Introducing new local blog family members and what’s up with all the blog spamming?

It’s been a while since I talked about local blogs. I haven’t mentioned that there are some new bloggers in town I’ve been reading and have added to my blog family… so let’s take a moment and meet the new bloggers in town.

Local celebrity musician Cesareo Garasa of bands Karmahitlist, Rocky Nash and Mento Buru has started his own blog. He reflects about the music scene from within its very core giving us outsiders a rare musician’s perspective. He states as his reasons for putting written words to his voice:

“I’ve been keeping up with a lot of the bloggers here in Bakersfield and I’ve been entertained by stories, perspectives, rants and ruminations. But I felt compelled to start my own blog for the sole reason that after reading about myself and the rest of my local music scene (that I’ve cherished and respected since the late eighties) I have never given myself the chance to really reflect and respond to the synchronicity of the twists and turns in my career and experiences that have led me to this keyboard and these words that you’re reading.”

Cesareo has a lot of interesting things to say and unique perspectives to enlighten us with.

Heath Dobbler and Rob Shock both former members of the 3 Cent Nickle band rant and rave about music, video games, politics, band break ups, music shows, getting in trouble with the law, and occasionally find themselves debating with each other. It’s exciting to read their perspectives on our local music scene. I recently told them at a meeting of bloggers that they should be the Siskel and Ebert of the music scene as I find their debates extremely funny and entertaining. Still friends these ex-band mates debate like divorced spouses. Check in to see what they’re ranting about these days.

Local artist and curator of the Empty Space, Julia Heatherwick, has cornered the art world with her blog. She keeps us abreast of the goings on in the local and global art scene and occasionally throws in a few other topics for our enjoyment. Her latest blog unveils a controversial sculpture of a naked pregnant disabled woman that is causing quite the stir. Julia is a fabulous lady that has a lot to say about the art scene, check her out when you get the chance.

Miss Light has joined the ranks of local music scene bloggers sharing her adventures of her rock and roll lifestyle as she follows around her favorite rock stars/bands. She’s a very funny writer that gets herself into some sticky situations including being banned from Jerry’s pizza once upon a time. Check out her groupie antics on her blog.

Although not new to blogging… local New Leaves in March blog is a favorite daily read of mine. She takes interesting and striking photos and has a unique perspective on Bakersfield, music and the world. According to her latest blogs we are about to lose her to Houston Texas for as she says: “In the oil industry all roads lead to Houston.” Take a look at what’s going on in her world.

Local Bakersfield entertainment writer Danielle Belton writes about music, fashion, the fake famous and anything that annoys her on her blog.

Mexican on a Diet is one local man’s struggle to lose weight in a house constantly filled with good Mexican food. If he can survive the aromas emanating from his family’s kitchen he’ll win the battle. Check in to see his progress and offer your encouragement.

Former Bakersfieldian Skinny Girl Fat Girl now lives in Chicago and reminisces about Bakersfield days and rants about food and dieting with unrivaled sarcastic wit. I can’t decide if I want to hug her to death or beat her up every time she eats something. Check her blog out you’ll love what she has to say.

Of course my local blog family would not be complete without my daily blog staples: Local author NL Belardes gives us the skinny on all music, art and literary gossip and shows; JR gives everyone the Ill News and event goings on in the local music scene, Enrique Fuentes Queen of the Downtown Fur gives us her fashionable parodies on local music and the theater scene, Baketown gives us her take on all the goings on around Bakersfield, $200 Car the humorous story of a car that cost $200 bucks and any ole thing he wants to rant about, and Flower in the Dale writes about her struggles as a single mom living in Oildale although I hope she’s doing ok for she hasn’t updated her blog in a while.

I’d like to give a special mention to a NON-Bakersfield blog family member. MER of Chicago has a unique perspective on life; he touches my heart with his words. Sometimes I feel he sees exactly what I can’t.

I hope you all enjoy reading these writers as I do…

And now I must ask: WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH ALL THE BLOG SPAMMING GOING ON??? Every one of these new bloggers are suffering from blog spamming in their comment sections. It’s absolutely ridiculous!! They all say something like: “hey what a great blog check out this link blah blah blah.” I bet some computer somewhere in cyberspace is set to automatically post a blog spamming comment every time someone updates his or her blog. It’s like computerized telemarketing. No one wants to deal with telemarketers on the phone and they certainly don’t want to spend all the thought, creative energy and time they put into writing a blog just to have it spammed by computerized telemarketers. All this blog spamming I’ve been seeing lately makes me glad that I turned my comments off months ago for personal reasons. Now when I receive comments through email they are directed towards what I’ve written in my blog and usually the commenter has put some thought into what they are saying. What I want to know is how do bloggers get off the blog spamming list?? Does blogger.com have a way to block all blog spamming comments?? Blog spamming is UNCOOL, UNWANTED and UNSOLICITED and every time I see a blog spamming comment on a blog I’m reading I want to ruin their websites the same way they are ruining the bloggers sites. These blog spammers make me want to do evil things…

A door’s eye view of the Hurricane Katrina Benefit show

“Heelllooo.” I said sleepily into the phone Sunday morning.

“Hi Girly!” My ex-mother-in-law’s sweet voice sang in my ears.

After two weeks of trying to reach her by phone, she finally got through to let me know that they were ok. I had written her an email asking her to call me. She was driving from Texas back to their home in Gulfport Mississippi-- what was left of their home anyway. My ex-father-in-law had gone ahead to Gulfport the week before to survey the damage. They lost their home, and everything in it. They lost their business and one of their dogs that had run off just before they evacuated. I didn’t know what to say. I just listened.

“There’s so much devastation, so much more than what you see on TV.” She explained.

“The gulf coast is now 5 miles inland from where it used to be.” She continued.

She talked about how they had found a house north of Gulfport to move in to. She talked about how they had escaped Hurricane Katrina in Houston, gas price gouging, and mandatory tetanus shots due to disease and bacteria and toxic contaminated water in New Orleans and on the gulf coast. She told how my ex-father-in-law had bought 60 cases of water for the people in Bay St. Louis who didn’t have any drinking water. She talked about starting over. How they would manage better than others because my ex-father-in-law is a chemical engineer and they had the right kind of insurance. She had a remarkably good attitude considering they had lost everything. We talked for over an hour. We talked as if we had never stopped talking… that’s just the way it is between soul sisters.

We hung up the phone and I got ready to go work at the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Show that the local music scene, artists, promoters, businesses and writers were putting on at the Dome to raise money for the Red Cross and the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. How ironic that she called today…I thought.

Kids were already milling about outside when I arrived at the Dome. Baketown was manning the box office and I quickly took up my post at the door. We were ready for the day’s crowd. She and I were helping out by working the door-- selling tickets all day. My job was tearing ticket stubs, stamping hands and verifying people had stamps as they came in and out. Basically, I was the stamp police. I got to say who could come in and out and who couldn’t. And yet I wielded my power fairly for we were all here to raise money for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina and to have a good time listening to music.

From my post at the door I watched as SUV after SUV and mini van after mini van (and a few other kinds of cars) pulled up and dropped kids off for a day of music. I had never seen so many kids at a music event in this town. There were punk kids, skater kids, gothic-punk kids (a new breed perhaps), band kids, and regular kids who just loved music, and some that were there to just hang out. I was amazed at the amount of kids (High school age) that had tattoos and face piercings. I’m used to seeing multi-colored dyed hair and punk clothes. It’s nothing anymore to see a blue or purple Mohawk or a girl with fuchsia pink hair, but tattoos and face piercings? Has the world changed so much since I was a kid? My parents would have killed me if I had gotten a tattoo or face piercings at that age. Heck, I didn’t even get my own tattoo until I was 35. I guess I was a late bloomer or maybe… I had just finally come into my own.

The kids had all come out to see the bands. And there were a lot of bands singing their hearts out to raise money for the Hurricane Katrina survivors. The day started with youthful punks: Destination Unknown, who gave a surprising performance. Followed by: Vanity Avenue, This Plain Morning and Exithead. Exithead debuted their hockey song Time to Fight being featured on the local music hockey compilation cd currently in the works. Next up were two local hard-core bands: Give Impulse and My Dysfunctional Me. The kids showed their hard core spirit in slam dancing mosh pits.

Exotic belly dancers in brightly colored exotic costumes bombarded me at the door. They were there to perform in between band sets but they didn't know where they were supposed to go. I found Matt Munoz and got them taken care of. From my post at the door, I watched them shake their hips in ways I didn't think possible as kids stood watching awestruck. Where else but the Hurricane Katrina Benefit show could they see screamo bands and belly dancers at the same event? They were obviously in heaven...

Hard-core was followed by a breath of fresh air as MotherFunk Conspiracy and the Dusk Devils performed. This was the first time I had heard the Dusk Devils and I really enjoyed their music. I would say they were the stand out band of the day. The punk kids didn’t know how to respond to the Dusk Devils, slam dancing doesn’t really go with their brand of country/rock.

“Just jump up and down.” Jenny instructed the kids from the stage.

Rocky Nash with her new purple hair and her power rock band were up next and gave a great performance. Later she and I discussed the nuances of their sound while blotting lipstick in the bathroom. Recently signed Stereotactic gave a rocking performance that was praised by Benefit show organizers: Matt Munoz, JR and NL Belardes.

Baketown and I got a little break from our door duties in time to watch the Filthies set up close and personal. The Filthies managed to pump up the crowd and get them all excited about their rural rock punk songs. Mento Buru followed the Filthies. Ska king Matt Munoz and his ensemble Latin Ska band turned in yet another feel-good performance that had everyone dancing.

Back on door duty-- I watched as SevenDust signed glossy 8 x 10 photos for kids that had lined up in the lobby, while the Filthies and Stereotactic stood by their merchandise tables longing to reach that illusive level.

Hard-core band Relapse Trigger filled in for Karmahitlist who had to cancel because Punk-Rock-God Seantastic had broken his ankle a few days before the show. Karmahitlist was missed by many kids who inquired at the door if they would be performing, and by me.

The final two bands of the day: American Standard and Throatshot gave hard rocking performances that the kids loved and slam danced too.

My day at the door, while long and tiring, wasn't all that bad. I got to see so many different kinds of people, and fashion imaginable. Was able to hear all of the bands. Got up close and personal with belly dancers. Received hugs from my favorite local rock stars and was respected by all the kids as I enforced the events rules. Baketown and I chatted it up in between ticket sales. NL, JR and Matt Munoz checked on us regularly and brought us food and water. All in all everything went pretty smoothly at the door with only one incident where a patron felt the $10 donation entry fee should be optional not mandatory and one incident very late in the day that involved an over agressive slam-dancer being escorted out by security. Although I've donated what I can, I don't have a ton of money that I can donate to the Hurricane relief efforts so it felt good to spend the day working for all those who really need our help.

The Hurricane Katrina Benefit show was a great success! Bakersfield youth came out in droves and there was quite a good response from the media. Three news stations, the Bakersfield Californian and KRAB radio all came out to report on the day. At the end of the day we raised over $3,000 in donations from local music fans. Everyone involved, workers, bands and those who attended should all be proud of what we acomplished.

I’m just glad I could do my part for my once family and for the people of that grand old city New Orleans and the beautiful gulf coast of my memories.

Punk Art at the not so empty Empty Space

Saturday evening I went down to the Empty Space to see Los Angeles artist and musician Michael Biagiotti’s art exhibit: I Got the Shakes and his band Drowse. His urban punk rock attitude influenced oil paintings were bold, colorful, abstract, and beautiful. I wanted one. But art wasn’t in my budget this month. I did get to buy a smaller print version of my favorite piece Radiate Love and took a little Biagiotti home with me. NL and I walked around the Empty Space’s gallery admiring the art, and mingling with the various people who had come out to see what all the art hoopla was about. He took pictures of the artist and the band and I chatted with Julia Heatherwick, curator of the Empty Space and fellow blogger. Biagiotti’s band Drowse played an energetic and smart punk rock set that was uniquely heart felt and soulful and had everyone in the art crowd excited and entertained. The art, the band, the whole thing was a great blend of art and music for the Empty Space. Michael Biagiotti’s art exhibit will be running until October 1, 2005. Everyone should get down to the Empty Space and check out this fabulous art.

After the art show NL, Julia Heatherwick, another lovely young lady and myself went out for a little food and talk. There was Mexican food, margaritas, laughter and plenty of titillating blog talk. Discussions ensued regarding the politically correct way to tell the Fred Flintstone’s of the world that they have a BIG problem with the STINK. Toilet etiquette and sexual harassment versus the CREEP factor were questioned. It was a fun night and I had a great time. I will tell you that Julia Heatherwick is a very funny lady and a real gem. I think she’s fabulous! Everyone should check out her blog where art is the main course but she throws in a few side dishes now and then too. Also check out any art exhibit she’s involved in at the Empty Space.

The Story of the $3.00 bracelet, White Stripes and a beardless Jimmy Holliday at Borders

Most nights I have trouble sleeping. My sleep pattern has been messed up for a while now. My sleep deprivation stems from many many nights spent sitting up all night, every night, waiting for a husband to come home that didn’t come home anymore. Since then… sleep eludes me. On one of these particular sleepless nights not too long ago, I was writing on my laptop and watching country music videos. Yes, sometimes I like country music. Besides, late at night there are no music videos on MTV and VH1 for some reason. I wish someone would explain to me why there are never any videos on those channels when I’m in the mood to watch music videos.

So, I was watching country music videos one sleepless night not too long ago and I saw/heard a video with Jack White and Loretta Lynn called Portland Oregon and I loved the way Jack White sang and played the guitar. I knew that Jack White was in a band called White Stripes because I read my celebrity gossip and knew that he was the ex of Renee Zellwegger before she surprised everyone and married Kenny Chesney. I had no idea what White Stripes sounded like, I had never heard them before. I asked JR of Illpressed.com about White Stripes and he said they were good but hard. Hard… hard wasn’t anything like the Jack White Loretta Lynn song or really what I was looking for musically at the moment. So, I thought I would go to Borders and listen to White Stripes on their headphones before buying one of their cds.

The following Saturday afternoon I had lunch with my girlfriend ‘Babe’ at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Santiago’s. I was sitting there eating and listening to her recent tales of drama, but my mind was wandering. I was thinking about music. About Jack White, Loretta Lynn, White Stripes... I was in the mood to buy new music.

After lunch I went to run a few errands. I stopped at the Beauty Supply store and picked up a few hair products, lipstick and an antique looking chain bracelet with clear blue beads that cost $3.00 (impulse purchase). Now the significance of the $3.00 bracelet is that I don’t usually wear cheap jewelry. But there was something about the way this bracelet looked that I just had to have it. I put the bracelet on and off I went to Borders to listen to and buy new music.

In Borders I found White Stripes and listened to one of their cds on the headphones and JR was right, they were hard. Their music wasn’t bad it just wasn’t anything like the way I had heard Jack White sing with Loretta Lynn. I was disappointed and didn’t buy the cd. I almost bought a Wallflowers cd that sounded pretty good, but my disappointment over the White Stripes cd overpowered my impulse purchase instincts. I left Borders empty handed. Halfway to my car I noticed that my new $3.00 bracelet was gone! It had fallen off my wrist. I turned around and headed back into Borders and retraced my steps looking for the $3.00 bracelet. I found the $3.00 bracelet in the cd rack next to the White Stripes cd, picked it up, put it in my hand and started to walk out of Borders… and ran right into a beardless Jimmy Holliday-- local folk rock star.

I’ve worn the $3.00 bracelet a couple times since that day at Borders. I’m not really sure how long this wonder of frugality will last. Every time I’ve worn it people have noticed it and commented on it, it’s very unique looking. But the darn thing keeps coming undone and falling off my wrist! I have to really keep an eye on it. It’s fallen off twice at work. I’ve lost it once in the car. Once at the store. And last night it fell off at the movie theater. I crawled under the seat in the movie theater to find it. I’ve managed to find the $3.00 bracelet every time it’s fallen off so far. I have nightmares of it falling off in the toilet and having to go fishing for it in order to prevent some horrible plumbing disaster. I’m afraid that this $3.00 bracelet might be more trouble then its worth. One of these times I’m not going to notice it falling off my wrist and it will be gone forever.

I wrote Jimmy Holliday an email and explained about how I had heard Jack White, Loretta Lynn and my disappointment over White Stripes. He responded with:

“I am not familiar with the Loretta Lynn album, I heard a little of it when it came out and I really enjoyed it, but it always slipped my mind to buy it. I will tell you that White Stripes’ new album ‘Get Behind Me Satan’ is a lot softer and more experimental than their other albums. It has some really down-home folk songs on it like ‘Little Ghost’ and ‘Women, Listen to Your Mothers’, and I would more compare it to the Velvet Underground more than, say, the Black Keys. It is a very beautiful album, and I haven’t been able to stop playing it since I got it.”

To which I responded:

“I looked the Loretta Lynn album up on the computer and listened to some clips of the songs. I liked it. The way you describe that White Stripes album makes me want to give it a try too.”

A week or so later I read in the celebrity gossip that Renee Zellwegger and Kenny Chesney were calling it quits and I thought about her ex Jack White and White Stripes again. So tonight I made my way back to Borders where Jimmy Holliday, who looked like he was growing back his signature beard, was working the music section. I bought Loretta Lynn’s album Van Lear Rose produced by Jack White and the White Stripes album Get Behind Me Satan, along with a couple other selections Jimmy Holliday recommended. The White Stripes album is very different, and musically interesting, which is exactly what I was looking for. And the Loretta Lynn album is beautiful and full of rock and roll subtle influences that Jack White impressed on it. I’m loving my new music! Which only goes to show you... when you’re in the mood for new music, ask a musician.

I'm not a Techy

I’m not a Techy. Not an electronic techy nor a computer techy, an automobile techy or any kind of techy at all. I’m what you would call ‘techy challenged’.

For the life of me I could never hook up the TV, DVD, VCR, Cable box and Stereo and make them all communicate and work together. I can’t even program the VCR to record while I’m gone. Forget TiVo I haven’t even attempted that yet. I do well enough to figure out which of the 5 remotes operates whatever electronic device I want to watch/listen to at that particular moment. I happen to own two sets of TV’s, DVD’s, VCR’s, Cable box’s and Stereo’s that are all hooked up, communicating and working together just like they are supposed to. One set in the living room and the other in the bedroom. Of course the better set is in the living room. But I did not hook any of this equipment up. The only time I have ever used being a Single woman to my advantage was in a plot to get all of this electronic equipment hooked up.

Since I’ve been single I have moved twice. Both times I plotted to get my electronic equipment hooked up without any effort on my part. The secret is to get the Cable man to hook it all up for you. Here’s what you need to do:

1) Arrange the Cable installation within a day or two of your moving day, the sooner the better.

2) Place all the electronic equipment in the entertainment center where it’s supposed to go, just don’t try to hook it up on your own.

3) Arrange all wires, cables, and extension cords on the floor in front of the entertainment center as if you’re at your wits end and have given up.

4) When the Cable man arrives, show him the entertainment center with all of the electronic equipment in it and pick up a few of the wires and cables and simply say: “I tried to hook all this up, but I just can’t figure it out.” If you happen to be blonde with fake boobs, this works really well. But since I’m not a blonde and don’t have fake boobs… I have to throw in: “It’s just all so confusing.” And then I offer the Cable man a beer. I don’t even drink beer, but I make sure I have a beer in the fridge to offer the Cable man when he comes.

Both times it has worked like a charm. The Cable man hooked up everything for me and even ran it through my stereo so when I watch movies… it sounds really really good. You may think this is devious on my part, but I have found that Cable guys are really into electronic systems and actually like hooking systems up. They also love to talk about their enormous big screen/flat panel TV’s and the size/quality of their surround sound systems that they have at home while hooking up all of your electronic equipment. So, I listen, pretend to be impressed by the sheer size of their system and get my stuff all hooked up in the process. If you’re a man… I don’t know if my strategy would work for you, but you could try it and see.

The extent of my automobile knowledge is: I can pump gas, get the car washed, even though I don’t do that often enough and I know where the oil goes and how to check if there is oil in the car by using that little dipstick thingy. I also know that when the heat gage gets into the red zone that’s really bad. And when the gaslight comes on… I need to get gas eventually. When a tire looks low… I need to find a guy to air it up for me. If anything else goes wrong with the car, I call my dad. If he can’t fix it himself, he calls his mechanic. I should probably sign up for Triple A emergency road service, but I haven’t done that yet.

And I’m definitely not computer techy. I work on a computer all day and I use a computer most evenings surfing the Internet, and writing my novel or these blogs for all of you to read. I can hook a computer up by myself and I know just enough HTML to make links on my blog. So when my new laptop arrived I was faced with the challenge of setting up a wireless connection and networking it to my desktop computer.

I told a friend that I had bought a laptop and that it had wireless capabilities and he sent me this email:

“You will end up using the laptop and never using the desktop (that’s my prediction). The wireless router you can get anywhere that sells computer stuff. You need a wireless router that is 802.11b or 802.11g the G is faster but you really won't notice a difference unless you share applications between the two computers. Your cable modem can get speeds up to 3mbs and normally runs around 1.5mbs. 802.11b transmits at 11mbs and 802.11g transmits at 54mbs so both blow away whatever your cable modem can put out. Besides being faster the 802.11g transmits the signal further which is not always a positive thing. The 802.11b routers are way less expensive.”

Now this was a man who was definitely computer techy… I responded with:

“Just reread your computer techy email... I'll probably have to print it out and take it with me to the computer store. :) I'm just not good at that stuff.”

After several more emails where he tried to explain to me what I would need to do to set up my laptop… he offered to help me. I think he felt sorry for me. And the thing is there was no plot in progress to get help with my laptop I really had no clue what any of this stuff meant. It was like a foreign language to me. I just didn’t get it. I was ‘techy challenged’.

I bought a wireless router and my friend came over to set up my laptop for me and network it to my desktop. He got the wireless connection and Internet to work. He set up the network. But for some reason the two computers wouldn’t access each other. He came over a second time and brought his laptop and his laptop worked with the network but mine wouldn’t. It was maddening. After trying everything he could think of he suggested I call Dell tech support as a last resort.

The next day I called Dell tech support. They informed me that I had to pay them for tech support. I could buy a year plan for $300 or I could buy a one-time one-problem 72-hour plan for $100. I bought the one time one problem 72 hour plan and spent the next 3 hours on the phone with a Dell tech support computer techy guy who had a very heavy foreign accent that made understanding anything he said almost impossible. He had me do exactly the same things my friend had already done with exactly the same results. And at the end of the 3 hours he said:

“We are only responsible to get the computers to show up on the network accessing your files on your desktop is not our problem.” And then he hung up on me.

I was livid. Actual steam was coming out of my ears. Here I was paying him for his help and he hangs up on me! I couldn’t believe it.

I called Dell tech support back. Went through their whole automated system until I finally got a real person on the phone. And then I explained the situation:

“I’ve just spent three hours on the phone with another tech support representative of yours who had such a heavy accent that I could barely understand him and after doing everything he told me to do, he hung up on me.”

The new Dell tech support computer techy guy also had a heavy foreign accent that was difficult to understand. What is it about Dell tech support? Is having a heavy foreign accent a prerequisite of being hired for Dell?

“Look I just want someone to speak slowly so I can understand what they’re saying and tell me what to do to make the two computers access each other.” I explained to the Dell tech support computer techy guy through gritted teeth.

“Let’s take this one step at a time.” He replied.

Then he talked me through the exact same things that my friend and the other Dell tech support computer techy guy had me do. We got the same results again. No access from one computer to the next.

“Ok. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to make a new Network Places.” He said through his heavy foreign accent.

“Why? Explain to me why we’re going to make a new Network when I already have a Network?” I exclaimed to the Dell tech support computer techy guy.

“We’ll just make a new Network Places. We can delete it if it don’t work.” He explained.

“But just explain to me why we need another Network I don’t understand.” I said exasperated.

“We will just make a new Network Places.” He said again.

“No! I’m not going to make another Network when I already have a Network. Just tell me what to click on to make this Network work!” I demanded.

“We will just make a new Network Places.” He reiterated through his heavy foreign accent.

“Nooooo! We won’t make a new Network!” I screamed frustrated.

And then I had an epiphany. I remembered that my friend had said something about the firewalls. So I checked the firewall on the laptop and there was an extra firewall besides the Windows firewall. I turned it off and WALLAH the two computers accessed each other.

“We will just make a new Network Places.” The Dell tech support computer techy guy said again.

“No! We will not make a new Network because we don’t need a new Network! I just turned off the additional firewall on the laptop and now everything works. The two computers access each other.” I explained fed up with this idiot.

“Oh the firewall… I didn’t think about that.” He replied sheepishly.

“Well this concludes our tech support session today. I hope everything was to your satisfaction.” He stated out of habit.

“Ughhhh!” I yelled hanging up the phone.

I just spent $100 dollars and an entire day on the phone with irritating hard to understand computer techy guys because I’m ‘techy challenged’ and then ended up figuring out the problem myself. It was just maddening!

Since then my laptop and wireless network have worked perfectly. And I’ve enjoyed being able to sit on the couch or lay in bed late at night while typing on my laptop. I can’t wait to travel with it. My friend's prediction just might come true...