My Magic Jack, it’s been a year

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I received my Magic Jack, for those who don’t know about this device, it’s an internet phone service, they send you a USB memory stick with a few extras, you plug this into your computer and then you plug your telephone into the other end. After a bit of a setup (it’s pretty simple), you pick out a phone number and viola, you have phone service anywhere you have a broadband connection and a computer. Unfortunately MJ does not play well with satellite internet service, other than that, you should be good to go...



Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.off-grid.net/2009/04/21/my-magic-jack-its-been-a-year/



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http://www.off-grid.net/section/wretha/

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Wretha

Thanks for visiting, Please leave all comments on the Off-Grid site or the EarthPower site instead of here, thanks!
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Magic Jack and Garden Updates

Magic Jack

So far so good on the Magic Jack, I did have a problem with it though, it seemed that I could not call the 2 main people I wanted to call, my Dad and sister. For some reason it would not complete calls to local numbers (in the 817 area code for me), I discovered this is a known issue according to an unofficial forum for the Magic Jack. When I would try to call my Dad or sister, it would ring 5-8 times then I would hear a fast busy signal then a dial tone. I could call any other numbers outside the 817 area code, I could also call any cell phone (didn't matter what area code). So I decided to contact MJ's customer service, it's all on line, I contacted a very nice cs person, I told him what the problem was and that I had already tried using the upgrade on their website (multiple times) and tried every USB port on my computer. I was afraid he would try to get me to do the upgrade again or make me go through some useless processes, I know the problem is on their end since the MJ works for other calls. He was very polite, asked me a few questions, got 3 phone numbers that will not work for me, then he said I would be getting an email in the next 24-48 hours about this matter. After that I went to the unofficial MJ forum, I posted a message about this to their tech section, I copied and pasted the transcript of the customer service contact, I asked if anyone else there had this problem and found a fix or a workaround.

I quickly received a reply from one of the members, he suggested using this format when I called, instead of calling 817284****, to call *678*17284****, IT WORKED! I was able to call my Dad directly, then I called my brother in law, I didn't try my sister's number, but I have no doubt it will work with her number too.

So even if MJ doesn't have a fix, I have a workaround so I am happy. It seems that the * codes (*67 and such) do not work on MJ's system, at least not the way they work on regular phones. I don't care, as long as I can call who I want. :)


Garden

Woohoo! I got my garden planted yesterday! I took my packets of seeds and started on one corner, I walked around and dropped the entire packets on the spaces where I wanted to plant them, then I took each packet and planted the seeds. I got them all planted and watered. I can't wait to see the little sprouts peeking up from the straw mulch, patients! Here is a list of what I have planted so far:

• tomatoes
• bell peppers
• broccoli
• 2 different lettuces
• peas
• corn
• beans
• summer squash
• watermelon
• malabar spinach
• spinach
• swiss chard
• collards
• carrots
• beets
• radishes

I plan on ordering a few other plants, purple okra and maybe some different tomatoes and such. The okra will grow very fast, it's practically a weed!


Be sure to complete the poll if you haven't yet, it's on the upper right of the page, this way I'll know what you want to see on this blog. :)

Thanks,
Wretha

Got my Magic Jack

Got my Magic Jack today, it's been in the mailbox for a couple of days, but since it's a 12+ mile round trip on a rocky, dusty, dirt, washboard, up and down, in and out road, I don't get out there very often.

I hooked up the MJ and it installed fairly easily, there was the smallest of hiccups a couple of times, once was because my internet stalling out for a few seconds... anyhoo I got it running and started making phone calls, it works pretty well, one problem it has it for some reason it refuses to call certain numbers, it will ring and ring then I get a busy signal then a dial tone, I have found that when it is giving me trouble, if I call using the software instead of dialing the phone, it works a bit better. I am still testing it out, the sound quality is better than my cell phone.

For anyone who has my cell phone number and needs my new number, just email me and I'll give it to you.

Check out the poll on the blog, the upper right corner, complete the poll for me if you want to, thanks! :)

Thanks, Magic Jack and the Garden

First I want to thank everyone who joined the PTC sites from my links below, this will not only make money for you, it will help me tremendously, the money earned goes toward my internet expenses, it helps to keep me on line and posting here. :) If you have any questions about how to use the PTC sites, or want to know some tricks that I use to make more money (all LEGAL, I don't do anything that would jeopardize my membership), just drop me a note via email

wretha @ gmail . com (remove the spaces)

and I'll be more than happy to help. :)

Phone

I went ahead and ordered the Magic Jack, I figured it would be the best thing to do, if it works for me (and I hope it does), I can drop my cell phone and will not have that expense every month, I will have only one yearly charge for the phone service. The only problem with it so far is they do not have a local phone number for me, so I'll just get a phone number that is local for my friends and family back in the DFW area, that will not be any different from what I have now with my cell phone. The startup cost on it was about $50.00, that paid for the unit, the shipping and the first year's service. I did pay a bit extra to get the expedited shipping, I normally don't do that, but it gave me a tracking number so I will know when it gets to my mail box, we don't check our mail box very often, it's a 12+ mile round trip to the mailbox, on twisty, winding, up and down rocky dirt roads. MJ is giving a 30 day free trial, they don't charge your credit card until about day 31, I'm not sure if that is from the date ordered or the date delivered, either way I should know within a day or so when it shows up in my mail box so I can start using it as soon as possible. When we were in town the other day, I picked up a cheap corded phone, we left all of our phones in Irving when we moved, we didn't figure we would need them out here, my how things can change... :)


The Garden

We have been working hard on the garden to get it ready to plant, I wish I could have planted before now, but we didn't have the fencing complete, and I can't run the risk that something would get in and tear things up.

We just got back in from working on the fencing for the last couple of hours, we were putting up the chicken wire over the top to keep the birds out. We got most of it covered, we have to go back and buy more chicken wire, bummer... oh well, that just means another trip into town, that's not such a bad thing...

Got pix of the garden, don't laugh, this is going to feed us soon! :)

Ok, I know this isn't the garden, but I snapped a few pix of Bob and the new bedroom extension on the way to the garden.




This is the garden area, we are completely enclosing it to protect the veggies from the roving critters who would love to eat what I plant. We used concrete reinforcement wire around the fence posts, we used chicken wire over the top, the red panels on each end came from a Best Buy where I used to work, they were going from red wire panels to putty colored ones, (it showed less dust) so they were going to throw these away, I rescued them from the trash compactor. Along the bottom of the concrete wire, we are using fine mesh hardware cloth.







It's hard to see, but there is a layer of straw inside the garden area where I am going to plant, that is the Ruth Stout method of gardening, her No Work Garden book is a real gem, I highly recommend it.




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4 Comments

the texan said...

I like your blog and your Mtn. home looks neat. How thick are you making the concrete walls?

April 22, 2008 12:48 PM

Wretha said...

Hi the texan,

The walls are between 7 and 12 inches thick. Thanks for leaving a comment, I appreciate each and every one! :)

Wretha

April 22, 2008 2:05 PM

HOLLIS said...

Wretha,
I saw the post about the auger. Something that might be a good care package from your family is the Garden Claw. I use it at my house. I works great. Just little tid bit, might help.

May 22, 2008 10:39 AM

Wretha said...

Hi Hollis, yeah, I remember the commercials for the Garden Claw, they always demonstrated it on dirt that looked as if it didn't need tilling (grin), I guess it wouldn't have sold very well if they showed it on hard, rocky clay! I'm glad to hear it works great for you, how is your soil?

My dad is coming out this summer and is bringing me something that works great, a Mantis tiller, it's light weight and easy to use.

Wretha

May 22, 2008 12:51 PM