“Are you an Indian?”
Let me start by saying I have the greatest respect for Native American peoples — both for their enduring the invasion of their homeland, and for their ability to take dusty reservation land and turn it into ski resorts, billion-dollar casinos, oil/gas well bonanzas, art and more … I get all [...]

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As we continue to ping Wi-Fi locations on this ongoing tour, it is tough to decide which is best — the consistency of corporate chains or the charm of the mom/pop shops. (Note: moms get top billing. Who said chivalry is dead?)
Anyway … corporate consistency is nice in its own right … I [...]

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The idea for my first blog, The Wi-Fi Guy back in 2002 or so, came to me when strangers continually approached me in Starbucks and asked how in the world my laptop was on-line — there among the coffee grounds and the pseudo intellectuals.
Now I have a new icebreaker. Not since the infancy of [...]

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Back in my newspaper days, occasionally the editor would give me “Man on the Street” interview assignments. “Great! Where can you find 20 people who have enough spare time to comment on celebrity gossip, trade embargoes or a new strain of e-coli?”
The first time I manned up on the street, it took me about [...]

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Well, I made it through Memphis In May and lived to tell about it - if only I had a little time to tell about it … Been way busy with my Dirty Gig (cleaning up flood damage). Ha … By what I hear on local media, it really is somewhat of a feat to [...]

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When I was a youth, the newspaper could never get it right.  One basketball article referred to me as “Pingelton.” Ha!  I considered changing my name to “Pringle,” after hearing that one so many times.  Another basketball article — my favorite — reported that “Pingelli” scored 20 points in one game.  My best friend’s dad [...]

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If you have read my blogs over the years, you know this already. But, if you recently stumbled upon PingWi-Fi.com, I’m just saying, I luvs me sum road trip!
I attribute this to spending hours and hours and hours on a farm tractor as a kid — lots of driving, but no sightseeing. To [...]

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What is it with me and hotel rooms? I just blogged about an uninvited guest entering my hotel room in Santa Cruz and waking me from a really good dream. A year earlier, I intruded on a loving couple when I entered MY room. It was too much 411 that I am glad stayed in [...]

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I think it may be considered a bad thing when someone approaches you at your hotel, and asks, “Do you work here?,” based on how you are dressed. I am pretty sure a lady assumed that the black uniform pants and pressed collared shirt of my Dirty Gigs work clothes meant that I was [...]

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It was a great sign when I saw the surfboards, sharks and Cadillac posters at Fins Coffee shop on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz. Second, it was comforting to see a graying old surfer and his HP on the Internet.
Yes. There is wireless at Fins — if you bring in an AT&T or [...]

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