Shoup Airlines

This Week in Geek

I will freely admit that I am a geek. Not quite the eyes glazed over, all hours of the night Warcraft playing, Vulcan eared kid back in college that knew every Mortal Kombat combination possible that no matter how badly you cheated you still lost in less than a minute. That was my college roommate. Nor am I the geek that has to have the doesn’t matter what it does, nor how expensive it is, nor how rapidly it will become obsolete by it’s version 2.0, but just ’cause it’s cool, piece of latest gadgetry that has been unleashed on the market. I personally like this type of geek, I call him my product tester. I could go on but then I’d just be in my usual rambling mode and that’s no fun for anyone.

All geeks have several things in common. First, at a young age we were introduced to either Star Wars or Star Trek or both for that matter, which is the typical foundation for geekdom. I will never get over the vehement arguments that occur between the Lucas and Roddenberry factions. Witnessing one of those conflicts is hilarity with a capital ‘H!’ I fear what wars the next generation will spawn when The Lord of the Rings clans go up against the Harry Potters!

Second, all geeks have an innate ability with computers. In fact, if you want to have some fun at work, walk over to your IT, MIS, Tech, or whatever you call it department and state “Lightsabers or phasers, which one is better?” Let simmer for roughly five minutes, sit back, and enjoy. Caution: Only guaranteed to work with three or more geeks, one or two and you have the possibility of finding yourself on the wrong end of that loaded gun.

Lastly, and this is how you find the closet geeks, they have a subscription to Popular Science. I got addicted to the magazine when someone left a copy in the airplane one day. I warn you, it doesn’t take long to get hooked. All the latest gadgetry, stuff you didn’t know existed on the net, and articles that sometimes rival the truly geek question of whether androids dream of electric sheep. What else could a dork ask for!?

Finally, getting to the point of this dragging monologue, PopSci had a blurb on some new camping technology. North Face has a new tent that can survive 132 mph winds. Thank God The North Face is leading this front in camping technology! Alas, I remember my days in the Boy Scouts when you’d get that sinking feeling the winds might whip up into an F2 tornado category and take you or your friends with them. Scouts and campers, the world over, can now rest easy knowing their Spectrum will be able to withstand gale force winds that rip roofs off, knock box cars over, and send trailers into oblivion. Hey! Someone needs to introduce the North Face people to the Airstream people!

My only question is this: Who gets to be the unlucky chap that positions the tent into the wind if said winds come up?