When we arrived at our remote rural property in 1992, technology was never a consideration. For anything.
All we had were landlines. And faxes.
The internet was something obscure that Don Burke talked about on Burke’s Backyard. “If you want more information, go to https:\\ ”
In 1992, there were restrictions regarding landlines. We were only allowed two lines into the property. One we dedicated to our phone. The other to our fax. Those were the days when Telstra paid most of the cost to get the lines into your home. Our cost? $250. All up.
When the internet arrived in our village on 1st February 2001, we were on dialup.
Then switched to satellite when that became available. But satellite is line of sight. And we’re actually under the signal. Complicated further by the fact that we’re surrounded by tight hills.
And.
We planted 110 trees around our house in our hectare of garden. To protect us from the unrelenting summer sun and heat.
Those trees seriously affect our being able to attract a satellite signal.
It took the Telstra technician 5 hours to point the satellite dish in a direction that caught the signal. Which did drop in. And out.
Then Telstra introduced their Network Gateway system. Which was brilliant. It was stable. As fast as ADSL. I could use Skype. Watch videos.
A business friend and I used SKYPE to create podcasts. Which we did the first Friday of every month. For two years.
Telstra then closed that network down in 2014. And moved us over to their less than adequate Rural Mobile Broadband network.
Everyone who uses a mobile phone knows how difficult it can be to pick up a signal. And, if the signal is there, how congested the traffic becomes when kids come home from school and fire up all their devices at once. So the signal strength dissipates the further away you are from the tower.
We’re the furthest.
We put a Yagi antennae on our house to pick up a signal. And Telstra again spent a few hours pointing the antennae in the right direction.
We’ve spoken to the NBN. And we’re in the 3% of households who are unlikely to be able to utilise the NBN. Out here it will be satellite. Which isn’t available yet. But looking at their maps, they don’t think we’ll be able to catch a signal. Because we’re too far under it.
Today, I won’t trade my established rural lifestyle for a better internet connection.
But today. 24 years later. If I was starting anew. I would certainly place a good internet connection close to the top of the list of must have’s.
It’s now up to Telstra to decide if we’re worth putting in more repeater towers. My guess is we’re not financially viable.
I specifically am at my desk at 3:30am. Every day. Because that’s the best signal strength. It starts to wane by about 8am.
I need to answer emails about my product range – The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover And Other Goodies – promptly. And within 24 hours. As well as download online orders that have arrived overnight.
Because on a bad day, like today, it can take 5 minutes to load up the bank.
I’ve learned to live with the frustration of not being well connected. But would prefer not to.
On the other hand, I love my 54 hectare rural property in the picturesque Central Tablelands of NSW.
And totally love the elegant rural lifestyle me and my partner, Victor Pleshev, the architect who designed the Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover for his mother to help her with her ironing, have carved out for ourselves.
So I’m not motivated to make a change.
Frustration is the price I pay for being able to live my life long dream of living – and working – from a big country property.
And as a friend recently told me, “that dream is worth a lot”.
Your thoughts? Email me at the bottom of this post.
~Carol Jones, Ironing Diva❤
PS. This Ironing Diva loves leading an elegant life in the bush. Regardless of the consequences.
PPS. I am not only an Ironing Diva. But as one friend says, I am ‘The Queen’ when it comes to ironing.
I Am The Purveyor Of The Tantrum Free Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover And Other Goodies
Made with love and care in RURAL Australia by men and women who have a disability.
It’s not for everyone.
But it’s definitely for you if you’re fussy about the cover you iron on.
And if you love to support Australian made.
And want to put something back into the community when you make a purchase.
The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover cover has more than 350,000 customers in 29 countries. Because it lives up to its name. It ‘Fitz Like A Glove™’ every time you iron.
And these are the ‘Other Goodies’
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Have a question? Email me at the bottom of this post.
Or phone me, Carol Jones, in rural Australia on 02 63 588 511.
Photos of my rural property are courtesy of me, Ironing Diva – who is also known as Paddock Paparazzi – and taken at sunrise every morning.
A Female Wren. In Silhouette. At Daybreak. On The Sheep Holding Pens.
PS. And I have a fabulous newsletter ‘A Smidgen Of Gossip’. This is what a subscriber says about it. “Carol. Just had some time to read it and found that it is, as with everything you do, rather wonderful. A great read. W” You can subscribe to it by clicking this link. It’s FREE! This is not a lifetime commitment. You can Unsubscribe at any time. Don’t miss out. Click this link now!
A Female Rufous Whistler. Shimmers In The Morning Sunshine.
