Week One Without Home Internet


To Recap – Limitless, our internet provider, went bankrupt.  Windstream, our other option out here, has lines running to the farm that are so old and degraded that the signal barely gets here – the service is barely more than dial up, at High Speed prices.  We’re hopeful that River Valley Internets new tower will reach the farm, but it’s not turned on yet..  so rather than buy into one of the ridiculously overpriced, limited, options like exceed or hughes net (and we aren’t actually sure that either of those would work at the farm anyway…) we’re going to see how hard it is to live without internet at the farm. 



We have 25% of our phone data left, with 13 days left.  However, our daughter heads back to college, where she has constant unlimited wifi, tomorrow, so that will help.  (Our youngest is in air force basic training for 8 weeks – with no access to his phone - that is helping too.)

A quick look at my data usage shows that I’ve used 1.08gb on google chrome, .87gb on facebook, and .46gb with my phone as a mobile hotspot.

So my biggest issue is adjusting to not reading every article google now shows me.  I’ve habitually clicked on the links and read those stories without thinking about data usage, because before I was always on wifi.  Many of them are pure time wasters anyway.  The same goes for facebook – the majority of my usage there is clicking on links and reading stories people posted..  more time wasting that I really should work on eliminating anyway.


Meg has been downloading Netflix shows when we are on wifi, and watching them here at home with no wifi – it’s worked really well for her.  We haven’t tried casting to the big tv yet, she watches tv on her phone while she’s working on other things.  Currently we have so many shows on our dvr, there hasn’t been any need for us to look for more tv options.  But we might download the new lemony snickett movie when out on wifi today, just to see how it works casting to the big tv.

Tips For "Surviving" Without Home Wifi - 

Tips For “Surviving” Without Home Internet

Update - 4/20/17 - We still have no options for internet here.  BUT, thankfully, Verizon now offers unlimited data!!  I use my phone as a hotspot, as described below, and it works wonderfully.  It's faster than the internet we've had here in the past too.  The only thing we have not yet figured out is how to get Netflix on the big tv in the living room..  but we haven't really had time or inclination to work to hard at that, at this point.  



1. Use your phone as a hotspot.  I was impressed by how easy it is to connect my laptop using my phone.  Just remember to plug your phone in, it will drain your battery fairly fast.  On my phone (Samsung Note 5, Verizon Network) I simply chose “Mobile Hotspot” from the drop down menu, and followed the instructions.  After the key was added to my laptop, for future use all I had to do was click on the mobile hotspot button and my laptop automatically connected, as it does to any other saved wifi hotspot. 


2.      2. Know where the local free Wifi is.  For me, in Watsontown PA, I’m finding our local libraries, and The Well (At Christ Wesleyan Church) to be the best options so far.  But my moms house is also an option I took advantage of this week. Panera & Sheetz also have free wifi.  Our local Sheetz (Lewisburg) was sooooooooo slow, I left and went to the library instead.  This map may help, but it did not show our local libraries, so it's not a full list - 

        3. Download Netflix while on wifi.  This is a new option – you can download Netflix shows while on wifi, to watch when you do not have wifi.  This is also going to be great for long flights and while traveling in general… (Link to how to use Netflix on wifi)

             Update to the latest version of Netflix in the iTunes or Google Play app store.
 It needs to be a version that was launched on or after November 30, 2016.


Open Netflix on the device you wish to store content on.

Tap the menu button on the top-left side of the Netflix application.

Tap “Available for Download” in the list on the left side of the screen.
If it’s a movie or TV show, look for the download button.
( It’s a small arrow facing down to a flat line. Tap that.)

Once you have movies and TV shows downloaded, you’ll be able to access and stream them even when you don’t have a connection. 

  


        4. Keep a to do list for when on Wifi.  When I am on wifi, I don’t want to waste too much time.  So I keep a list of what I need to do.  Updates are pretty automatic, but I do check my phone to make sure I don’t have to authorize any updates before they occur.  I have my phone photos set to back up on google photos when I’m on wifi, so that happens automatically too.  But I need to be reminded to download new books to my phone, check the latest shutterfly deals, upload photos, etc.  I keep an entire folder on my laptop for when I am on wifi.  It has subfolders for blog posts I’ve written and will post when online, for photos I want to upload to facebook, and a notepad to do list of things I want to research and download while online.
5.      
      5..Use spotify.  Yes, it costs, but it also saves a lot for our family.  We can download our playlists to play offline.  Our data usage dropped significantly with the family subscription to spotify. https://www.spotify.com/us/download/other/

6.       6. Use an offline newsreader.  I'm currently trying Pocket - it has an app for android and an extension for chrome https://getpocket.com/a/queue/

7.       7. Make sure of facebooks “Saved Articles” feature.  Rather than reading every article that sparks your interest, save them for later.  Then when online, open the articles you have saved and save them to an offline newsreader.

8.      

My biggest inconvenience so far is my limited access to ancestry.com.  I’m not truly limited, I can use my phone as a hotspot – but I feel like I should limit that.  At a time of year when I usually spend a LOT of time on genealogy, this feels like a huge inconvenience, yet it’s probably a blessing in disguise.  I’m planning out trips to genealogy libraries in our area, most of which have free wifi, and I plan to make my rounds.  I can spend a day using both the wifi, and all of the resources in their libraries, for a little gas money and usually a $5 a day fee – and it will get me out to libraries I haven’t visited in awhile, where hopefully I will find more resources.

Timeline - What We Experienced When While Our Son Was At Air Force Basic Training


 Week 0 & Week 1

Our youngest is off at basic training at Lackland Air Force Base.  This is our second son to go through this, but 4 years later, we’re finding this journey just a little bit different..  so if you are reading this a few years later, there many be many more changes.  This is a time line, as we experienced it in 2017.

Our son was set to swear in on January 3rd 2017, so he was required to appear and sign in at the hotel near MEPS by 5pm on January 2nd.  This first week is Week 0 of training.

January 2nd
4:45 drop Matt at Hotel.  He signed in, took his bag to his room, and attended a briefing.  We went to a nearby park and took a walk.

5:45pm – roughly – Matt called to say he was free until 10pm.  We picked him up and went to the mall, where he made a build a bear with his voice recorded in it, for his fiancĂ© for while he is away.  We went out to dinner at Chick Fil A, then went to Applebee’s for dessert, where the guys could watch the football game.

9:40 – we dropped Matt back at the hotel and said our goodbyes, not sure how much we’d be able to see him/hug him the next day.

January 3rd
We arrived at MEPS at 8:30am, as instructed, for Matt to swear in at 9am.  There were sooooooo many people that day, that they ended up splitting the group in half, so Matt actually swore in much later.  We sat for quite awhile before Matt joined us.   The red cross provided snacks and coffee in the cafeteria. This was a long morning of sitting and waiting.  We’d sit with Matt for awhile, then he’d be called to a briefing, he’d come back to us for a minute, then have to leave us again…  finally he swore in:




After he swore in, they had to wait for the van to come back from shuttling the first group to the airport, so we got some more time with him.  We were all kicked out of the cafeteria at lunch time, lunch was served only to those who were enlisting.  Matt was getting on the shuttle immediately after lunch, so he came out to the lobby and said goodbye to us, then went to lunch and we headed out.

Later in the day, when he had a layover between flights, we received a few texts.  When he landed in San Antonio, he sent another text telling us he had no time to call, but that he was there safely.

January 4th
We received a very quick phone call letting us know he arrived safely, and giving his his address.  He was not able to chat, just to give us his address.

I joined the Air Force Wing Moms private group for his flt.

January 6th
I created a basket for our hall with books of stamps, envelopes, return address labels, and labels with Matt’s new address that can be quickly affixed to any envelope.  There are also a stack of self addressed stamped envelopes to add to some of his letters, to make it quicker and easier for him to write home.  I write to Matt every single day, and send a SASE at least once a week.
I also have a folder on my computer labeled “Letters to Matt” where I save random jokes and things from the internet that I think will make him laugh.  I print them off periodically to add to his letters.

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January 9th   - Week One
(less than a week after he arrived in Texas)
We received a post card in the mail with his address at BMT

AF Wingmoms list of what Week One may be like for our trainees - 

January 11th - 
In the Wingmoms Group, a moderator posted this schedule of what our sons days may be like - 
So this is how a Typical Day in BMT for your loved ones is going to be for the next 7.5 weeks – there really is no typical day in the Air Force BMT, however here is a breakdown of how a day might proceed.
0445 Reveille 0500 Downstairs in formation. Get ready for PC (Physical Conditioning)/ exercise.
0500 to 0600 PC...This will alternate. One day you run, the next day you do aerobic exercise.
0600 to 0615 Breakfast 
0630 to 0745 Dorm setup
0745 to 0800- formation to march to class
0800 to 1130 Drilling, classes, records checks, shots, uniforms issue, etc.
1130 to 1230 Lunch/ Canteen sanitation/ dorm check
1300 to1700 Classroom/dorm instruction
1700 to1800 Dinner/ Mail call
1900 to 2045 Set up the dorm for night time/ pick up and drop off dry cleaning. Fold laundry and clip strings/ shower and set up night displays/ Dust downs and details
2100 Lights out (bedtime)

January 12th
For todays letter, I copied and pasted 5 pages of commentary from a sports website, recapping the play off games and speculating on the outcome of the upcoming play off games.  Next to his family, and his dog, I’m pretty sure football is what he’s missing most.  5 pages is TOO THICK to send –  in my opinion - but with some careful formatting changes, and printing on both sides of the paper, I had it down to 3 pages which made a normal sized letter.  Others from Matt’s flight have received papers about graduation, but we have not received anything since the post card with his address.  Mail is typically about a day slower for us than everyone else – we’re fairly rural in a rural community.  For the first week,  I take Matt’s letters directly to a post office to be mailed, because I know he will get them quicker. 

January 14th 
Another member of the wingmoms group for our sons flight received her first letter today.