High-Tech Features of our Home

All my life, I have been teased for loving gadgets with features. I love things that go "click" and make little beeping sounds. I love even more when they end up meaning something! While I was wide awake this morning at 3:00 AM (I will blame self-diagnosed Christmas-Eve Brain Syndrome, or being too excited to shut my brain off), I was reflecting on how much technology, gadgets, and features we have in our house!

We have five computers between the two of us. We each have a personal laptop as well as a work laptop. John also has a desktop computer that he has hooked up to our television. We are now able to check email, surf the web, and find necessary shoes on the big screen! In addition, John has downloaded every Nintendo game known to man and can play it using forty-six inches of LCD goodness instead of his small computer screen. See? I married someone who likes features, too!

But I have to tell you about my absolute favorite gadget of late. I bought it for free with my credit card cash-back awards in January as a present to myself for passing my Airline Transport Pilot check ride in Wichita. I felt guilt for about an hour before realizing 1) it was free and 2) it was really stinkin' cool. So I quickly moved past the guilt and have loved every second of my iPod Touch since then. What a machine!

I have a bunch of helpful applications on there, and some are just for fun! It has a great map feature that acts as a GPS to get me to my destinations. I can check my email on it for free as long as I am connected to wi-fi. I can see how miserably hot (or not) it will be today in Phoenix. I can look at all of my uploaded pictures to the internet through Photobucket. I can find the nearest Redbox and even check availability of movies we want to see. I can listen to the radio online via Pandora, which I absolutely love. After typing in a song, it finds similar songs that it thinks I will like. And it hasn't led me astray yet! I can create shopping lists and then cross items off as I find them in stores. I can discover what's for dinner using one of a dozen recipe-finding apps. I can track airplanes on FlightAware. I can study bones and anatomy and even take quizzes to see how well I am paying attention. I can see a 3-D view of the night sky and find any information on stars and constellations (I love this app...it makes me feel smart!). I can shop for anything, including houses, great deals at Target, and online wonders at Amazon. I can play games like Paper Toss when I am waiting for Big Boss to show up at the airport. I can take a 3-D tour of any major city in the United States, and this has come in pretty handy when I am on the ground in NYC trying to remember which cross-street Central Park is located. I can set up a weight-loss game plan and track everything I eat throughout the day. I can translate any statement into any language, then even have it say it for me so I don't sound like a foreigner! I can convert ounces to cups and then some with converting tool that has saved me more than once in the kitchen. I can check to see when the next Suns game is, and even check the score of the tough game last night on the east coast. I can learn everything there is to know about how to grow a garden and when to plant what. I can create workouts and watch tutorials as to proper execution. And I can keep my life in check with a calendar.

Even though my husband is avidly against Mac and Apple of any kind, he tolerates my iPod Touch because of how dang handy it is. I love the little monster and find new, free applications every day that only serve to make my life more easy.

The technological tour of our home is now complete! I love gadgets and features. Beep beep!