Sometimes it’s the small things that make me happy

I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but I recall that my love affair with organizers began when Chris gave me my first Day Planner/Organizer.  It happened when he says to me, “I got a nicer one of these, you want this one?” I was overcome by his thoughtfulness, he could have tossed it in the dumpster, but instead gave it to me! The days of carrying a bulky wallet had come to an end. No longer would I write dates, appointments or phone numbers on a slip of paper to be lost or emulsified in the washer. I loved that I could go to Staples and get calendar refills with The Far Side or Dilbert and other cool inserts. I used that system through college and it served me well.

The next leap in the evolution of organizers was the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). I like toys, but couldn’t justify the expense. It was my promotion to Associate Case Worker at Lifeways in 2000, that ushered me into the digital age. I was given a Handspring Visor. Black & white LCD screen, fold-out keyboard, and nifty games that we could beam to one another during staff meetings and in-service trainings. Alas, I had to turn it in when I was laid- off during the “down-turn” in the economy in 2002.

I went back to the paper organizer for a time, but I was bit by the technology bug. Once I was gainfully employed again, I began to search on eBay for a Handspring of my own.  But after I got it, Rick showed me his Palm with a color screen… I had to have one! I went back to eBay.

I got my first m515 in 2004. It was awesome! It had 10x as much memory as my old Handspring and the applications were in COLOR! I felt like I did when I got a roommate that had a color TV and I didn’t have to watch the B&W set I was ‘borrowing’ from my grandmother.  There is a certain amount of interest that PDA’s generates, for example, I get asked to demonstrate the WeightWatchers On-The-Go app rather frequently at meetings. I feel like I am demonstrating fire for the Neanderthals. ooooo…. it looks up the points for you! 

I call it my first m515, because I lost it as a result of the wreck in September 2005. I always wondered how long it lasted for the goober that found it. Did they attempt to contact me? I got my cellphone back, so I think not. How long did it survive on the last charge I gave it? Did they buy the accessories and wipe its memory and are still using it today? Or did they play with it until it died, before tossing it in the garbage?

My second (and current) m515 didn’t have as much installed memory, so I bought a 256mb expansion card to keep all my games (I still had the CD). Life continued on, until last summer I noticed that it didn’t have its old ’staying power’.  I had to leave it on the charger longer and the charge didn’t last as long as it once did. Realizing that gadgets don’t live forever, I started shopping for a replacement.

The current crop of PDA’s just didn’t ‘do it’ for me. I didn’t like any of the lower priced units (the ones I could get past the Budget Office) and the ones that had all the options I wanted, were non-starters with the CFO. I began working on a plan to make this work when Rick told me that maybe I could replace the battery. WOW! I don’t buy a new flashlight every time they get weak, just buy a new battery! Brilliant!

So I bought one of these…

Now, it only takes about an hour to re-charge and it is keeping its charge for about 5 days (less, when The Wife has been playing Bejeweled).

And now, I am doing this…