[Yesterday morning –ed.]

4:47am

I’m waiting at the airport–they claim to have wireless internet access here, but it has some severe problems. Like, for instance, the inability to connect to any services. As such, I’m writing this in TextPad.

I have now been awake for about 18 hours. I’m not getting loopy yet, though I suspect that will change during the next couple flights.

The drive here was unpleasant, to put it mildly. Gusting winds randomly buffeted my car for the entirety of the hour and a half drive, frequently pushing me over the lines of my lane into the next. Most of the drive was spent clutching the wheel with both hands, teeth gritted and a steady stream of cursing leaving my lips. The steady stream of truckers tailgating me while I was in the slow lane didn’t help matters.

I’m hoping that will be the least pleasant part of my trip, though I’m all but certain it won’t be. I hate flying. If I had the time, I’d much rather take a train any day.

Ah–I’ve found the problem with the wireless internet… the bastards expect me to give them $10 for the privilege. Not going to happen. Of course, I only found this out by randomly typing addresses into Firefox. Any idiot could create a wireless access point that redirects all requests to a “Pay for this because we’re the only game in range.” I’m a little disturbed that it doesn’t.

Why? Because I’m hoping that the person in charge of the wifi network here isn’t also in charge of things like air traffic control’s computers or surface-to-air communications systems.

The fact that “Radar” is another open access point in range worries me…