Wow … what an overnight trip to Texas Tech!  I confess, it was a bit of an “impulse buy.”  But, a ticket to the Oklahoma State game became available, and gas prices were hovering at only $2 a gallon.  How could I resist a little PingWi-Fi road trip?

Who doesn’t love to crash an ABC Sports telecast featuring the #2 team in the nation? (Although the pollsters may rethink the deuce later today … considering the good, old-fashioned woodshed-treatment doled out to the high-ranking OSU Cowboys last night).

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Well, it took exactly one and only one ocean wave to rip off my sunglasses — even though they were “tied on” my head with a brand new, Lifeguard-red croakie strap.  Ha … That’s a good look!

“Aye, the ocean she is angry and she has taken me rose colored spectacles to the deep, to make them her own … aye.”

So, I body surfed a little longer, squinting … and then set out upon my mission at South Padre Island, Texas.  The music festival was over … time to focus — on Wi-Fi.

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So … this can only be good for my Wayport and AT&T subscriber memberships.  This news release, just in:

AT&T TO ACQUIRE WAYPORT

Combined wi-fi networks to provide connectivity in more places

Millions of AT&T Customers to Get Free Wi-Fi Access at Nearly 20,000 U.S. Hotspots

DALLAS and AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 6, 2008 —AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced today that it has agreed, through one of its subsidiaries, to acquire privately-held Wayport, Inc., a leading provider of managed Wi-Fi services in the United States, for approximately $275 million in cash.

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The day I hopped on Southwest Airlines headed to South Padre International Music Festival, there was an earthquake.  When I climbed on a plane to return to Love Field, there was a landslide — I got back just in time to cast a dissenting vote in the election.  Oh well.  In the days between, my Texas Tech climbed to #2 in the polls, and I got to attend a miniature Sun Splash with Steel Pulse … I saw Blue Oyster Cult again, and checked out Ghostland Observatory and many other bands.  Most notable — THE braided one — Willie Nelson — closed the festival.  Kudos to Willie and his family for adding SPI to their schedule.

The festival is growing, the acts are worthy of the travel, and the off season on Padre is refreshing, if you have every swarmed the beach during Spring Break — 6 pings, near-perfect, room to grow.

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I contacted Major Garrett of FOX News a few weeks ago, to get the opinions of yet another respected network veteran, leading up to Election Day. I had no idea Garrett’s name would be a hot topic on this the day before what has been one of the most historic of all elections. Garrett was gracious to respond, in written interview format, providing an excellent complement to an earlier interview of CBS’ Bob Schieffer posted here at www.pingwi-fi.com.

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If you are viewing the site using Internet Explorer, there is a malfunction and the Major Garrett interview has not been loading properly.  Please except our apologies as we atempt to remedy the situation.  Word Press doesn’t like text copied from other word processing programs … Kind of hit or miss apparently.

More to come …

… Brief pause in the action at South Padre Island:

“I am a product of the Mike Leach System.”

Click on the Double T.

A few years ago, I flew on Southwest to Midland/Odessa and attended an outdoor concert in a great little amphitheater.  It occurred to me, if an airline like Southwest would offer special deals, would concert lovers in the big cities fly to smaller cities?  You get to see great bands, in intimate venues, without fighting the multitudes.  That night, I watched a great country act — at a concert my brother was promoting — by an unheard of but up-and-coming group called Rascal Flats.

This week, I hopped on board Southwest and flew to Harlingen for the South Padre International Music Festival, and it is like deja vu all over again.  Great acts — legends and newbies — manageable crowds, cool venues … oh and the Gulf of Mexico just beyond the stages.

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In part one of the interview with CBS News luminary Bob Schieffer, the focus was his recent role as content cop (moderator) of the final McCain/Obama debate.  In our discussion he proved to be the quintessential journalist – opinionated when appropriate, but objective, like his gathering and reporting of the news.

Now with just a few more days left for voters to debate “fo they ownself” … let’s take another look at the newsman’s book, Bob Schieffer’s America.

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It’s so Halloween.

As I was driving to Dallas’ Love Field, getting ready to hop on the Love airline, I heard on KRLD radio that there were at least two earthquakes overnight, just south of DFW Airport in the 3-point range.  Dang!  Ground turbulence!

I can just hear the conversation in the cockpit, “Someone hold the ground still, so I can land this thing.”

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