Greetings from the future, reader.  I’m now fully operational on the two devices that will make my walk bloggable from the road: my Toshiba Netbook and my Motorola Droid. As I type this, my 2.5-pound netbook (the one with the 11-hour battery life) is connected via a mini-usb cable to my absolutely magical smartphone.  The result: my phone functions as a 3G modem for my computer. I can now access the internet anywhere in the country where a Verizon 3G signal can be found — and if you’ve seen any of those atrocious commercials Verizon always seems to favor, you know that said connection can be found almost anywhere (save for West Virginia).

This is the setup that will allow me to upload to my blog from the comfort of my tent. This is the setup that will allow me to continue bringing the often absurd media content you’ve grown accustomed to viewing on this site.  This is the setup that will make my walk far, far easier than it would have been as recently as two years ago.

At some point today, I plan on taking a picture of all the other gear that will help make my walk (relatively) easy. I think you’ll be properly surprised at how much stuff I’ll be hauling around — and about how small and light all that stuff tends to pack down.

I’ll be back at you tomorrow, reader.  Or more precisely, as it’s guest post Thursday, my brother will be back at you tomorrow.  Until then, let’s all keep our fingers crossed that the Cubs will look way better than that ridiculous version of a team they trotted out on Monday.