Rising Above Mediocrity
by Benjamin Geiger

On Saturday, I managed to post a quick comment to one of my earlier entries, to let my loyal readers (both of you) know I had survived. Now that I have a proper Internet connection, I can put something up on the front page, where it belongs.

Charley hit a bit harder than expected. The power is out (making me one of 890,000 people in Florida with no power, by latest estimates), and by extension, so is the water. Phones are out, too. There’s no physical damage to the house, though, so we were lucky. Many people lost their porches and carports, and many trees fell, some onto houses. Wind-damaged roofs are common, but less so around our area of town.

Right now I’m posting from a hotel room that Dad rented; it’s virtually impossible to sleep in a manufactured home during the day with no air conditioning. We will likely be here until our power is restored.

Again, more information as it comes in.

I’m here at Wal-Mart buying emergency supplies… and so is everyone else in the area. This place is a nuthouse right now.

There are no flashlights, no gas stoves, and associates are barely keeping up with the demand for batteries. I ended up buying a small charcoal grill in case we lose power for any extended period.

Nonperishable food is also at a premium. I bought the last eight bags of tuna on the shelf; cans weren’t much more plentiful. I bought some other snacks that don’t require heat or refrigeration, so if the power goes out, there will be something to eat.

Most things we need are already in the house: water (we have jugs already since our water sucks and goes out often), ID and documents, utensils, sleeping gear, medicine, etc.

No sooner did I get back to Florida than the hurricane frenzy went into full swing.

Charley is on its way into Florida, and everybody is preparing for it as best they can. Personally, Dad and I are going to a shelter while Charley does his worst; areas of the western coast (Tampa area) have been ordered to evacuate.

If power goes out, I may be difficult to reach. I’ll try to find a way to post an update as soon as possible after the storm passes. Wish me luck.

I am now the proud owner of a Sony Clié, model PEG-T615C. It’s fairly nice, with a 320×320 color screen, 16MB internal storage, and a Memory Stick slot (no stick, though). The documentation mentioned MP3 playback, but apparently that refers to another model in the Clié line. That’s okay, though; my Clié may not play MP3s, but my iPod can’t keep a to-do list, so they complement each other.

The best part: I didn’t pay a cent for it. It was given to me by a friend of my mother’s, in return for fixing her computer. (It was chock-full of spyware and various trojans, most of which were removed by AdAware, SpyBot, or AVG.) I explained the value to her, but she insisted.

I’m still learning Graffiti (though I know it well enough to enter this; yes, I’m writing this entry into Memo Pad) and trying to get this thing set up the way I want it. I have already installed such niceties as PilotGOne and Plucker, but there are other changes I’d like to make.

My biggest complaint is the complete lack of Mac support without third-party tools. Sony makes it quite clear that Mac users are second-class citizens in their eyes. A third-party developer, Mark/Space, has created an app, MissingSync, to take the place of the Palm Desktop that Sony fails to provide for the Mac; I just don’t know whether it’s worth the $40.

I need to get a belt clip and Memory Stick for this thing, but even as is, it’s nice to be part of the “PDA elite”. It’ll be particularly useful with both school and a job on my plate. Now to get in the habit of checking it constantly; what good is a schedule if it’s never checked?