Our first "full" day on the Odyssey. Now, at this point I should probably mention that although we are indeed on the Odyssey, the Extreme Telecommuting portion of the journey has not yet begun in earnest. Yup -- I'm taking this week off from work.
It turns out that this was a good idea since it gives us some time to adjust to the oddities of network access on the road before I'm actually expected to produce something for my employer. Case in point -- we spent yesterday morning doing our updates for the web page, creating a few new graphics, writing the text, testing the links, etcetera. When it came time to transfer the whole shebang up to our web server, we once again tried to acoustically kouple with a payphone. No luck, even with valiant efforts from Kristanne as she compressed the koupler against the payphone handset with the strength of four oxen. Now, what were we to do?
The answer was clear. We had to get Extreme. We had to take our network access where we found it. Instead of going back to the payphone with the volume control that had worked yesterday, we decided to power our way through a local bank office's loan phone for access. Many banks provide for their customers a little desk with a phone and a pen. Ostensibly, the idea is that you can call the automated service line to hear your last five withdrawals, your balance, how overdrawn you are, etcetera. You can also be connected directly to a loan officer with the touch of a key. In addition to performing all these services, many of these phones provide an outside line, so long as you don't dial long distance. Here's where we come in.
I strode in with the confidence of a young David, eager to slay Goliath, or, if you will, of a young Bon Jovi, eager to try on his first pair of leather pants. Within a minute, I had my modem connected to the underside of the loan phone and was up and at 'em with blazing fast 28.8 connectivity. The web site was up in no time. We had our email in a trice. I checked the scores on Sportszone, just to keep in touch. Even checked out how the flyfishing is in Montana, where we might head after Banff. It was great. I was ecstatic. I danced a surreptitious little jig over by the coffee pot where the tellers couldn't see me.
But was it all success, hoopla, and huzzahs? No. Not quite. We also learned a few lessons. First of all, make sure you turn off the more disgusting sounds on your laptop before trying this. Although you probably won't get noticed just connecting a laptop to a loan phone, your chances of detection go up exponentially when your laptop is braying, "I am the great Cornholio!" Lose the speaker, my friends; that is my advice to you.
After pumping up the web site, we headed east and eventually roosted in a small free campsite near Tiger, Washingon, in the northeast corner of the state. Lest you think it's all fun and games on an Office Odyssey, we provide you with today's Extreme Shot. Yup, even Extreme Telecommuters have to pay their bills...even from the van.
Total Miles for 6\2 = 274
Total expense for 6\2 = About $27.00
Check in tomorrow as we pass into Canada and hopefully make it to Banff!