A Glimpse of the Future

[NNMan]

Just a quick note regarding a recent experience:

I just returned from "road trip 2001" which took myself and family from Texas out to CA, the high
desert and the Grand Canyon during the course of three weeks.

The dilemma in planning this trip was, how to keep the web business running smoothly while out
on the road. (my second reports were also out during this period)

The answer came in the form of wireless Internet access. One example was the day I had my wife
drive through Tucson while I sat with my laptop, downloaded the BRIS data file, parsed, crunched
and computed the race sheets and then turned around and posted them to our website for the
subscribers to peruse. I had to wait to get to the Tucson metro area before my phone would pick
up a digital signal and begin acting as the modem for my laptop. Internet access speed? 19200 baud. Not great, but good enough to get the job done. I could have started CherryPickr and worked my
own action from the rolling highway, but I was after all on vacation and was happy enough to get
the sheets posted on time.

The future lies in wireless Internet. And come to think of it, wireless everything.
Make no mistake about it...

[Rick Ransom]

NNMan,

Any suggestions about what devices and services work the best and what to stay away from? I like to go camping a lot and wish I had something like that. Of course limited areas of coverage may make this infeasible.

[NNMan]

Rick,

I forgot to mention that we were pulling a camper trailer and camping as well. henece the need
for wireless.

I used a Motorola Timeport with a data connectivity kit ordered from the Internet. The phone
plugs into the laptop 9-pin serial port and then acts as the modem. Of course the limitation is
that you have to be in an area that has digital cell phone service. Analog won't work. But
digital service is spreading rapidly. Heck, even Ridgecrest, CA pop. ~29000 had digital. But
then again, Amarillo, TX did not. Go figure...

[Rick Ransom]

NNMan,

Thanks for the info. Technology is finally getting to be useful. I'm looking forward to moving way out away from civilization in about 10 years, but I want to stay connected. Fuel cells will probably be capable of providing my electricity by then, satellite dish for TV, and wireless internet service. It could be really comfortable in the middle of nowhere!

[Dave Schwartz]

Rick & NN,

I have this dream of sitting on my yacht (the one I don't own yet) in the Caribean playing the poies 6 hours per day from the deck.

Technology is the answer to that dream. (Along with an automated approach that works.) <G>


Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[Whitehos]

Rick,
I only hope that when you are ready to go to "the middle of nowhere" it will still exist.
I went there in N. Michigan 35 years ago. A 2 track road to get in. No power or inside plumbing..
I now have the NY Times delivered to the door, internet service, satellite TV and a neighbor. I could still exist without everything except the neighbor.....he keeps a supply of very good booz.
Whitehos

[Rick Ransom]

Whitehos,

The only solution is to get plenty of land around you and don't sell at any price. Don't get me wrong, I really do like people, just at the appropriate distance and when I want to see them. I think it's because I grew up in Southern California with all of the freeway gridlock and all.

When I worked as a computer programmer, I was never able to live in a small town because that's not where the jobs are. You young guys should think about this when you're choosing a career.

On the other hand, some people like the big city. My wife worked for DRF before they moved the main office to New York City. A lot of the people, including handicappers, wouldn't move and went on to other things. One that did move had their home burglarized and their car stolen both in the first year! Not my idea of fun.

[andicap]

Whitehos,
do you live in the U.P.? I've vacationed there a few times with a friend who's family has had 3 cabins near Newberry for 70 years.
It's gorgeous. They are two miles from Newberry with no neighbors and great blueberry pickings. They are on a lake and can drive to Lake Superior for excellent body surfing and star-watching (no lights, I couldn't believe how beautiful the sky was). And I saw the Northern Lights for the first and only time in my life.

[Dave Schwartz]

Rick,

Although we have sure wandered off topic, I rather like the direction of this thread.

I could not agree with you more. I was raised in South Florida, moved to Las Vegas in the '70s, Orange County, California in the early '80s, then Reno since '84.

Reno is a great place to live from the standpoint of all the big city problems: crime, congestion, long commutes, and gangs.

Don't get me wrong; it is not that we don't have those problems. We are just 10-15 years behind.

But the bad news is we are getting those problems at an ever-increasing rate.

Where to go next? Like Whitehos said to do, go buy yourself a piece of property with no neighbors and stay there. Of course we then miss our neighbors. Go figure.

Actually, my wife and I have considered relocating to the south simply because the cost of living can be significantly less there. One problem is that I don't tolerate bigotry or racism well. I'd open my big mouth to tell someone that and somebody would shoot me.

My yacht in the Carribean (the one I don't own yet?) is looking better and better.


Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[Lefty]

When I was very young I read a book titled Five Acres and Independence. Would that now be 20 Acres, a Cell
Phone, Laptop, and Independence?

[Whitehos]

Andicap,
I'm 90 miles S. of the Bridge but visit the Newberry area every year since a friend retired to Paradise(the name of the town) . They live on L. Superior and have no permanent neighbors for 40 miles on each side.
Dave
I left my northern home 2 weeks ago for down State Detroit Area). I did not lock my doors when I left.
I spent last winter in Alabama and found less bigotry than in the North.
Go figure
Whitehos

[Dave Schwartz]

Whitehos,

You need to go back and lock those doors. There are software developers short of cash that may have your address... Knowing that the doors are unlocked is just too much tempataion for us. <G>

Seriously, I know what you mean. I used to live in an area of Reno known as Virginia Foothills, about 6 miles south of where the main population area ends. You know, horse country and all that. I used to enjoy sleeping with the sliding door to the back yard open at night during the winter. (Let's you smell the manure from the stable. Ah, such a pleasant smell. <G>) Don't believe I'd want to do that in Los Angeles. (And not just because the smells are worse.) <G>


Regards,
Dave Schwartz


PS: Do you suppose you can get manure on a boat in the carribean?

[Tom]

I miss my neighbors, too, but I ordered a scope over the net ~G~

Serously, I live in upstate NY (Not the city side of the state) and you can be 20 minutes from a big city downtown stabbin' or a cow-milkin' any time you want.
We have a track (Finger Lakes) so thank God we have
YouBet, too, bad as it is, a still-shot from Penn is better than live action at the thumb anyday.

I have been to upper Michigan on business-drove up there a few times, Nice area, unlike the Detroit area.
Is Great Lakes Downs anywhere in that neck of the woods?

Used to love going to Detroit Race Course.
I'd like to go to GLD sometime.

Tom

[Whitehos]

Tom,
GLD is located in Muskegon, on L. Michigan. About the center of the lower penninsula. Its a 5/8 bull ring subsidized by Stonach.....Not worth the trip
Whitehos