I mentioned that my wireless card broke, so I was thinking that maybe it was time to break down and get a new laptop. I took a picture, so you can judge for yourselves. I should also point out the one thing you can’t see: the cd-rom drive doesn’t work.

Please note the many important features my laptop has, should you decide you want to buy it from me.

Dude! I got a Dell. Is it time for a new one?
[Click to embiggen]

There are many key elements to the laptop, such as the Quick2Start™ hand crank with comfort grip handle, the SpeedCool™ smokestack – Crucial for those exploding Dell batteries, but I don’t need to tell you that, and the broken hinge on the right. The smoke you see billowing from the smokestack indicates that it’s working correctly.

Don’t forget the power supply, the laptop won’t run longer than one of those rides you put a quarter in and it vibrates momentarily without a power supply. I don’t know if you can tell or not, but the power cord is taped into just the right position to keep the juice flowing.

**

It’s The Weekend Already? OTA Time

I wrote this Monday night, but when I went to post it, I found out my wireless network card was broken.

Well, here we are in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. I think only Fmragtops and Wild Bill know that I am here, unless you were listening to the Passionate America Show on Wide Awakes Radio on Saturday. Probably the best show ever! JINW and I called in, so if you were listening, you would have already heard some about the ups and downs of our vacation.

Anyhoo, I get ahead of myself here. We left Friday night at about 11:30 PM. Driving through Virginia was the worst part. There is NOTHING at all of visual interest, especially at night, and the road has a constantly changing speed limit. During the day you will notice all the roadside stands that sell, “ham, peanuts, fireworks, and tobacco.” Not quite as good as the Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms convenience store, but almost.

We finally arrived at 7:45 AM after 370 miles of driving. Did I mention that I was sick? Oh yeah, I went to the doc on Friday, and I was feeling pretty crappy all the while during the 8hr drive. So after an all nighter driving, I was just about at the end of my rope. I looked up the info on our hotel room, and it said check in was at 4 PM. There was no way I was going to last that long. In fact, as we sat there waiting to be seated for breakfast, I nearly fell asleep.

JINW called and found out that we could check in after breakfast. That was the ONLY good thing about the hotel we stayed at that night. It was disgusting. We stayed there under the impression that there was no wireless internet at the place we wanted to stay, and we just HAD to be able to tune in to the Passionate America show. JINW said so. The p;ace had a filthy bathroom, complete with some previous occupants pubes on the floor. Yay. Oh, did I mention the door didn’t close right? It didn’t. You had to slam the door to get it to close.

After getting our stuff in the room, I took a nap until about 4. We went out to dinner and then watched a beautiful sunset over the sound. I snapped some professional quality photos of the sunset, and then my camera proceeded to corrupt every single damn file already on the card. They didn’t get deleted though, because the memory space isn’t there. I forgot to bring a USB cable too, so I may need to buy one or something to clear off the card.

Later that night, it was time for Wild Bill’s show, and I found out that I couldn’t get a wireless signal in the room. After much frustration, I managed to get a signal if I placed the laptop on top of the refrigerator. It was a classic show. One for the archves, no doubt. We complained about the room and got $40 back when we checked out.

Sunday, we went up to Corolla, and climbed to the top of the lighthouse It was windy as hell. I estimated the wind to be 40 mph. Seriously, it was damn near enough to knock me over. It was scary, but beautiful. Then we went to the beach, hoping to see some wild horses, like we did last year. We drove a bit down the beach, and then gave up looking for the horses, but had a great time on the beach, looking for shells and flying a kite. The surf was really rough, and the water was cold, but the weather was perfect. We finally left around 6pm.

We ordered in at the room we’re staying the rest of the trip, BTW, no sweat internet connection and clean roooms. We should have stayed there the whole vacation like I suggested, but no, Fitch is always right, but Jan is never wrong, so we stayed at a dump the first night, that barely had a signal. Seriously, I’ve seen places that rent by the hour that were nicer than that first dump.

Today, we went on the dolphin watching boat, it was mostly uneventful until the deal was extended another hour, then we found several pods of very playful dolphins, that were junping, flipping, and mating. Oh yeah, that was awesome! It was the best dolphin boat ride we’d ever been on.

After that, we went for dinner at my favorite place, the Weeping Radish, brewery and restaurant. I had the Knockwurst with a soft pretzel and german potato salsad. They call it the sausage duo, because there are 2 sausages. I had a number of their various beers, and that brings us to now. I’m sitting outside the Gap outlet, while the women do some shopping. I already got what I want, a case of Weeping Radish beer, and some time to catch up on the posting.

Crap! I fear that my wireless card is broken. My laptop isn’t registering the program. Even if it was simply that no connection was available here, it would tell me that, instead there’s not even an icon, and when I tried to run the program it told me there were no adapters connected. Dammit. I guess I’m not posting until I get home.

So there you have it. My first three days, and all it’s ups and downs. Tomorrow we’re going to the Elizabeth II and First settlement, and whatever else. Hopefully I’ll get the network card working or replaced by then. If not, this will still be posted, but probably along with additional material to reflect more of our vacation.

Dammit! Hugo Chavez is out there calling Prsident Bush the Devil. For crying out loud, can’t anybody keep a freakin’ secret anymore? You do know what a secret is right? Someone tells you something in confidence, and you don’t let anyone know about it.

Of course Bush is the Devil. That’s why all us Right Wing Fascist Rethuglican Neocon Chickenhawk types love him. We’re not supposed to tell anyone though.

That’s it, I’m so angry that Chavez can’t keep a damn secret, I think we should follow the Man‘s lead. (H/t Captain’s Quarters)