The top of our microwave is our “readiness center”. It’s key storage, cell phone storage (and power station), need-to-take-with-me-tomorrow storage. Occasionally other things get dumped there too, but I try to keep it tidy and uncluttered so you can find the important stuff.

Last night Bill was trying to find room for all his electronic gadgets, some of which needed to be charged. It was frustrating for him. I would have helped, but I was trying to slice fruit for breakfast.

Unhelpful Wife: “You have too many gadgets.”

Unhappy Husband: “I have exactly how many gadgets I need for my job!”

Well, he has one extra gadget than his day-job requires…but I want him to have it for me: his cell phone. I do like to be able to reach him, especially to find out if he’ll be home in time to take a child to some activity!

Being a general’s assistant executive officer requires him to have a Blackberry and a cell phone (in case the Blackberry doesn’t have coverage – a bit of overkill, I think). And since he is required to pay for all personal calls made or received on his work cell phone, he has his own (he already had it anyway, so no change there).

It’s a good thing those uniforms have so many pockets. In fact, if they made those shirts in a lighter fabric in a nice blue color, I might get one. And the pockets on the pants are definitely big enough for a diaper and a small pack of baby wipes. Then I would just need to find sippy cups with carabiner clips to hook on my belt loops and I’d be free from toting a diaper bag around. This would allow me to chase wayward children who wander into parking lots.

Technologically speaking, I’m a bit slow on what the different things do nowadays. (Boy, do I sound old or what?) Seriously, I can’t tell you the difference between an MP3 and a CD. I really don’t know why anyone would want to take photos with their cell phone (a digital camera is much better). And I don’t feel the need to receive (or send) text messages while I’m at the grocery store.

But I do like the Blackberry. And so does Bill. He gets stuck outside meetings all the time waiting for his boss. And while he waits, he goes through his email (most of which is work related) and he does his job. But he can also get my notes, and links to amusing articles I send to him. He doesn’t always have the time to read them or respond to them, but it’s nice having that open line.