Spent much of the day running around to various meetings and errands to get stuff done before I temporarily close up the Colorado office and return to the New York office. I’ll be back in the Big Apple from Thursday, March 27th through Monday, April 7th. And after that? A week off we like to refer to around here as “gettin’ married!”
But before I go off and do all that, I’ve been thinking about my time AFK — Away From Keyboard, for those of you not up on your l33tspeak. Now granted, with one computer down here in my office, and another one upstairs in Rexroth’s office, it’s not too often that I’m all that far away from a keyboard. But occasionally, yes, it happens.
And when it does, I depend on my little silver Motorola Q. You can keep your blackberries, blueberries, and palms. I like my Q. First of all — its name reminds me of the guy from the Bond movies who makes all the nifty gadgets for 007. Phone + camera + internet browser + music player? Yes, please! If only it also served martinis. What it does let me do, though, is check my email while I’m waiting in line. Browse news feeds while sitting in the passenger seat of the Implausible-mobile. And hear about exciting awards being given to my clients (details when I can release them).
And when I’m running off to lunch with an editor next week in New York, it lets me map the restaurant where we’re meeting and find the closest subway.
Genius, I tell you, genius.
Besides your computer, what other high-tech devices help you keep your life in order? What do you swoon for, and what can’t you live without?
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4 thoughts on “AFK, but not entirely”
Wow. Sounds busy! I just got married a few years ago, and I remember those weeks right before the wedding. They were crazy–and I wasn't even trying to fit a trip to New York into the plans.
As for gadgets I can't live without, I have to admit that I adore my iPod. I know, I know…such a cliche. And as for helping me keep my life in order, it's the reason I can make myself exercise, wash dishes, or do a hundred other boring tasks. And trying to write with my chatty husband around is quite difficult without those earbuds firmly implanted in my ears.
Have a fantastic trip!
Although the only part of my life it helps keep in order is my brain, I can't live without my iPod. I keep my inspiration in there.
I couldn't live (happily) without my T-Mobile Dash. It's a lot like your Q, but it sounds a lot faster 😉
What I love most is that when I can't whip out my laptop to write or take notes, I can use my Dash because it can edit and sync with all of my MS Office programs, and I don't have to try to decipher my own handwriting when I go back to type it into my documents later on. It plays music and movies, and has provided me with an ungodly amount of quality Bubble Breaker time. It's going to be in our next family portrait.
My laptop (I know we're supposed to say "notebook" these days, but if I had just said "notebook," you would have imagined my life orbiting around a little pad of paper) is my everything these days. Since becoming self-employed in October, it's my office, my reminder that there's a world outside my home office, my jukebox, and so much more.
But you said besides computers. That's easy too. I have to admit I'm a cell phone late bloomer. I'm not a big fan of the phone, but I needed one for my business, so I finally broke down and got one. But it's not just any phone, it's an LG Voyager. It looks more like a mini laptop (notebook, fine) when I open it up instead of using the handy-dandy-and-oh-so-cool touchscreen and, like your Q, let's me check my e-mail, keep track of appointments and mileage (though I'm kind of sporadic with remembering to do that), look stuff up on IMDB when watching something with my wife, text the kids, listen to music, take pics and videos, jot down story ideas, and just about everything else.
If it were just a phone, I'd probably still be a holdout. Unless I could find an old eighties "brick" that works on today's networks. That would be kind of cool.