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| Fisherman huts located close to the sea where many spend their days after fishing in the early morning and late night hours. |
“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”
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| The young white horse and the boy return for a swim in the river. |
Yesterday’s late posting was predicated by the fact that we were unable to get online for several hours to upload it. There was no signal at all. A few days ago, Gede had contacted the service provider located across the bay in Java, the Indonesian mainland, requesting a user name and password be designated for each of these two villas.
When we arrived almost three weeks ago we were concerned over the fact that no user name and password were required to log on. As a result, we continually used Hotspot Shield, the pay-for VPN (a virtual private network) we’ve had these past years to provide us with an added layer of security.
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| A paddy field during the harvest season. |
Using a VPN has a tendency to slow down web browsing by about 25%, but was necessary under these circumstances. Foolish us, when last week we were concerned that six local teenage boys were sitting on the beach in front of our house for hours wondering why they were there as they continually faced the house, looking our way.
Now, we get it. They were on their phones using our unsecured wifi connection. Why we didn’t think of this slays me. Instead, we assumed they were “casing the joint” as we stayed on alert until they left after dark. Surely, other locals were aware of this easy-to-use network. It’s no wonder we couldn’t get online.
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| The lush greenery of future fields to be harvested by hand with power lines impeding the view. |
When we started out yesterday morning, I was able to write the post but unable to upload a single photo. We realized Gede had made the call having no idea when the new user name and password for our exclusive use would be made available.
When we hadn’t been able to connect at all after waiting for over two hours, I called Gede, using the SIM card we placed in my phone last week. The reception was poor when he picked up. All I could understand is that he was at a doctor’s appointment with his wife (not urgent). At that point, we knew it was a waiting game until he showed up or called back.
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| A ride down a wide side street. |
Dependable that he is, within an hour, we heard Gede’s motorbike come up the road and park in front of our villa. He’d been notified by email that our private user name and password were ready for our exclusive use.
He’d also explained that he’d arranged a separate user name and password for the staff next door which enables all of us to be online at our discretion without lessening the quality of the signal. That was yet to be seen.
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| There’s plenty of spaces between most houses to accommodate motorbikes. |
Getting our laptops and phones online was tricky, not as simple as entering the user name and password. Oddly, it requires we login each and every time we get online. But, who’s complaining? Once we figured it all out, during which time Gede stayed with us, we were confident the issue had been resolved.
Now, the test was determining if our signal would be impacted by the use of the staff when they’re next door, four or five people using data on their phones all at once.
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| Information on many statues is hard to find online. |
By the end of the day, we were satisfied with the connection, not complaining when we couldn’t get online around 4:00 pm or 5:00 pm when locals return from work and the system is overloaded for a few hours.
We can live with this. We shower and change for dinner at 4 pm and dine at 5 pm (so the two Ketuts can go home early). By 7:00 pm, we’re looking forward to watching a couple of our downloaded shows which don’t require an Internet connection once downloaded.
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| Buffalo calf on the side of the road. |
By 9:00 pm, we’re back online able to conduct financial matters with a reasonably good connection. By 9:30 pm, I’m reading a book on my phone and fighting to stay awake until 10. Sound familiar? I imagine many of us throughout the world have a similar routine. Any comments? We’d love to hear from you!
This morning I was easily able to download the photos for today’s post in 10 minutes as opposed to taking two or three hours. Now we can spend more time in the pool or taking walks in the interesting and unusual neighborhood. We’re looking forward to sharing many of these photos in upcoming posts.
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| Desa Baluk, a small village in the Negara region, noted by a statue along the highway. |
Yesterday, when we weren’t able to be online, Tom asked, “Are you bored?” Thinking for a moment, I answered, “No, I’m never bored. I’ve got plenty going on in my brain to keep me entertained!” He laughed and wholeheartedly agreed.
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| As is the case on many tropical islands, papayas grow with little care, free for the picking. |
Enough about technology for a few days. We don’t want to bore YOU!
We hope your day is varied and entertaining!
Photo from one year ago today, May 20, 2015:
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| One year ago I shopped at this boutique in Kauai, Azure, which had a fairly good selection of women’s and men’s clothing. As it turned out most of which I purchased at that time had been washed so many times that recently I’ve given most of it the “heave-ho.” I purchased a few new items recently in New Zealand but have found shopping for clothing only once a year spending under IDR $2,714,000, US $200, doesn’t quite cut it. At this point, I’ll wait until we get back to the US in 2017 to update some items in my aging and worn wardrobe. For details, please click here. |