bcast05212015Doing their thing Chug a lug chug a lug

Everyone in the yellow house has their own way of doing things. We all are adjusting to sharing this abode with others who do things differently.

So far, things are going fine.

Jimmy (the Lardlord). needs to get the building permit to start the porch work. He is planning to have the contractor start working on it next week.

Who is the idiot who came up witht he idea that one can live in a rental without paying rent? I never heard of such baloney. Even if you pay rent via doing chores, you still pay rent in the form of labor.

We are going to try to get an "Ask US Anything" for next Friday. Please have your questions set to us by Thiursday at 11PM Eastern. You can send your questions via several means
Email to Michele:   bichela3@gmail.com
Email to Lumi         lumifinistra@gmail.com
Google Plus
+Michele Marie Dalene
+Lumi Finistra

U.S Mail (m,ail them early to meet the deadline:
Ask Us Anything
C/O Michele Marie Dalene
112 Main St. Apt 9
Winsted, Ct 06098
U.S,.A

bcast05132015Our Merlin II phone system

This is a combo vlog/demo. The beginning was my daily vlog that I decided to merge into the demo which is the second part.

The Video demostrates my AT&T Merlin II telephone system. The Merlin II is the predessor to the Merlin Legend. Both use the same backplane and some of teh cards are the same for both. However, the Consoles are VERY different. the Legend uses the MLX-20L. whewreas the MerlinII uses the 7318H Display console. This is a very hard/expensive console to find.The ones I often find lack the Power adaptor. But, if you can solder a 5 pin DIN plug... You can get one for a good price on Ebay.

This is a very capable system and while it is NOT Merlin Legend with R7 firmware..it meets most people's needs. It can also be interfaced with Asterisk for voice mail/Auto Attendant. (nothing wrong the the merlin options other than they are OLD school. Many of the Auto Attendent versions (the R-001s are missing power adaptors and the Merlin Mail MM04 box is from 1996 with a smaller, (possibly Scsi-2 HD on a 386 backplane.  Whereas I want to customize the system to my specs.

It can support T1/E1/D1 interface (could be wrong though) and does support TIE Lines with classes 1,2,5 of E&M (analog) useing the 400 E&M board. (I don't have a use for that module, at this time).

a Key 1A2 system can be setup as a behind switch config on this system. a 1A2 415 TIE card could be connected to the E&M tie modules if desired.

The manuals are easily downloaded from the internet, for free. You can get an older system, like mine for $300 but it will need a little TLC. such as, replacing the old NiCad cells in processor module, otherwise, you will possibly lose your settings during power failures.

You can also configure using a PC with the Merlin II software and the appropiate Serial cable and Windows XP. (I only use Mac's so I use the console to configure my system.

Don't forget "Ask us Anything Friday" is this... Friday. You NEED to get your questions in by Thursday at 11PM Eastern Time to have them answered on Friday.

bcast05112015What am I up to, Telephone gear.

TBH.... Not of a hell of a lot ;) It has been to warm to do much lately. But... I got some projects simmering on warm.

I used to work on !a2 Telephone equipment. and I am thinking of buying some gear and interface 1A2 Key with my AT&T Merlin II PBX. (why not? I got plenty of Extension ports ;)

I also am considering using Asterisk to create my own custom Auto Attendant and Voice Mail system. with support to interface VOIP phones into the system. That is. the VOIP phone will be capable to directly call into the merlin and the Merlin can call the VOIP phone via a standard extension number. a LinkSys SPA-3102 with hotline mode would be faster/Easier than Asterisk but it also is very limiting.

Besides that, my eyes are doing good. In fact. thanks to my eyes improving, I can get back to doing the thinks I enjoy.

bcast05082015Ask us anything

This was our very first "Ask Us Anything" We thank you for participating and hope to have another one next week.

Don't forget to get your questions in by Thursday at 11PM eastern time.

bcast05052015Even I make mistakes too

I bought my corset and guess what? I orded on e that was WAYYYY to small! I will be giving it away as it is far too expensive to ship it back to the seller.

You got questions? We got your answers! This is a reintroduction for "Ask us Anything Fridays!"

Please watch the video for the rules and how you can ask your questions.

I also briefly talk about Fame and Rusty and how I raised my kitties.

ask us anything

You got questions? We got your answers! This is a reintroduction for "Ask us Anything Fridays!"

Please watch the video for the rules and how you can ask your questions.

bcast05012015Happy anniversary Michele and Lumi

On Beltane (May 1st) was our 5, or 6 year anniversary. There is some uncertainty if we joined in 2010 or 2011.

Dory Miville Joined us in this broadcast a little later. This is an informal video and kind of long. We have tried to save the fun while shortening it down for our viewers.