The new “no cell phones to your ear” law takes effect in less than two weeks. Here’s the skinny straight from the DMV website.

We got new phones a few months ago that have bluetooth (a first for us!) and today I ordered these headsets. I’ve read good and bad about every headset, but for the most part these (Plantronics Voyager 510) seem to be nice. They come with three different “ear pieces” so you can find one that fits inside your ear nicely.

There’s something called “nesting” that some pregnant women go through. As the baby approaches they feel a preoccupation with making the house ready for the baby. They start to dust and clean everything, preparing the “nest” for the baby. We haven’t been too crazy about cleaning, but more about organizing. I figure this is my geek way of nesting.

Stacie bought me a $3 photo box at Target yesterday, and this morning I cut it up and worked on my charging station. I got the idea from this site, but I didn’t go the extra mile to make it look super cute and fashionable. Cutting holes and getting stuff out of the way was good enough for me. I bought a nice APC power strip (same one I use on my computer). It has 11 outlets, but because some of the chargers are a little big, I managed to fit 8 devices on. Two of my camera battery chargers are made to go in wall sockets, so I just used extension cords for those. I also cut a small hole in the back right that lets me turn the whole strip on and off. Some people on that other site worried about fire hazards, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Regardless, it’s super easy now to turn it on and off.

Here you can see everything inside that is being hidden. No more cables all over the dresser, hanging off of desks, and taking up space.

With the top on it looks much nicer. I didn’t go the extra mile and make the holes look nice, but I’ll live.

And here it is with everything plugged in. Another added benefit is that I’ve never had so many outlets dedicated to charging, so instead of constantly plugging stuff in and out, it’s all there and ready to go. This is me charging everything we might need for a trip to the hospital.

I can now charge 2 digital camera batteries, 1 video camera battery, 2 cell phones, 2 DS Lites, and 1 mp3 player. Well worth the hour worth of effort and $30 in supplies.

I feel like lately we’ve been buying all sorts of stuff in anticipation of the baby. First it was a new small camera for Stacie, then a videocamera, and of course an assortment of baby stuff. Stacie is shopping with my mom right now for a baby swing.

I’m looking at new cell phones since mine likes to not work sometimes and when I open the screen it’s a bunch of jumbled garbage. We’ve had our cell phones for over 3 years…that’s some sort of record right? I don’t want to change carriers (we have T-mobile) because the cheapest family plans are $10 more than what we have right now. I’ll have to do a new contract to save money on phones, but that’s not a big deal. OK, just got off the phone with t-mobile and new phones are in the mail. I got the Motorola w490. It’s a cheap phone, great battery life, good display, and good talk quality…the only things I want in a phone. Stacie got the pretty purple one, I got black. These things say they have standby time of 14 days….that’s insane, especially compared to my old phone that only lasts about 2 days. Our old phones didn’t even have bluetooth (in case we want hands free stuff come June with the new law). These have mini-usb connections, and transferring stuff is super easy. The only negative I can find is that the camera sucks…but I’m sorry, all cell phone cameras suck. To say one sucks more than another is silly.

Next on my list is to build a charging station. I’ve seen a cool one here, but I don’t know if I’ll worry so much about aesthetics. I want everything in one spot, and out of the way! I also need to make emergency lesson plans because I have no idea when the baby will come, and I won’t have time to make lesson plans.

That’s probably the worst…not knowing when. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to do, and I don’t know when it needs to be done by!

Edit: Also, heard this dope song the other day and thought I would share. By a band called Parade the Day. Listen to the first song. Dopeness! The baby loves it.

“A legislative committee has approved a bill that would make it illegal for people to use a hand-held telephone while riding a bicycle on a public road. Hands-free devices would be allowed and lawbreakers would face fines ranging from $100 to $250.”

HAHAHAH! Apparently they’ve had a large problem with bicyclists crashing while using their cell phone. This is just pathetic. How people can read about cases like this and still be pro big-government blows my mind. I say let people use their cell phones on a bike, and if they run into someone or get hurt, they can face the consequences.

What’s next, banning cell phones while walking?

So my mom got me Michael Crichton’s new book for Christmas, State of Fear. Luckily subbing provides an ample amount of time for reading. In the last two weeks I’ve read over 1000 pages. Since hardcover books are fun, I decided to buy up all of his old books. I have most in paperback, but I want to have them in hardback too. Well, today I got the book Congo from someone on half.com. The book is in really good condition for being 25 years old, but there’s one problem. IT SMELLS. Not just like a book, but like dirty old dying dead people smell. It’s really gross. So gross that I bought a new one, haha!

Stacie and I got new cell phones about a week ago, and I just got a data cable to connect it to the computer. I’m having fun putting pictures of boo and Napolean Dynamite music on it.

AIM keeps disconnecting every two seconds and it’s driving me crazy. I’m going to put a real network card back in my machine, because I don’t trust my onboard anymore!

This AIM conversation was left while I had an away message up, so I must give some background info. Recently Stacie and I changed our cell phones to a “family plan.” Upon telling this to Andie, this was her response…

andie: aww how cute
andie: nathan finally got a family plan!
andie: all your dreams have come true now
andie: now you have stepped in to manhood young apprentice
andie: i hand over the manly spirit stick that my grandfather gave me when i became a man………………………………………………err…………………..woman.