Finally it all made sense. Having a smartphone is an absolute must, especially if you live in tornado alley and find yourself seeking shelter under basement steps during tornado warnings. In fact, earlier this week as the winds kicked in at 90 mph uprooting our deck umbrella from its peaceful slumber and ripping it to shreds before flinging pieces of it out onto the lawn, I found myself tracking wall clouds and storm warnings via weather.com on my sweet little Treo. All this as power outages hit various locations around the city, having no affect whatsoever on our online activity. Oh no. We were good to go with internet access at our fingertips, right down there under the basement steps. Unfettered.

So guess who wouldn’t give this new gadget up for the world after that ordeal?

For those of you blog readers out there keeping in touch via Pownce or Twitter, you already know that I’ve recently gone mobile on a fancy-dancy TREO smartphone. Everyone else is completely in the dark to this little secret of mine. So I thought I’d be all nice and get everybody up to speed on my gadget of the moment: the Palm Treo 755P.

And yes, it is a sweet one, let me tell you that right now. *drool*

So here’s the low down with this new device: I can send and receive email, internet surf, instant message, synchronize my calendar/tasks/contacts, take pictures, record movies AND talk to my people like nobody’s business. What more could an IT’er want, right? Well, actually there IS one thing that I do want, but WordPress is forcing me to struggle with it—blogging via email. Suckers. As if I don’t have anything better to do than install patches on my blog host. *hmfft*

Anyway meanwhile, please excuse me while I play with this funky new toy divine piece of technology. Carry on as you were.

Rather than post a blog about all the fun I’ve been having with our out-of-state family visitors, like the kind of blog that would describe our evening jaunt to the shopping center where we tested out iPhones at the Apple store and bought funky key chains & earrings at Claire’s and hunkered down on fantabulous ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, I thought better of it and decided to blog about something else. Such as about how…

Elvis Died 30 Years Ago Today

I remember that day ever so clearly. Standing in the commons area of the Air Force Base daycare dungeon institution facility next to the window counting down the minutes until Mom would arrive and free my sister and me from the excruciating boredom and disgust we experienced while locked up with a bunch of bratty, urine-stinking grade schoolers on summer vacation, a SPECIAL REPORT began flashing on the communal television blaring ELVIS IS DEAD! And suddenly, institutionalized daycare wasn’t quite so bad as kids and daycare workers came running from all directions to learn the latest news about Elvis. It was all so surreal, happening in slow motion-like form. How could ELVIS die? Elvis was bigger than life! Impossible!!

That’s how I remember today 30 years ago. Terrible that as a 7 year old, I had my first exposure to the death of an American icon by way of drug overdose. A day I will never forget.

Do you remember where you were when you heard the news 30 years ago today?

What Your Pizza Reveals

People may tell you that you have a small appetite… but you aren’t under eating. You just aren’t a pig. You are a very picky pizza eater. Not any pizza will do. You fit in best in the Northeast part of the US. You like food that’s traditional and well crafted. You aren’t impressed with “gourmet” foods. You are dependable, loyal, and conservative with your choices. You are cultured and intellectual. You should consider traveling to Vienna. The stereotype that best fits you is guy or girl next door. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being average.

Ok, I was good with my results right up until that last sentence… average?! Dang. So now I’m dying to know what you got on this one.