Internet Access On A Boat

When we moved aboard Drift Away two and a half years ago, I bought a Verizon 3G Hotspot for internet access.  It's like a cell phone because it uses cell signals for internet access, but you can't use it like a phone.  It's also like a wireless router because several devices can connect to it at the same time.

It worked fine, but it wasn't the fastest thing.  Sometimes I'd switch between it and the marina wifi to see which was faster.   For my non-boating friends, marinas are notorious for slow internet connections, probably because the bandwidth is shared by so many people.

I was on the Verizon website checking my data usage when I noticed a link that said "upgrade your device".   I clicked on it and compared the 4G devices.  Hmmmm...  They had a sale going on.  If I signed up for a two year contract, I'd get the $250 Verizon 4G LTE Jetpack for $30.  I like Verizon, have no plans to leave, and for $30 I could get the 4G gizmo and go ten times faster!  I placed the order.

It arrived today, and I was as excited as Miley Cyrus at a medical marijuana store.  I took it out of the box, inserted the SIM card and battery, called Verizon and got it activated.

Isn't she beautiful?  And fast!  This thing isn't ten times faster than the old one, it's fifty times faster.

The 3G would have taken about two minutes to upload these two photos.  The 4G did it in about four seconds.

In other news, if you scroll way down, you'll see a list of blogs that I follow.  One of those is World Tour Stories.  It's a young couple cruising on a sailboat, one a pretty young model and the other a photojournalist.  They announced today that Tommy Hilfiger has become a sponsor of their cruise.  That's HUGE.  Can you imagine setting off on a world cruise, and then getting someone to pay you for it?

I wonder who I can get to sponsor Drift Away?  Rogaine?  Bayer Aspirin?   Can I get Dos Equis to sponsor my victory beers?  Band Aid for my multiple head abrasions?  Jenny Craig to work off Pam's cooking?

Today is Thanksgiving.  I encourage all of you to contemplate on what you have to be thankful for.  Hopefully it's not stuff.  Anyone can have stuff.  Hopefully, it's more than that.

Love is all you need.  Well, love and scotch.  That's all you need.  Love, scotch, and victory beers.  That's it.  Oh, and Cheetos.  That's all you need.  And pizza.  That's it.  And Facebook...

Man, the Beatles were out of touch.

Arlo nails it.