OT - Dell can kiss my hairy northern nards, Huh? Options

[soloracer]

I went to a family gathering in Montana for a relative of mine who is being shipped to serve in Iraq for two years. He mentioned that they had internet access over there via a wireless network and that he was thinking of getting a laptop. I thought it would be nice for the family to all chip in and buy him one. We could load it with pictures and our e-mail addresses and give it to him before he ships out.

So I called Dell and went through the ordering process. Right at the end I told them that it was going to someone who was being shipped to Iraq for two years. Their response? They cancelled the order!!! They told me that they can't sell to anyone who is taking it to Iraq because Iraq is on a banned list and that if the computer got in the wrong hands they could be held liable. I explained that it was going to a man who was in the military and they basically said that they could care less. WTF?? What do service men use over there for internet access? Two cans and a ball of string?

[GWN7]

There is a lot of new security measures in place these days. I went into my local sporting goods store to order a .270 neck sizer die for reloading and was told it was on back order. Turns out that to export a lot of things you have to have government approval. The store orders new parts in (guns, reloading supplies, ect.) and 3 months after the rubber stamp is applied it can ship. I drove 2.5 hrs to the closest gun shop in North Dakota and bought the .270 die the next day. No problems at the border.

WoMBat...saw by your location your one step closer to home. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)