Hopefully back on line

(Posted on all my major blogs)

Yesterday, after some 33 days of being without my internet connection, I was put back on line. Several errors were found at the connections outside our premises and also in the Gateway.

The first thing I did after getting back my connection was test my speed. I pay for a 8 M line, but I was shocked to find my upload and download speeds were less than 500 kbps.

Additionally, I have a fixed IP and I found that the IP that I was using was not mine.

Thirdly, all my computers are connected to the internet through a Router. i found that if I went on to connect my router, I lost the internet connection.

Lastly, during the last 7 years I have used DHCP to connect to the internet. I have not used PPPoE. I found that I was unable to connect using DHCP and my own Fixed IP but only through the PPPoE which was assigning me the random IP.

All these problems has made life continue to be difficult as I am using just a single computer to connect to the internet.

I have a backload of about 6 weeks of work. With this situation I will only be able to catch up by the end of April.

I have lodged my complaint with my ISP .- and hopefully I will get some action by the end of this week.

Please bear with me till I get back into full swing.

Seedless Indian Grapes

Seedless Indian Thomson Green Grapes are € 1.99 for a half kg container at PRISMA. Make sure that you do not see any over-ripe grapes in the plastic container. You can get cheaper Chilean Green Grapes at a couple of other shops at € 1.69 for half a kg.

PRISMA also has oranges at € 0.89 per kg. You should choose your oranges carefully, making sure they are firm and not squashy or squashed. I picked up about 4 kg yesterday, but I had to choose each orange carefully.

Halpa Halli in Toppila has small Ingman Yoghurt tubs at € 0.18 per tub, but you are limited to buying 10 tubs per person. Normal price for this is € 0.29 per tub, so this offer is well worthwhile. You can also pick up the Turkey Metrilenkki sausages at € 2.25 per packet (€ 2.39 at PRISMA) and there is new small broiler frankfurter type sausage (8 per pack) at € 1.55 per 400 gm. The same type of turkey frankfurters are € 1.75 per 400 gm pack in PRISMA. The VIP Orange Juice at Halpa Halli is € 0.59 per litre, about 20 cents cheaper than most other so.

The Valio Mango Juice at Tokmanni is still € 1.99 per litre, about 6 cents cheaper than at PRISMA and 26 cents cheaper than at Citymarket. But I noted that the Tokmanni at Kaijonharju (near the University) is not stocking this product, but it is only available at their Jukkolankuja in south Oulu. I usually buy the entire stock on display when I visit the shop in the morning, so do not be surprised if you do not see any on their shelves.

The finest quality Dehra Dun Basmati Rice that I am offering is till the best and cheapest on the market - at € 1.90 per kg delivered at your home. The smallest size bag is 4.5 kg. You have to email me your requirement along with your address. Deliveries are either on Friday evening or Saturday mornings.

Tomatoes, Green Grapes, Mango Juice,....

There are some good offers this weekend.

Tokmanni which has shops in Kaijonharju (Sammonkatu 5, 90570 Oul) near the University and also in South Oulu (Jukolankuja 3, 90420 Oulu), on the route to the Airport has these special offers:

Moroccan tomatoes: € 0.99 per kg
South African Green Grapes: € 2.49 per kg
Mango Juice: € 1.99 per kg

PRISMA (shops in Oulu at Linnanmaa, Raksila and Limingantulli) has these good offers this weekend:

Bananas: € 0.99 per kg
Oranges: € 0.99 per kg
Mandarins: € 1.29 per kg

Those of you are fans of Turkey Metre sausages (called in Finnish as Kalkuna Metrilenkki) should go to Halpa Halli in Toppila (Paakakatu 2, 90520 OULU) where it is € 2.25 per packet compared with € 2.35 in Prisma and higher in Citymarket. Also you can get 7 small flavoured yoghurt tubs for € 2.00, considerably cheaper than from other supermarkets. Although a kilo of cashewnuts is labelled at € 8.90 per kg, unfortunately it has been out of stock for almost two weeks.

There are great second hand furniture offers from some Indians who are shortly leaving Oulu. Beds, mattresses, leather sofas, tables both side and dining, and many more items. For details call 041 - 706 7788. Free delivery will be organised within Oulu but you have to provide the labour at both ends.

Even cheaper than in India

During the past 23 years of our stay in Finland, Annikki and I have used the opportunity, whenever we visited India, to get our specs made there. This was because a visit to an optician in Finland was really expensive.



This was one of the several reasons cited in our book, "Handbook for Survival in Finland", to make frequent holiday visits to Third World countries!

Not having visited India for the last 8 years, both our eyesights have been failing. We had our eyes tested a couple of times, but neither of us felt the need to get new specs.

However, last year, my eyes started giving trouble. A visit to the optician suggested possible development of cataract in one eye. So I was referred to the Oulu University Research Hospital for a complete eye check up.

I finally went through this last month. The specialist cleared me of any cataract but said that I had severe myopia which suggested that instead of the multifocal lenses I had been using, I should use separate reading glasses and an other for normal vision.

In Finland, multifocal lenses cost over € 200, while single focal lenses are considerably cheaper. I had paid Rs 12000 for my multifocals in India in 1999, so even there the specs were not cheap.

A few issues ago, on the Oulu Best Buy Blog, I had covered the new guys in town, Specsavers. So I thought I would give them a try as these specs were going to be a test as to whether I could revert away from multifocals.



What a shock I got!

I was offered two pairs for just € 18, one for reading and another for normal vision. In Rupee terms this works out as less than Rs. 1200, including the frames!

This was cheaper than I had ever paid for my specs in India during the last 40 years.

I now intend to get another 4 pairs of reading glasses - one for the bedroom, another for the living room, another for the kitchen and the fourth for my office in the cellar. The fifth pair will remain in my pocket for general use when out of the home. maybe I will also get another pair of normal vision specs to keep in the car!

Thank you Specsavers for arriving in Oulu!