Technology Mismatch Problems

On this trip, I've gotten bitten on the ass by the fact that I am a geek, and all my friends and associates are geeks. The reason is that I need to connect to the datalogger I have in Chicago (the one that I went to maintain last month) via modem for remote downloads and program modifications. Yeah, modem, like dialup, like, "EEEEEEEEEEE ROOOOOOOOOO GRANGR GRANGR GRANGR GRANGR GRANGR GRANGR"--that ancient technology.

• At home, I have VoIP and a cell phone.
  
• My office is an electronic switching system, plus I can't dial long distance.
  
  
• JMD only has a cell phone, no land line.
  
• Bird and Jen are also VoIP and cell phone.

"Copper wire? Telephone? What's that?"

It just annoys me that I'm going to need to go somewhere to connect to the datalogger. Kinda defeats that whole having-a-telephone-in-every-house idea, don't it?