New Gadgets

In honor of the Simpsons Movie, here are Don and Thomas as Simpsons characters. (You can make your own Simpsons avatar at simpsonsmovie.com.)

We just got back from the Simpsons Movie, and speaking as a long-time Simpsons fan, it was enormous fun.

The other day Don got his tax refund money (okay, he was late sending in his return this year), so we have some new gadgets.

Just in time to replace his ailing cellphone, Thomas got a Treo 680, which combines the functions of a state-of-the-art Palm PDA with a cellphone. We are both great fans of Palm devices; this one replaces the ancient Handspring Visor that has served Thomas well over the years. (Among other things, it holds his entire database of Star Wars toys & stuff.)

Once we transferred all his information, and managed to get Graffiti 1 handwriting recognition installed, Thomas has really taken to the new Treo.

Meanwhile, Don yielded to temptation and got an iPhone. This replaces his crappy Verizon cellphone.

In the course of getting all this new hardware, we also said a fond farewell to Verizon as our cellphone company, and signed up with AT&T. If you want an iPhone, you have to use AT&T, and when we found out that they also work with the Treo, the decision was easy. (Yes, we've heard bad things about AT&T. We've heard just as many bad things about the other carriers...and Verizon sure wasn't a model of good service.)

So now we're both having a wonderful time getting used to our new gadgetry.

Artscape

This weekend, Thomas participated in Artscape, Baltimore's annual arts festival. In the Art Cars section, he showed off Meerkat 6, his Star Wars themed Jetta. The droid on top is named J3-T74 (get it?). The car made a big hit, and Thomas had a wonderful time.


Meanwhile, on Wednesday Don got his prescription shoes with custom-fitted inserts. They help a lot, although his foot still hurts at the end of the day. Over the weekend, Don worked his first 4-hour Sunday shift since going in the hospital. He worked at his old stomping ground, the Severna Park Library, and worked with some friends from around the county. (Sunday work, which pays time-and-a-half, is voluntary and available to everyone in the county library system -- only a few branches are open on Sundays, so we get to work with people from all over.)

Lastly, here's a picture of Koltar, our adorable black hamster: