We saddle up and head for Destin tomorrow for a week in the sun with friends and family. (Thanks to Vince and Mike with the JCPD SWAT Team for sitting with the dogs.) Not sure what the wifi situation will be at Amberjack Landing but it won’t hurt me (much) to be off the grid for a few days. I plan to spend some of the time dancing the with Mac Book.
Category Archives: Travel
Mac on the road
I can’t remember who made the first “portable” computer I owned but the bastard must have weighed 15 pounds. Connecting to the web wasn’t an issue in those days because it didn’t exist (in any way that mattered to me). I can’t even remember what I did with the laptop on the road.
This is my first outing with a Mac and I couldn’t be happier. The hotel charged me $10 a day for cable access but I just plugged it in and was up and running. Wifi was very slow at the conference but the Mac found the signal with no fiddling or port futzing.
I’m posting this from the Seattle airport where $8 buys 24 hours of really fast net access. Nobody needs 24 hours but what a great way to pass the time (or do bidness). And, again, so easy. This is the way mobile computing was meant to be.
Gnomedex 2006
Five days. 120 hours. And then I’m on vacation. Sort of. On Wednesday Roger Gardner and I head for Seattle and three days (for me…RG will probably get geek toxic after a day or so) of Gnomedex. I’ll get back just in time for the long 4th of July weekend. I’ll rest up a few days after that and then it’s off to Destin with the lovely Barb where we gather with her clan for a week. While I won’t be completely off the grid, I will be away from the office and I’m really looking forward to it.
Hope to see my pal Jim Mathies, who lives in Destin. Search for some open wi-fi. And try to get better acquainted with the Mac Book. I feel like the guy that’s due to be released from prison in three or four days and is afraid to leave his cell for fear of getting shanked so close to freedom.
The Notorious J.E.F. (Jeff McVey)
Jeff McVey is the son of long-time friends Terry and Nancy McVey. Like many young men his age, Jeff has kicked around and tried a few things. His latest is studying martial arts in China. From his MySpace page:
Deborah and I got into China on May 12. … We’ve found our new home at a martial arts academy in a remote mountain village. I’m pretty sure it used to be some sort of industrial complex, and to call our accomidations meager would be a huge understatement. However, we do have a place to live and good food to eat. We live here with about a dozen other students from all over the world. There are people from America, England, Germany, Indonesia, Scotland, New Zealand, and other countries (I haven’t quite met everyone). Fortunately, all the students I have met speak English, which makes a nice little oasis in a land where I can’t comunicate with anyone. So, we’ve been treated quite well, and we start our training tomorrow. Everything seems a little daunting right now, but at the same time more than a little exciting.
His mom says this is something he has always wanted to do…and he’s doing it. Now, the person I want to meet is his wife, Deborah.
Jeff: “You know, I’ve always wanted to study martial arts in a remote mountain village in China. Whadya say?”
Deborah: “Cool. I’ll go pack.”