To be a true geek you have to have lots of gadgets. Plus you have to know how to use them. You also have to be very self absorbed. This post proves that for me.

The collage below shows just a few in our household. My latest is a weather station in our backyard. It is solar powered and has a wireless connection to a console in the house. It measures temperature, inside and outside, rainfall, wind direction, barometric pressure. The whole deal. I’m always giving Sweetie updates on the weather. She acts like she doesn’t appreciate them. But I know that she does. The next step is to tie it to a computer and have a weather station on the internet at www.weatherunderground.com. I’m going to use the old PC upstairs for that.

I have a Palm Treo. So when I’m out of town I can see how Baloney and “Curt is Hot” are kicking my butt in Baloney’s online trivia game. And of course I have my laptop and SuperPizzaBoys’ alphasmart that he does his homework on.

I’ve got lots of other stuff. My Dell Digital Jukebox and my ipod. I’d die without my tunes. I have several progammable calculators. I know how to use them to. I have actually used them to design stuff and to troubleshoot problems in the field.

I have a calculator that will solve symbolic equations. You put in a quadratic equation for example and it will solve it. Don’t ask me what I use it for. I don’t use it for anything. I just have it and it makes me happy having it and knowing how to use it. Hey it will do three dimensional graphs also.

I have even more stuff. GPS systems for my geocaching and running. My satellite radio ( more tunes!). Heart rate monitors for running. Lots of stuff.

What do I like the most? The GPS. I am addicted to geocaching. What can I say.

What do I hate the most? Computers. They break my heart. They are fragile and overly complicated. Why do they have to reboot every time you turn them on? There is no reason why they can’t just turn on and run. Your car has computers in it. You don’t have to wait for them to boot up when you start your car. Your television has a computer. It doesn’t have to reboot when you turn it on to watch something.

I may be a nerd, but I know how to use my technology.