I've Been Assimilated !!!

For those of you not part of the Palm Pilot / Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) revolution, it is well and truly here.


I bought my first PDA in the fall of 2001 (after the crash of Professional One Limousine.) I bought it with my first paycheck after the fall, mostly because I saw a co-worker (a temporary nurse from an Agency) at the Nursing Home I was working at using a PDA, which caught my eye almost immediately. She had loaded a Nursing Drug Handbook onto hers, which meant she not only had one availabe at all times on the job, but the lookup was lightning fast, too -- saved a lot of time.

Fast **and** accurate? I was sold right there.

My first PDA was made by a company called Handspring. They were the cheif competitor with Palm; which Palm also recognized when they bought them out. (They're called "PalmOne" currently.) The similarities were obvious; both Palm and Handspirng shared their Operating System, Programs, and desktop software. Handspring differed in that they had an Accessory Port into which you could plug available hardware; like a camera, GPS device, additional memory cards, E-books . . . all kinds of neat stuff. Although I never bought any of the hardware, I liked the idea of having it available.

Well, a PDA is designed to last about 2-3 years, and mine was almost 4 . . . so I decided to upgrade. I had gotten tired of lugging around both the PDA and a cellphone, so I looked for one that combined the two. Researched out the different models, checked around for the best deals, and found the TREO 650. Top of the line and brand-new; it has many times more memory than the older Handspring, as well as a built-in camera, video recorder, calculator, and internet browser. I've also downloaded software so I have databases to contain all the information I need to know about my patients at work; plus my drug book, a Taber's Medical Dictionary, and three different versions of the Bible. I'm going to buy more software to load the entire DSM-IV (psychological diagnostic manual). With the old Handspring I was lucky to get the Drug Book and the Bible in there.)

And, of course, the old reliable Palm OS still has the dependable standbys of "Contacts" (which pretty much has every name and phone number of everyone I've ever met -- painstakingly entered from my old Address Books over time); an Appointment Calendar to keep track of meetings, work schedules, and such; the "Memo" feature which lets me keep everything from genealogical information to favorite quotations to Erikson's Stages of Adolescent Development; and the "To-Do" features, which lets me make lists of things I need. Shopping Lists. Christmas Lists. List of the Garth Brooks albums I need to complete my collection. List of my Disney videos . . . etc, etc.

And a cellphone. And a Realplayer MP3 Player. And I haven't even figured half this stuff out yet.

So very . . . . Star Trek!

The good news about this is that you'll be seeing more photos since i now always have a camera with me. This may not be a good thing, as you'll see below. Julian surely doesn't think it is . . . at the moment.

Julian, at the Cingular store, waiting for his Dad (and him as well, of course) to get a new phone.)

Rodeo, Robin Calls, & Miscellany

(1) I'm Experiencing the Joys of Tooth-Whitening.

My dentist here in San Antonio was running a special on Tooth-Whitening ($99.00 -- quite a deal, really) so I bit (pardon the pun) and shelled out the cash for it. (Most insurance plans won't pay for bleaching.)

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the process. First, they make an impression of your teeth; then they make a mold of your mouth so they can make a mold for the bleach solution to sit on your teeth -- a retainer, of sorts.

You have to do the bleaching for 30 minutes a day for 2 weeks. They say after 5 days you have 90% of the whitening you'll ever get. If that's so, I'm very happy with the results. I'm certainly not "American Idol" white, but the difference is noticeable. My teeth actually look white for the first time in a long time. Women return my smile. Children no longer laugh. Babies no longer recoil in fright and shreik in horror.

Yeah, it was worth it. It may have been a silly, narcissitic thing to do, but it was worth it. So now with the full beard, no more glasses, and shiny white teeth, I dunno if anyone will recognize me if I ever get back to Indiana.


(2) It's Finally Springtime in South Texas.

I tell you, these three-week winters are KILLERS! This winter was particularly vicious; it actually got to 28 degrees Twice!

It's funny the little things you notice, or rather, don't notice until they're gone. As I walked out to my car in the pre-dawn dark this morning I heard the a familiar sound I haven't heard in a couple of years. It was a sound of my youth; one of the first bird calls I'd been able to identify in Boy Scouts. A song so clear and common it literally sings of the Midwest. Yet hearing it here in South Texas for the first time, I realized suddenly how much had changed in my life.

It was a Robin's call.

I recognized it instantly, yet just as quickly realized it was completely out-of place here. Robins are a "seasonal" bird here, as they pass through on their way to-and-from Mexico during migration. The call of the Robin in South Texas bookends the coldest part of winter here.

So, strangely enough, the "first Robin of Spring" in South Texas means the same thing here as in Northwest Indiana. We just don't have the pleasure of their company through the Summer months, and I miss them.


(3) South Texas has no County Fair!

Seems almost obscene, doesn't it? Up North in Indiana the year just isn't complete without a trip to the Fair in August. And while lots of the counties around San Antonio have county fairs, Bexar County does not.

It does, however, have a Rodeo.

Rodeo comes the week before Ash Wednesday, and it's just exactly what it sounds like. Calf roping; bull-riding; broncho-bustin' Western goodness.

It costs a ton (about $20.00 a person to get in, and about that for parking, so it's pricey) so we haven't been there yet. But it's been too long since I've smelled that pungent odor of methane from the south end of a northbound cow, so we may well do it this year.

After Easter it's the "Battle of the Flowers" Parade. I'm not sure I can even adequately begin to explain this. Think of it as hispanic Mardi Gras done after Easter instead of before; and throw in lots of Tequila and firearms.

God, how I LOVE this place.