Congratulations to Chris Paytas, the winner of our Virgin Mobile Boradband2Go contest. Here’s Chris’ winning story:
As a youth pastor I’ve been to some pretty exotic (read: end of the earth) places. In the summer of 2006, while on a mission trip to a small village called La Cieba in Honduras, one of our students had a grand mal seizure. While we were fortunate that we were staying with a doctor, news still needed to get home to his parents about the incident. Not having phone service and with the nearest working phone an hour-plus drive away, we opted to use the sometimes-on-a-clear-day satellite Internet service. Having tried for several hours to send an email, only to have the Internet crash every time, we decided to take matters into our own hands. We climbed the building to get to the satellite dish and adjust its position. Not knowing the best spot for positioning we had to holler down to verify the signal strength every time. Realizing that trees were blocking the best positions, we grabbed a chainsaw and haphazardly cut away a clear path. We finally were able to get a decent enough signal when I climbed the remainder of the tree and held the dish over my head to send the email.
The student was fine. I have a more lasting memory, however: a four-inch scar on my leg from where I cut myself climbing the building.
Thanks to everyone who entered — I enjoyed reading all of your stories about the crazy things you’ve done to get Internet access!
What crazy things have you done to get Internet access?
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