The joys of modern communications

Before we left home, I went online and created a Google mail account and used that to set up a blog at Blogspot. Big plans to post musings about our experiences and share a few photos during the trip instead of just posting our travel pictures after we returned home. I knew I was taking my laptop for which I had a wireless card and my U3 stick which allowed me access to my web browser and my e-mail program.
‘Gang aft aglay’ as Robbie Burns might say. The first setback occurred when I discovered that I could arrange temporary service on the dial-up level but not high-speed or wireless. But, the condo manager told me that there seemed to be a ‘hot spot’ near the pool and I might be able to use that. So, that night, I set up on the only table near the pool, found the available network and was able to get online. Only one problem, there’s no light and I can’t see the keyboard. Talk about ‘hunt-and-peck’.
The next night I set up in a different spot near the barbeques (where there are lights). This time I found three networks but they’re all encrypted so I don’t get online. Back to the pool, this time with a flashlight. Now, my wireless card can’t find any available networks.
Time to spend some money. I troop to an Internet café and buy some time. I boot up the laptop and insert my wireless card. McAfee immediately sends me a message that the wireless card is incompatible and must be disabled. (When did this happen?) I uninstalled and re-installed the wireless card but McAfee still wasn’t impressed. I’m not getting online with this laptop unless I do it without virus protection.
Oh, well, I do have my U3 stick as a fallback. I can do my writing (blog and e-mails) at the condo on the laptop, save the files to the memory stick, go on line with the stick and transfer the files as necessary. Spend a little more money and get an account with iZone, primarily a gaming site. I was able to get the blog postings done but Thunderbird wouldn’t send my e-mail drafts and kept flashing a message that g-mail wasn’t supported. Still looking for a work-around for that.
In the meantime, the second night I go online with the U3 stick, my web browser (Firefox) goes haywire–something about a missing file. So now I have a laptop with a working browser that I can’t get online and a memory stick that I can get online but the browser won’t work. I need to download a new version of Firefox for U3.
If you’re reading this, I must have found a solution. You may have noticed a lack of pictures. Haven’t worked that out yet. We’re on Maui time so keep checking.