Vilano Beach at sunset & pool at night-does it really have to end?

I feel like it has been confession time for me over the past several weeks.  I previously wrote about how I went to the dark side by buying an Apple iPod (i.e., not a Microsoft product), then I switched to the Firefox browser (also not a Microsoft product) and now I have another confession.

I pointed out a web site last year once in a negative manner.  The reason I was negative is because it was a major popup advertisement at several other sites I was visiting.  For several weeks I got to see that ad over-and-over again.

If you are a regular reader you know that I am of two minds about popup ads.

I don’t like them because they get in my way, I never click on them and in my opinion they are simply obnoxious.  However, I like them because as people do click on them they help keep the majority of websites in the world free of charge to us.

I want to now mention that website that bugged me in the past…in a positive light, Orbitz.com.

Every year or so I mention a site that helps us with vacation planning; Orbitz is it this time.  This year, thanks to Mr. Bush’s tax rebate (please don’t email me about politics; I abhor it and won’t respond), my wife and I decided to fly to our vacation spot.  I used to fly quite often many years ago (before the internet and 9/11 but that is another story) but this was somewhat new to me.

I will add here that the stinking popups must have worked.  Guess which website popped into my mind first when I thought about flying?  You got it, Orbitz.

I am new at the buying plane tickets online so many of you may know a lot more about this and other similar sites than I; however, I just want to give you what I found out.

We found round-trip tickets much less expensively than we thought were possible.  We easily found the airport we wanted to leave from (SHD) and arrive at (JAX).  We were offered a good rate on a rental car at the site.  Me, being the trusting guy that I am, called other rental car companies including the one we were offered at the site to check prices.  I could not get a rate anywhere near as good as I did in the original offer so we also went with that.

I could have also gotten hotel rooms and tickets for different attractions at discounted prices through Orbitz.  I didn’t take advantage of those as we didn’t need them for our plans.

If you have any experiences, good or bad, with sites similar to this let me know.  And if we decide to come back I may let you know how it worked for us.

cruising around the bay at St. Augustine on a night time trip…ahhhhh

51 min layover at Dulles

The excitment builds…2 hours to take off!

My last rollout well maybe but flying to Florida Sat morning! Can’t wait-let me outta here.

What do you mean bad decision? We think its the best thing, even if we aren’t in the field doing the work and really know what’s going on.

I just arrived at Quality Inn. First one I ever stayed at, I hope it’s good. http://tinyurl.com/6jc66p

I received several emails over the past several weeks about cleaning your monitors.  I’m thinking they all referred to the “glass” part so let’s take a look.  You may have even heard that you have to use a special cleaner on your monitor or you could damage the glass.  More about that later.

Cleaning your monitor first requires you to turn off your computer and unplug the monitor from the wall.  Now get a lint-free cloth.  If it is not lint-free it will not hurt your monitor, but it will leave pieces of lint to float around on your monitor.  This means that you will then have to clean the lint off.  Cut out that extra step and go lint-free.

Now as I have said in the past, always check your instruction manual as the next step may not be “authorized”.  They usually recommend using a special cleaning fluid or cloth for cleaning the glass.  I ordered some one time and paid $35 for a special cleaner and cloth.  The cleaner was the regular blue window cleaner that you get at the store (it still had the brand name label on it).  The cloth was lint-free.  What a profit they made on me that time!

My suggestion is to get some regular, non-abrasive, non-ammonia, window cleaner and spray it lightly on your cloth.  Don’t make it dripping wet, and NEVER spray the cleaner directly on your monitor’s screen.  If sprayed directly or too much fluid is on the cloth the cleaner could run down the glass and possibly get into the electronics and you don’t want that to happen.

Next, wipe the cloth on the screen smoothly, gently, and evenly.  When the finger prints and dust on the glass are gone, move on to the next step.

Using the same damp cloth, wipe it over the case, including the little holes that allow heat to vent from your monitor.  Canned air can be used to “blow” out those vents which could aid your monitor in running cooler and longer.  You can put more pressure here as it is just plastic and you can’t hurt it, don’t use an abrasive cleaner anywhere.  After you are done, take a can of compressed air and use it to blow out any leftover dust and lint that you may find.

If you have a newer model flat screen monitor this may not be the way to clean it, so for now follow the manufacturer’s instructions for those.  These may not have a glass screen and it could take special attention and cleaners.

Never remove the monitor’s case!  The inside of a monitor (not flat screen) has a capacitor and has the capacity to shock you possibly to death.

Traveling I-81N going home from Roanoke-back to Lynchburg@8am tomorrow