Picking Up Speed

This week we got our high speed internet upgraded.  For many years we have had the high speed basic at 1.5Mb/sec, and we got it upgraded to 10Mb/sec.  The speed test showed we have 10.3 Mb/sec download and 850 kb/sec upload (advertised as 800 kb/sec.)     These data rate units are kilobits per second and megabits per second.  A byte is 8 bits, but to get the effective download speed for a given file size it is easier to estimate by dividing by ten.   For example on the upgraded internet a 60 MB file downloads in about a minute.    

One of the noticeable differences has been with my iPad.  I have National Geographic and Popular Science subscriptions which are huge downloads.  June issue of NG was 259 MB and PS was 517 MB.  With our basic internet the National Geographic download would come to a standstill and timeout on an error.  After the upgrade it down loaded in about 6 minutes.    

We are also looking forward to trying out the faster internet with Skype.  We were getting a faster internet service and better connection on Skype on my iPad using Elaine's iPhone as a hotspot on 3G at Waskesiu, than on our basic internet at home.  

We have come a long way since our first dial up modem at 300 baud (comparable to bits per second.)   It took  about 5 minutes to fill one screen of text.  We then moved up to 2400 bits/sec and then to 56k bits/sec before finally going to the basic high speed.  We must have had more patience in those days. 

High Tech Breathing

I have been using a respiratory ventilator at night for over 5 years since I was in hospital in 2007.   I had respiratory failure from high CO2 buildup in my blood.  I have had several blog posts about this, and have been using the same model of ventilator at home each night since I was in the hospital.  

For the last 5 years I have used a Phillips Respironics PLV-100  ventilator set for respiratory volume assist/control.   This ventilator model is out of date and no longer supported by the manufacturer.  It is a simple and reliable machine, sometimes with a few clunks, honks and rattles, but it just keeps puffing along.   The family says I sound like a steam engine.  It is a pretty rugged machine and I told the respiratory therapist it looks like it was designed to mount in the back of an army truck.

Then earlier this year we got the news that the provincial health department  had approved the purchase of new ventilators.  Mine came yesterday and the respiratory therapist was here to get me going using it.

 The new machine is a Covidien Puritan Bennett 560  ventilator which is the latest technology.   I used it for the first time last night.  I woke up after sleeping one hour and then had some trouble getting used to the new machine before sleeping and waking several more times.  After being used to the feel and sound of the old machine it takes some getting used to sleeping with the new one. 

The old ventilator we called a "steam engine" with the sound of a large piston  cycling back and forth with each breath.  The new machine has  a variable speed micro turbine that has a varying higher pitched whirring  sound with each breath.  The feel of the breathing cycle is different as well.  Hopefully tonight will be better as I get used to it.

One big advantage of the new ventilator  is that it is much lighter to take with us when we travel.  It just has a zippered soft  case with a shoulder strap for carrying.  The old one had a large heavy steel framed shipping case.  Not having to take the old heavy ventilator in and out when we travel will make Elaine very happy.  We will get to try out the new ventilator when we go away for the upcoming long weekend.