This post comes days after “part 1” for a simple reason: when you host your own servers at home there is the risk of interruption. In our case, around 8:30pm on Tuesday evening, something caused a power bump or brown out at our house. All systems are on battery backup … but a breaker tripped1I will be reviewing the power load on that circuit when I return home. Clearly, SOMETHING spiked its current when power came back and pushed the breaker over its limit. I need to relieve stress on that circuit.. This took away wall power from critical systems, including the broadband router, the core router, and our network gate way systems. I am very grateful for my colleague, Remington, who stopped by the house on Friday, found the problem, and reset the breaker.
So … we are back!
Wednesday, obviously, began stressfully. I awoke to find that my home systems were all down, depriving us of luxuries like social media and more important things like personal email and cloud storage. We started talking about me driving or flying back to Sudbury, not because we need social media, but because a house without internet connection also meant no eyes on our cats. Our home camera system was offline, as it depends on the house internet connection. Our neighbours are watching the house and kitties while we travel, but I was concerned about the cats’ feeding schedules, general well-being, etc. This turned a vacation into a major worry fest. I like being able to see the cats are OK.
We talked it through, conferred with neighbours, and decided to proceed to Vermont. Certainly, by Thursday afternoon, everything was resolved (and the kitties are doing great).
The drive on Wednesday was more interesting than Tuesday’s. We had lots of varying weather, mixing sun and clouds and downpours.
Crossing into the US was mostly normal, although now the US has added webcam photos of your faces in addition to the usual questions (WHERE ARE YOU GOING? they ask American citizens, as if we don’t have free travel within our own borders). Things at the border feel more like they do as customs in an airport, though it is almost comical how the border officer has to awkwardly stretch a dinky webcam out toward the car window to try to take pictures of people’s faces. If it didn’t feel invasive for an American citizen, it would be funny.
We found ourselves driving into the mountains of Vermont through beautiful country. This was the first time we had come by this route; in fact, I don’t think I have ever driven on this route between the US and Canada. I’ve mostly taken roads through New York or Michigan, but this was the first time we crossed directly to or from Vermont.
We arrived in Springfield around dinnertime and checked into our accommodations. It had been a long day, starting with a lot of worry, and we were hungry and tired. We had a lovely dinner and enjoyed a walk through the town. It was time to get some sleep, as the Hartness House Workshop was set to take up all of Thursday.
