We’ve fallen into a very annoying “boom/bust” cycle with our Internet usage. We’re allowed 2 GB of downloads in a rolling 7-day period. If we exceed that, we’re cut back to dial up speed until we fall below 1.5 GB. With three computer users in the house, and occasional use by our nearest neighbors, we always ride close to the limit, and have gone over a couple of times lately. When we go over, we stop using it during the day until we drop to safe levels. But, once we do, we “spike” it on the recovery day, meaning that we have to stop again until that spike day passes. It’s become a cycle that’s hard to break.
That’s why I’ve been getting up in the middle of the night to do computer work. The provider offers a monitor-free period between midnight and 6:00 am every day. I usually get up at night to go to the bathroom, then sit and work for a couple of hours before going back to bed.
This means I was up this morning at 3:30 to see that it had snowed. Continue reading