Geek out

We all know the Darling Geek is, well, a geek. Me, on the other hand, not so much. DG can make stuff work and get computers to behave while I sit there and whine and cuss. (Yeah, I know how helpful that is.) He’s a technology expert, and I’m, at best, a dilettante.

We do live a pretty technological existence—HD, TiVO, and a bunch of other letters that mean nothing to me—but when it comes to who owns the most technology, I seem to win.

DG’s computer could run the space station while tap dancing and never miss a turn in Quake Wars and still have plenty of unused hard drive space. (I think mine could at least launch a space shuttle since it’s made of hand-me-down parts from DG’s old computers.) His monitor is bigger than some TVs and he has this fancy headset he uses to talk to folks thousands of miles away while he plays games. It’s a miracle of modern technology.

With his love of all things geeky, you’d think he’d have a whole collection of electronic gadgets. Not so much.

I— the lit-lovin’, ballet dancin’, book writer-- seem to have more gadgets than the geek. Let’s see, there’s a PDA with folding keyboard, digital voice recorder, AlphaSmart, MP3 player complete with the whizgig that lets it play through my car stereo, noise blocking headphones, laptop, and teeny-tiny digital camera. I’m eyeballing an iPod for my birthday and have dropped hints about a wireless mouse for my laptop.

And DG, let’s see. He has a computer, and a cell phone, and... hmm, that’s about it. I think it embarrasses him sometimes to have a wife with more gadgets.

But he likes buying me gadgets (for the most part. He thought the Alphie was evil, but got me one anyway.). Some men buy their wives lingerie; mine buys me electronic toys. And while I love all my gadgetry, I think it bothers him that I don’t use them all to their maximum potential. Heck, I’m doing good to get the photos off my camera and onto my hard drive.

The downside to living with a techno-geek is that I’m lazy. If my computer merely stutters, I call DG. I have no idea how to update/upload/install anything. I just recently learned how to copy a CD. If something doesn’t work, I leave the room until DG tells me it’s safe to return. So while the rest of the world has learned (if unwillingly) to deal with the small problems of high-tech life, I remain stunningly ignorant.

I can never leave DG. I’d have to start paying for IT support. And I can bet they won’t let me call them on my cell phone from the bedroom and they’ll be there in two minutes to fix the problem. (One time, when I was in grad school, DG left work to come home and try to rescue a file I’d mistakenly closed without saving.) And I know they won’t come because the DVD player isn’t working right or the Favorites List on the TiVo needs to be updated.

I have a t-shirt that says “I (heart) my geek.” And I do. In so many ways.

Now, how does one get music on to one of those iPod thingys...

PC

I seem to have multiple themes going on today. We can talk about cool gadgetry, or you can tell me what expertise your Darling has that makes your life easier. Up to you. My favorite comment of the day will get a nifty book light and a book—to cover both bases of technology and love.