Pocket PC Road Blog [Part 1]

[Brad Isaac]

These are random musings of a Pocket PC Addict journeying into the rural netherworld of Pigeon Forge, TN
June 30, 2005
Well, I am on the road the next couple of days testing out the "wired" aspects of our more rural areas. First stop: Black Mountain NC. Surprisingly, had very good GPRS coverage! I was able to log-in at lunch and check e-mail. Connection first try is stuff I like to hear! Service is provided by US490 which is a cell phone provider I am not too familiar with. Riding along in the van, Cingular and US490 seemed to fight for coverage along I40 West.
The mountains were beautiful today. Just a little bit of haze. I keep thinking about my PPC WeatherPanel plug in how it reported rain and thunderstorms for today. Ok, yes, I know it relies on weather provided by weather.com. So there is no finger pointing going on. I am simply pleased to have a nice travel day.
XM radio has been going the whole time without any cut outs until JUST NOW when I am typing this sentence! We are approaching the Tennessee state line - so we are in the foothills of in the Smokey Mountains - heh- that might explain the haze.
Well, since the XM radio has faded for the time being, I pulled out the iPOD. My kids see the iPOD and they have only one thing on their mind – they want me to play their favorite song. Now don't tell anyone, but their favorite song is by Tenacious D. I guess social services can't reach me up here anyway. There's nothing like seeing my 4 year old daughter "head banging" to the song Tribute. For the people who have heard alarming things about Tenacious D should realize that Tribute does not have any of their normal pornographic lyrics. So you can put down the phone and cancel that 911 call!
This Stowaway keyboard is holding up quite well and is perfectly suited for road blogging, even through these winding mountains. To avoid getting car sick, I set the PPC on the console to my left; disconnect the PPC stand from the keyboard and type while I keep my eyes on the road. Don't worry, I am not driving now. So you can put down the phone and cancel that 911 call! But I must say, being able to type without looking at the keyboard is immensely helpful. If we have any high school students reading today and you are blowing off your typing classes - my advice is to get back in there! And lay off the weed! It'll make you sterile.
We just crossed the state line into Tennessee, not sure of our elevation, but it's definitely higher than sea level. The welcome center is much different than the brick and mortar one's I am used to seeing on American highways. It looks to be a log cabin with a cool (sun worshiping?) statue out front.
Well, I am signing off for now. We are in AT&T signal area, and I've got 5 bars of signal so I am going to check some email and hit an instant messenger for a few.
Care to add your 2cents?

[Busdrver]

Uh, you DO have a GPS, right? That'll tell you your altitude (Among other things).
Enjoy-but be careful out there.

[Hantra]

Nice write-up. Glad you had a good trip.
That sucks about the XM cutting out. .

[Brad Isaac]

Originally Posted by Busdrver

Uh, you DO have a GPS, right? That'll tell you your altitude (Among other things).
Enjoy-but be careful out there.

No- No GPS for me yet. I don't travel enough to justify it.