Last Sunday my friend Lisa, the car cam queen, came over and spent the day helping me set up equipment for the trip. The plan is to use a laptop and cell modem to upload photos during the parade. So folks who can't come will be able to see a bit of what's going on as it happens!
There is no way this would be happening without Lisa's help. She's lending me a ton of equipment: cell phone, USB hub, cameras, DC splitter for the cigarette lighter, DC inverter for the computer, probably some other stuff too. The only thing we had to provide was the laptop. Also I'm giving her my junky cell phone to use while we've got hers. (Mine doesn't handle data.)
She's also, perhaps more importantly, shown me how to set up my web server to process the images and automate as much of this as possible. If we follow her instructions we should be able to upload our photos just by pushing one button on the laptop. Isn't technology grand?
We did a brief trial run on Sunday, although things weren't set up enough to fully test the system. My dogs love the car, so they came along for the ride. Lisa was worried that they might get in the way while we were trying to work, which goes to show that she's accustomed to young, lively dogs, not lazy old ladies like my Lina and Thirteen. They love riding in the car, but they don't get agitated; they just sit in the back and look out the windows.
We stopped in a parking lot at one point, looking for some shade so we could do a data upload. (I don't know how it is with PC laptops, but iBooks are really hard to see in direct sunlight.) That's when I took this photo of the dogs, which makes them look much more active than they really were. Though they really are that cute! You can see the spot on Thirteen's leg where they put in the IV for her surgery. Lina's fur is shorter so it's already grown in almost completely on her.
Unfortunately she's going to be away this week, so I'll need to test the system without being able to pester her constantly. I wanted to have it all set up last month, so we wouldn't use up any of April's minutes on trial runs, but I didn't have my shit together. Which is no surprise really.
In other trip-related news, Georg figured out our travel itinerary. It's a 20 hour drive, which could be done in two long days, but we're going to take it easy and spend 3 days on the road. We'll stop the first night in Atlanta, and he's already picked out the place where we'll have dinner. Roadfood.com says they have the best fried chicken in the country. Then we'll have a long day Wednesday and go all the way to Baton Rouge. Then Thursday will be a short day to Houston, so we'll have plenty of time to check in and make sure the car is OK before the Art Car Ball that evening.
I have a list of things to do about a mile long. I can't believe the trip is in only a little over a week! The car is at Merchant's right now have its alignment fixed. It's been pulling hard to the right, so bad that it's actually a bit tiring to drive on the highway. Definitely something to be fixed before we go! I think the alignment must have gotten screwed up by the big old rut that used to fill the end of our driveway. I can't imagine that driving through a ditch twice a day was good for the alignment.
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