connect to the web. Than from Singapore a box arrived and in it was a Dell lap top computer that our Daughter Ymir Thea (Yhen) had sent to her mother, as she had purchased a new one. Mayang, on the World Wide Web, that has to be, one of the new Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

Had I becoming bitter? Did I still wish a pox on the house of Al Gore for inventing this damnable internet? My answer is a firm no. For without the internet, I never would have met all the great people I’ve encountered on Bob’s LIP. Or the fun I’ve had on Facebook, and staying connected to my far flung family. So for that I say; “Mr. Al Gore, Thank you, I’m sorry it didn’t work out so well between you and Tipper, but that’s just another inconvenient truth! But your internet is top notch!

Disclaimer: No Dongles were hurt in the writing of this article!
Bob; you created a monster when you taught me that word!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Not bad Paul 12 songs in 5 min thats great seeing that it’s around 40 megs. I wish I could get that, well enjoy your new DONGLE!

    • Bill;
      It was compressed when I received the album but it took 4 seconds to UN-zip it., then I tried an album on a site that does not compress and that was 12 minutes, so I’m pleased! The last time I’ve had that much fun with my dongle, my dad caught me! (lol)

          • paul,

            every time I hear the word”dongle” it sounds like it is something hanging in man’s area!. I still can’t stop laughing every time i hear that damn word! where the hell that word come from anyway? they could just use the word “stick”, well. that sounds weird too don’t you think.?? a technician would tell you “hey have you plugged your “Stick” in that slot?” that doesn’t sound right as well.. at least much better than the “dongle” hahahaha

  2. In aviation we have a saying Paul….The faster it goes the faster the faster it crashes…….good luck young Jedi !!

  3. Paul;
    Wonders never cease in this Wonderful World!
    Have fun with your Dongle, i look forward to trying my own Dongle one day,LoL.

    I will leave you with this old Naval Adage;
    “If the highest aim of a Captain were to preserve his Ship, he would keep it in Port forever”.

    • Chas;
      Then my Captain’s (Master’s) didn’t give tinkers damn for any ship I was on, as we stayed at sea.
      In the US Navy it went like this, Captain get’s an oiler (deep Draft) don’t break the oiler, he gets a Aircraft Carrier, don’t break the Carrier, he gets to be an Admiral.

  4. Hey Paul,
    I’ glad that things are working out with your Dongle. Never let your Dongle hang out with other Dongles, you never know what could happen.
    You are right to blame it all on Algore. Not only did he invent the internet (rolling my eyes) He also invented global warming.

    • Hudson;
      He must have had a dongle in his pocket and that’s why Tipper Gore left him. I believe he invented air also. I don’t think he invented the chads from Florida that cost him the election.

  5. Great post, Paul.

    Yes, the word, “Dongle”, being so important, should probably be in initial caps! I have never had the personal experience in actually connecting one to my puter but all in good time I suppose.

    • Thank you Rich;
      You might never have to use a DONGLE when you get here, as broadband/DSL/with WiFi are becoming more common everywhere (Except where I live) We can only hope, but it does improve every year. By then people should have old Dongles they can give away and we can carry them in our pocket, for luck!

      • Paul,

        Is the Dongle a relative of the Dingle, as in Dingle Berry lol. You had me crackin up as usual with your posts. Well i guess it was just another day of life in the PI. and you wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m glad to see you survived the latest Typhoon. Be safe.

        • Papa Duck;
          We are on the edge of the storm still today, and have had 6 days of solid rain, so much in fact the fish in the pond are are knocking on our back door asking for towels.

  6. Hi Paul – Glad to hear you are up and running online to your satisfaction.
    I first heard about the Dongle in the late 90’s when we were buying a software programme that would allow us to get the best yield from the flat wood panels that we used for our manufacturing process. In order to access the software which was CAD linked we were given this Dongle thing and we all thought that this was wonderful and told everyone that would listen about this magic device that we locked up in the companies safe overnight. Nowadays everyone has a Dongle so they are no longer exclusive but research as you may I bet you will be sorely tested to come up with the name of the inventor of the contraption.
    Regards.
    Jim.

    • Jim;
      If you’re gonna tell me it was invented by Al Gore, that will be the straw that broke the camel’s back! I had no idea they went back to the 90’s, as when Bob wrote about it awhile back it was the first time I’d heard the word. I’ll tell you for a fact I’ve never used one on the many ships I’ve sailed on. But the one I have now the Tattoo Superstick, is amazing. What will they come up with next?

    • Hi jim,

      the word dongle has been used since the late 80’s, many software developer uses it for security purpose to prevent to “crack” their software, back in the days, cracking software is rampant and the only way to secure the software is by using the “dongle”, software would not run without it, it has a special chips inside that contains the code to unlock the software, until now, i have no clue as to why they named it “dongle”, I didn’t hear it again for the next 20 plus years, and now, its coming back!

      would it not scare you if someone would say “your dongle has a virus!” lolz

  7. Paul – see, you were rescued by enthusiasm and patience and sticking it out with your dongle. 🙂

    • Hi Sugar;
      I was blessed with the patience of Job and the enthusiasm of an 8 year old kid on his first visit to Disney World. And it only took 11 years to get to this wildly excited state of euphoria but I’m online with dependability and speed. All will come to he who waits, and waits…..(lol)

  9. Paul,
    This article is really timely and useful for us. We’ve been going through a similar ‘learning process’ regarding trying to get internet out on the east side of Samal Island. We do get good cell signal there so I tried the Smart dongle, and nada. The explanation given was that we’re getting the cell signal from a 2G tower and the dongle only likes 3G. I haven’t tried the Globe Tattoo.
    May I ask, does your Globe dongle seem to have to have 3G? Does it work at all on 2G, just slow, or not at all? (At this point, I’m not expecting to download entire albums in five minutes, I’d settle for being able to check email once in a while.) Also, I imagine you explored other options while waiting for Globe to get out your way, do you know if there’s any way with any of the Philippine carriers to get Blackberry-like service on a cell phone that works on 2G, so as to at least be able to get email?
    Any info / suggestions appreciated.
    Jack

    • Jack;
      My Globe Tattoo Super Stick will connect me to the internet when on a 2G signal, as I am now because of inclement weather. I will lose the 3G signal during the rain. Both my daughter and my friend can connect to the internet off my WiFi even with 2G, although it is slower. I hope this helps answer your question.
      BTW its raining right now and I’m on a 2G signal, I’ll skip the music until a clear day!

  10. Senior;
    Glad to see Murphy has spared you from a meltdown and you you can only drink 1 SMB between downloads.