Free WiFi or longer WiFi reach with a cantenna

wifi cantenna and diish

Cantennas that are built efficiently will give much greater distance or stronger signals. Basically, they are made from a can and a WiFi stick and best mounted on something like a tripod or mast. I have found that the 40 oz. soup or stew can is best for me. Using a dremmel tool with a small cut off wheel I cut a rectangle hole for the USB plug on stick into the can about an inch from the bottom of the can. The bottom of the can is the back of the cantenna and the open end is the direction of the WiFi source. In the middle of the can is good place to drill and mount a camera tripod base for it.  For outdoor use you may want to cover the open end with plastic and use silicone sealant around USB attachment. Also by using a parabolic dish with the cantenna, some have reported  miles of distance gained! To do this you will have to mount the can on the dish in the same relationship as the dish head was mounted. This is great for those hard to reach places in coffee shops or RV parks!

Mechanic charges

Now I know many of you DIY (Do It Yourself) repairs on vehicles like I normally do, but when traveling, I do not like to carry heavy tools. So, when I took a 6 hour drive to the big city I had a reminder of the importance of how they charge. To estimate, they use a book rate to determine the labor cost. But the dirty trick is to charge you for each labor that overlaps the same labor for another job. When my water pump went out they were going to charge me for the book rate on the water pump replacement, belts replacement, thermostat replacement, and hoses replacement. When I caught this I explained to the manager that the car was not even in the shop for the total labor time on the estimate as well as that the time in replacing the water pump included time to replace belts, and shroud over the hoses. After, bringing this up, the manager took off the extra labor charges and took 10% off the bill which reduced the bill by $300!

Soda savings

Believe it or not…this was suggested by a restaurant owner that my partner and I share a refillable (bottomless) soda pop rather than buy 2 sodas. We still both drink as much as we like. For the more squeamish (or heavy lipstick), with a pocket knife cut another X in the lid for a second straw if you like. Restaurants pay very little for commercial pop machine beverages and charge a very large mark up that would seem like gouging. Of course this may not be for everyone. One could use some of the change you save to tip bigger?

DSCN0110