Until recently I had a very long ethernet cable in my computer carrier. Its gone missing, and in Fairfield I had to borrow one from the front desk of the motel. In Santa Rosa I'm using a modem connetion via the phone cord and a dedicated wall plug. I'm also getting a lot of involuntary disconnects.I used to carry a fairly elaborate modem kit which allowed a variety of hookups, but my main motel went wireless and the kit scattered. Almost everywhere I go is wireless these days.

Speaking of which, the 2nd floor of the Humboldt County courthouse is wireless, but its pay to play. The law library, 2 floors down, is not wireless. Does this make sense? The Mendocino Courthouse does not seem to be wireless at all. I can hardly wait for universal wirelessness. I understand the town of Rio Dell is going wireless - if that small town can do it, surely the larger cities can.

I've stayed in 5-star hotels in exotic capitals, but when it comes to road trips as a lawyer there is no substitute for location. When I have a case in Santa Rosa the location is anywhere within walking distance of the Sonoma County Courthouse, and the ideal space is filled by the Motel 6 at Bicentenial Ave's overpass of US 101. I always stay here when I'm going to morning court in Santa Rosa, and for some reason the only court time I seem to get here is morning.

Its luxury lite. I have a bathtub at the Motel 6, which the Economy Inn in Ukiah does not offer, and I have internet service - but it is dial up. I have to disconnect the phone to get a cord to use the dedicated wall plug for the internet, but as the song goes, I'm surfing just the same. (Well, it goes something like that, it was written in the early 20th century). Otherwise the room here has a bed, a table, a desk, bathroom, sink, rack to hang clothes - the works. Well, no holder to set the suitcase on, and no icebox or microwave. I never use those appliances, or even the TV, which there is one of, so its ok with me.

I'm paying $50 a night here, with all the taxes added in, because I booked the room on the internet - while drinking a tea at Schatt's in Ukiah late this morning. Saved five bucks. Which paid for my Starbucks drive-thru Chai Latte with Vanilla that I got when I took the wrong turn in Ukiah. Think of it. It wasn't long ago that I'd never been to a Starbucks. Now I'm using the drive-thru. Man is the great adapter.

PS Blogstream's spellcheck is unaware of "internet" and "ok" as valid English words

Thanks to Mapquest I got to the MCLE in the interesting looking Administration Building in Fairfield. And right on the corner was a Starbucks. I had never been in a Starbucks before, because I don't drink coffee. But it was break time, I was groggy from getting in late and up early, so I went in to see about a Thai tea. The young woman behind the counter said "What's a Thai tea?" A tea with lots of milk in it, I said. "Oh, a Chai tea latte with vanilla" she said. She was kind of right. It'll do in a pinch.

The lectures ended a 4:45 and it was rush hour Friday so I didn't dare go south to 37 to cross over to 101 North. I had to get home to put my show together to get to KMUD in the morning at 9:30. So I went up the back way. North to 505, to 16 at the Esparta exit and up the Cache Creek canyon. It was beautiful. All the farm land is green and looking like Disney's Happy Valley. The canyon entrance is impressive rock massifs, and then the red bud is in bloom everywhere, along with a more pink frilly bush blooming in the creek beds. It was every bit as wonderful as I recalled. Its short lasting, however. Some of the rosebud are already showing leaf.

I'm in Fairfield tonight getting ready to attend an all-day session of Continuting Legal Education tomorrow. Its all about trials, which I haven't done one of for months. On the way down got word that one which I was setting a month aside for may be about to settle. Its ok, I need the credits.

Stopped at Patrona for a glass of wine ($9) and a bowl of sausage soup ($5). Both delicious but something about the prices seems reversed. Did I mention that Ukiah has a great booksstore, open at night, on the street behind the courthouse. That's where I got my copy of the Iliad and the Odyssey, new, for $2.50 each. Dover Thrift Editions

The Best Western in Fairfield doesn't open the door for people signing in at night. They deal with you through a small security window, just like the low class chains in the tough neighborhoods. Fairfield doesn't look so tough, but its nighttime and I'm only seeing the area of the freeway exit. Still, it was a surprise. I thought Best Western was more classy than that.

Well faithful readers will know that about 21 hours ago I arrived at the Los Angeles Airport (LAX) for a routine flight to Arcata. I'm still here. Horizon cancelled the delayed flight at 10:20 last night. They gave us a Hilton Hotel pass, and then just to be sure we spent as much time as possible in the airport rather than the hotel, said we had to pick up our bags because they can't keep them overnight. Of course the bags were not ready when we got to the baggage claim. A few minutes later and we were dragging our luggage across the street to the shuttle for the hotel. There were a lot of us and we all jammed on the shuttle. Our arrival at the Hilton seems to have been a surprise to the Hilton. No doubt Horizon called them to say we were coming, right? There was no one working the reception desk so we formed a long line and waited. After 10 or 15 minutes a young woman came out with a clipboard, asked us what was going on, and organized check-in clerks. I would say it didn't take more than 1/2 hour to get checked in to what proports to be a luxury hotel. No wonder people struggle so hard to get rich.

The room was comfortable, the beds nice, the bath water hot in the morning. We had received a $8 breakfast coupon so I packed and went down to the buffet. Surprise, the buffet is $18.95 at the Hilton. It was possible to sit at a table and for about $9 get a bowl of cold cereal, but I passed on that and hopped the shuttle again. After that things went very well. Now I knew the ropes so I went directly to Horizon baggage check -in, they updated my boarding pass, I knew the odd route to take my bag to the X-ray machine (you hand it through a barrier belt - there is no actual entrance), and had my belt off well before I got to the security screener.

Almost everyone's bag has wheels now. The halls of this wing of the airport are tiled with what look like 8" square tiles and when the wheels of the bags run across the tiles they make a sound like a railroad engine. How I wish I were on the train.