Gadgets I Can't Live Without

Inspired by Philoking's post on Gadgets He Can't Live Without, here are my favorite gadgets:

Blackberry Pearl 8100 - Since this delivers my work email and it is my telephone, I never leave home without the Blackberry. Purchased when it first came out, the Pearl has great typing using SureType, email, web access, my calendar and contacts. With EDGE, I can browse the internet but it's not very speedy. The 8120 is out, but my plan isn't ready for an upgrade yet. I have added a 1 gig MicroSD card for picture and MP3 storage but since I mostly listen to podcasts on my Ipods (see below), I actually don't use it for a music player. The camera is only 1 megapixel, so I only use it in a picture taking emergency. It is a great device and I can hardly wait to get the 8120 which has wi-fi for making phone calls when out of service areas (my parents live where there is no T-Mobile), the SD card is on the side and the camera has been upgraded to a 2 megapixel model.

Ipod - I use the term loosely, as I have 5 ipods. I have an old 512 shuffle that is supposedly Dave's but I manage it for him. When I recently got a newer 1 gig shuffle, I said that was his, but I still use that one also. The 512 is on the treadmill for works and the 1 gig shuffle I use at night for listening to hypnosis audio books. I mostly use the 32 gig Ipod Touch as it does video and audio. It also has wi-fi which is handy except there doesn't seem to be wi-fi when I'm not at home or work and in both of those places, I typically don't need it because I have PC's. I also have a 4 gig Nano that I use when I don't need video or want something small and lightweight that I don't have to worry about breaking if I'm biking or working out. It also has GREAT battery life which the Ipod touch does NOT. I have a 5G video that I used to carry with me everywhere but the Ipod Touch has kind of replaced it because of the bigger video screen. So the 5G is now my "car" ipod since I have the Denison Ice ipod integration in my Honda Accord. I basically don't go anywhere without at least 1 Ipod and I'm almost always wearing or listening to one.

Laptop - If I were traveling, I would definitely take my laptop though now that I have the Ipod touch which does Google Reader, Twitter, Gmail and Facebook I may not need it. Though, if I needed to access my home or work PC the only way to do it would be through my laptop or using someone else's PC. I'm sure I will continue to travel with it. I would also need it to offload pictures from my camera SD card (though I have 2 and have never filled them both except when we got married). I currently have a 3 year old HP 15" laptop that I have upgraded the RAM and hard drive. We also use the HP laptop for our podcast and it works great when traveling.

Camera - My blackberry has a built it camera, but like I mentioned before it is only a 1 megapixel so it's not very good for pictures. I am a picture taking fool and also the dedicated family scrapbooker so I am always taking pictures at gatherings. I currently have an HP Photosmart R927 which I like a lot. It does take video and I wish it were better quality, but it has everything I need in a cheap point and shoot.

Car - I have a 2005 Honda Accord EX with V6, leather interior, sunroof, spoiler and bra that I couldn't get far without. I do ride the bus to and from work, but the Honda is a GREAT car that gets about 25 mpg in the city and up to 35ish on long trips. I bought it brand new and am about a week away from making the last payment!!

I also occasionally use my son's PSP and have a ton of other gadgets, but these are my favs!!

Happy Father's Day!

Today is Father's Day, so happy Father's Day to Dave, My Dad and all the other Dad's out there! Since we are all going to PF Changs for lunch today, I actually made Dave a Father's Day breakfast yesterday. Recently on America's Test Kitchen they made this wonderful "family" omelet which is what I made for Dave and I yesterday. It was delicious! The key to making it great was to cook all the ingredients (I used tomatoes, broccoli-slaw, bacon and a red pepper) first to get all the liquid out. Then after the eggs have set up, add the ingredients, top with cheese, lower the heat and cover. The eggs were cooked perfectly and the ingredients were integrated into the omelet wonderfully. We also went to dinner out at the Caldwell Elks Club as a Middleton High School fund raiser for a fire they experienced earlier this year. My friend Michelle's daughters go there and Traci was selling tickets so I bought them for us and Heather and Randy. Heather was out of town at a dog show and I'm not sure why Michelle and Gregg weren't there, but it was fun to go out and have dinner for a good cause. Tammy was there working so there was at least one familiar face. After dinner, we came home and watched Comic Relief 2006 and Dane Cook's Viscous Circle that we had on the Tivo.

Last week I finally braved the bus for the first time. I live close enough (5 minutes) to a stop and with the price of gas, my driving record (4 tickets/3 years) and trying to save on the environment I finally gave it a try. It was kinda fun and I hope to ride on any day that I don't need my car for other things. I got to work in only about 10 minutes longer and I was able to watch my video podcasts so that was cool.

Things are really gearing up at work for the reimaging and changeover next month and I'm doing everything I can to be prepared and organized so things go smoothly. I can just hardly wait until it's over. As a bonus, as soon as it is, Aaron will be flying home and spending the month of August with us. I'm also hoping we will take a 2 week trip to CA to visit friends and family and maybe spend another day in the city like we have 2 times before. Dave may even fly down to his Mom's and meet us there for a long weekend.

This week, my friend Wendy emailed me and asked me if I could fly up to WA in two weeks for an "appointment". I explained to her how crazy work was and asked her what was up. Well, she's getting married of all things! Of course, I'm going to do my best to be there for her on her special day.

This last Monday I was getting ready for work and my neck suddenly seized up leaving me with limited movement and a lot of pain. I went to work, but only for a few hours. I headed straight to the chiro and then home to bed where I watched so much TV I thought my brain would fall out. I stayed home Tuesday and well and got a massage which I think definitely helped. It's a bit better each day and I am definitely committed to walking the dogs each day and doing the 15 minute yoga show in the morning. I've also changed out my desk chair at home to use the stability ball which really helps with the posture. I'm also being very conscious of how much time I spend on the PC and taking frequent breaks. It's a hassle, but I think with the damage that has already been done, I'd better get a hold on this now before anything worse happens.

About a week ago, Adam Curry on the DSC announced he had done an interview on Bloomberg TV's Night Talk show. I immediately tried to figure out what channel Bloomberg was for us with DirectTV and since I couldn't remember the name of the show, looked around until I found the show and then picked up a season pass. Well, it aired late last week and Dave and I watched it. It was great, he talked about podcasting and explained himself very well. I then emailed Adam and asked him if he wanted me to pull the video off our Tivo and upload it somewhere. He suggested Podshow and Friday night I pulled the show off the Tivo and tried to upload it. Of course, the .TY format isn't accepted on hardly anything so I wasn't surprised that it didn't like that format. I changed it to MPEG and waited 4 hours for it to upload, only to find it failed because it couldn't be converted to flash. I then asked Dave to help me edit the file so I would be working with a smaller file. We cut out the commercials and the 2nd half the show that Adam wasn't on and then I spent Saturday trying different formats and uploading again and again. I even emailed Tom Wiles of the Trucker Tom and Finding America podcast for suggestions. I finally got it converted and uploaded this morning. Check it out here.