Techno Geek

Karlo has given me this title a long time ago. I definitely have a fine appreciation for electronic gadgets. Despite the fact that I usually don't have much patience with them, I still love them and believe that I need most of them.

But the two that I bought this week really were necessities and I'm very excited about both of them. First of all, I'm happy to announce that our Love Shack is now livable. Sure it may not have heat, electricity, nor running water, but who really needs those things when you have WiFi? Yesterday was a very special day when I sent my first ever email from inside the Shack. I bought a little device that doubles the strength of a wireless router. It's called a Hawking Range Extender and I'll be darned, it did the trick. The install was very simple and I just plugged in this magic little box and set it in our screened porch. It sends a nice strong signal clear across the yard to the Shack. Now if we can just get the electricity there wirelessly to avoid digging a trench we will be all set.

And speaking of magic boxes, this second purchase nearly has me giddy. Tomorrow I am planning to make the long-awaited called to Charter Communications to tell them to cancel our land line. Ahhh, just the thought of that makes me smile. Why on Earth we own a land line is beyond me. Neither of us ever makes a call and we fight about who should answer in the unlikely event the phone actually rings. So why pay $40/month for this minor annoyance? I bought something called an XLink Bluetooth Cellular Gateway. What is that you ask? Well, it's a device that I never even knew existed before last week. It's the answer to my prayers and here's how it works. You can use the regular land lines in your house. All you need to do it unplug a phone from the wall and plug it into this little box. Then you set your cell phone to wirelessly communicate with the device via Bluetooth (That's the catch. Your phone must have Bluetooth capabilities, but most do. ) When your cell phone receives a call, your house phone will ring. We can hook up to three different cell phones and even change the ring tone so we would know if it was Karlo's phone ringing or mine = no more fights about who should answer. You can even pick up the house phone and make a call with it (using your cellular minutes). Goodbye $40/month phone bill . . . and hello iPhone (when and if Verizon ever offers it). Now I can have the fancy expensive phone guilt free.

PS - I will notify everyone via email when our land line is officially dead, in the unlikely event that anyone gets the urge to call it.