This is Christmas Eve 2006 and before you know it the new year of 2007 will be upon us. I have been off of work since last Wednesday and I can tell that I will probably be ready to go back to work this coming up Wednesday. I am not used to having this much free time on my hands and quite frankly my family is probably not used to having this much quality time with dad. Last night I exchanged gifts with one of my best friends who just happens to be a propellerhead just like myself. My propellerhead friend always manages to come up with the most surprising cool gizmos to give me for Christmas. Last night I got the following cool toys...

A. AirDesk laptop stand for my laptop. This is one of the coolest toys of all. Before I got this neat gizmo I was using a utility table for my laptop when I am in the living room. The problem with the utility table is that it was big and bulky and always in the way of someone else wanting to watch the tv. It also was not the right height to be used while reclining. The Airdesk laptop stand solves all of those problems with its unique patented design. I know, this is starting to sound like a commercial but I can not help but be excited about the new ability to use my laptop in exactly the position I need it and then when I need to get up I can just swivel it out of my way.

B. Emergency escape hammer. This gizmo is designed to break out my window in case I find my Durango suddenly turned into a submarine and I want to breath real air vs water. Everyone should have one of these.

C. Keychain glow stick and flash light. Both of these gizmos will help me to find my keys in the dark as well as stay out of the dark.

D. Power Center. This cool gizmo allows me to organize all of my messy wires associated with all of my electronic gizmos like my pocket pc or cellular telephones. It allows you to hide the actual ac adapter and wires in a plastic housing and then leave the business end of the charger hanging outside while you clamp your device on top of the charger housing. For now I am using this for our cell phones.

E. Special rubber duckie radio antenna for the Durango. In September we bought a 2006 Durango and we love everything about our new SUV. One of the things that I had to give up however was the OnStar antenna that was on the Pontiac. This particular antenna connected me to OnStar and it also allowed me to put my carmate M and M dudes on the end of it. The antenna on the Durango was so slim and tall that the M and M dude kept bending the antenna over and slapping the side of the truck. This new antenna bends but it is much thicker at the base and therefore the M and M Dude rides just nicely.

F. Utility knife that allows me to open packages much easier

G. Gorilla tripod that allows you to attach your digital camera and stand it or attach it to other objects.

I am very pleased with all of the very functional goodies that Santa has brought me this year. Thanks Santa!!!