The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Wireless Golgotha Of Stacy McCain

Posted on | February 11, 2012 | 13 Comments

— filed by Wombat-socho


While our Fearless Leader is out soothing his nerves with a smoke, I’ll chip in with a few comments about my first CPAC here at the Marriott Washington Wardman Park. In some ways, this is kind of a homecoming for me; when I was a young joey, I used to come down to what was then the Sheraton Park Hotel for science fiction conventions. Back then, the layout of the Sheraton Park was byzantine at best, being the fusion of an old 1920s hotel and a newer motel; nowadays, the Marriott has preserved that maze of interior hallways and function spaces. You definitely need a map to find your way around.


Stacy is more than a little frustrated by the lack of bandwidth, but I suspect this has more to do with his laptop than the actual lack of signal. The ACU has done a good job with Blogger’s Row; there are about 150 spaces here with wi-fi access and power strips aplenty, the only catch being that you need the Secret Elder Sign available only by pre-registering as an Authorized Blogger, and somehow I missed that link. Anyway, Stacy managed to get me and Faithful Commenter Jeff W. in past the badgers. In addition to the space on Blogger Row, there are two overflow blogging areas on either side of the main ballroom, where power plugs are a bit awkwardly placed, but wifi is likewise abundant.


Been lucky enough so far to meet quite a few of the big names in the dextrosphere such as Val Prieto, Da Tech Guy, Little Miss Attila, and Cynthia Yockey, so on those grounds alone CPAC 2012 is a win for me. Next year, of course, when I hope to be a feelthy rich CPA type, I look forward to being here for the whole five-ring circus. In the meantime, I’m just hanging loose and standing by to render assistance to Stacy, if he needs it.


Possibly related: the FMJRA may be delayed until tomorrow night, and Rule 5 until Monday, due to my DSL modem dying the real death.
Thoroughly unrelated: is there any interest in starting a fantasy baseball league on here?

Category: Blogging, CPAC

Comments

13 Responses to “The Wireless Golgotha Of Stacy McCain”

  1. Raxter
    February 11th, 2012 @ 4:21 pm

    Don’t know about fantasy baseball, but if you want to start a fantasy football league this fall, count me in…

  2. richard mcenroe
    February 11th, 2012 @ 6:25 pm

    Shoulda gone Clear like I told’im….

  3. richard mcenroe
    February 11th, 2012 @ 6:38 pm

    Wombat, me lad, next year if you’re a filthy rich CPA type, this here is tax season…

  4. Anonymous
    February 11th, 2012 @ 8:28 pm

    Yes, it is. This is my fourth year in the tax mines, and my second as a preparer, though of course this year the tax mines are a third priority behind CPA exam review classes and the last classes I need to qualify for the CPA exam here in Virginia.

  5. Anonymous
    February 11th, 2012 @ 8:28 pm

    Not much into football, sorry.

  6. EBL
    February 11th, 2012 @ 9:16 pm

    I am glad you have a good time at CPAC.  You, Stacy and Smitty make quite the troika of truth!  

  7. richard mcenroe
    February 12th, 2012 @ 12:11 pm

    And I’ve seen Stacy’s laptop.  If it gets a new cord for the pull-starter, it should be good for years yet.  500K RAM is plenty for most uses.

  8. Memo From the National Affairs Desk: Santorum’s National Iowa-Style Strategy : The Other McCain
    February 12th, 2012 @ 3:08 pm

    […] videos that I was unable to upload during the conference due to frustration with bandwidth issues. (Wombat suggests that it was my equipment rather than the WiFi connection that sucked. However, it is a curious fact that as soon as I hooked up the trusty Toshiba Satellite to my home […]

  9. Anonymous
    February 12th, 2012 @ 8:06 pm

    First we have to replace the telegraph key with an actual, functional wireless card…

  10. richard mcenroe
    February 12th, 2012 @ 9:15 pm

    All I can say  is I use Clear’s 4G modem.  If you can get a cell phone signal, you can go online.  Check their coverage area, but it’s PAYGO no contract and unlimited bandwidth usage.  I’ve had zero problems.

  11. richard mcenroe
    February 12th, 2012 @ 9:16 pm

    I’m not sure it works with Win98 so Stacy might have to finally break down and upgrade…

  12. Anonymous
    February 12th, 2012 @ 9:20 pm

    Jeff and I were amazed to see that he’s actually running Windows 7 on that laptop.

  13. Gabriella Hoffman Axis of Fedora Induction, Plus Odds And Ends : The Other McCain
    February 13th, 2012 @ 7:59 pm

    […] fellow:Later, I tried (and failed) to clean up The World’s Funkiest Laptop Screen:Stacy has wondered aloud at his bandwidth problems: the packets are delayed that ichor on the screen.Category: Blogging, Rule 5Comments /*CHARLES G. […]