Technology: July 2008 Archives

It is as though the Shuttle saga is taking on a life of its own. It was bad enough that I had somehow snuck in a brand new computer but this hole I am digging just seems to be getting deeper and deeper. I keep thinking that if I can shovel dirt from one side of the hole to the other than I can get closer to the top and finally get out of this mess but that doesn't seem to be working. It started when I decided to bring it on vacation. I probably could have gotten away with that but I forgot the monitor and had to buy a new one. Trying to explain why I needed a new 22" LCD monitor while we were on vacation took a serious amount of creative thinking and tap dancing. Unfortunately, that was not quite the end to my needs.

We have now lived in Arizona over 14 years. A lot of our family still lives in Idaho and Utah. As a result we find ourselves making the trek from Arizona to Idaho quite often (more often than I would like that's for sure). We have gotten to where we have a fairly well mapped out path from point A to point B and back. This path is the result of trying just about every different roadway that goes between these three states. And what I have learned from all of this is that there really is no good way to get from Arizona to Idaho without subjecting yourself to a lot of small highways or back roads. I don't so much mind driving the back country but it does have its drawbacks. For example there are large stretches of road that have absolutely nothing on them. Driving from Flagstaff Arizona northward for example takes you across Indian Reservations that barely have phone service let alone rest stops or places to get something to eat or drink. Even cellular service is spotty. Digital phone service is impossible and analog roaming is even questionable. This situation remains in effect through part of southern Utah as well at least until you can get near the Interstate when there are at least some cellular towers to give you adequate phone service.