New techno-toy!!

Out of sheer necessity of real property appraising in 2009, I'm pretty computer-savvy. My computer technician moans and groans that, when I call, it is always something major, because if it is anything less-than-major, I'm fully capable of fixing it myself. I only scream "Mercy!" and call him when I've exhausted every other resource.

Computers and other techn0-toys used to sort of go together, didn't they? Remember those days? If you were good on a computer, you were just pretty decent with technology as a whole. If you haven't wandered through a large electronics store lately, let me inform you that those days are over! There are a gazillion gadgets and doo-dads out there that I have no idea how to operate, and don't have any intention of learning before they are obsolete.

With my dear teenage sons around, I was beginning to feel a little out of date, but their techno-needs are pretty simple. I mean......let's face it......they get their thrills by smashing other boys on the football field and wrestling mats. They love their MP3 players and the convenience of their cell phones, but don't spend a lot of time exploring their full range of uses. But with the employment of my appraisal assistant last May, I have quickly come to the conclusion that I am becoming a dinosaur. Unbelievable to me, Amber can text with her hand and cell phone in her pocket! Accurately! She laughs hysterically when she watches me send one of my rare hunt-and-peck texts. Great......I'm humor fodder.

Until today! My cell phone plan was up for renewal, and I acquired a new phone complete with a QWERTY keypad. It has both the numeric keypad and the QWERTY, with the QWERTY revealed only when you slide the thing open. Magic!!! And, oh-so-modern! Groovy!

So.......when Amber comes to work tomorrow, I'm going to wave my new toy under her nose. No doubt she will still be able to out-text me with her numeric keypad hidden in her pocket.......but at least I look modern. And, no, I did not get a Smartphone with internet. Quite frankly, I just don't want to be that "available" to my email and I have no desire to use Facebook (or any other website) while I'm wandering the random world. Not to mention that cell reception is still a bit "spotty" out here in the rural outlands. As for Twitter.......there isn't anybody out there that needs to know (or care) what I'm doing right now. Period.

But still........I'm rather enjoying my new toy. I've already tried out the texting with the keyboard and I'm way faster than I was punching on a numeric keypad. I loaded an animated wallpaper on the home-page, typed my name in the banner, and customized my ringtones. What....that gets me up to speed with........2003? :)