Today I am reminded of how thankful I am for atomic clocks.

I remember back in the day, running around and changing all the clocks in the house. The windy ones were the worst. Sometimes I’d miss one. Sometimes I’d forget which ones I had done. And when you had two people setting them back, it could be a downright disaster. This was before cell phone and computers. Was there a TV guide channel back then? I don’t even remember, but if you got confused, you’d be screwed.

Atomic clocks are great, though I don’t think the technology is necessarily all there quite yet. Ironically enough, the oldest atomic clock in our house—a projection alarm clock Nick’s grandparents gave him for Christmas back in 2000—is the most reliable atomic clock we own. I’ve watched it before. The damn things goes from 1:59 to 1:00 or 3:00. It never fails.

The others? Not so much. It can sometimes take days for them to change. Last night, the strangest thing happened. The atomic kitchen clock read 3:03 am. The microwave read 4:03 am. I set the microwave back an hour and dinked around in the kitchen for a little bit. When I went to leave, the atomic clock read 4:07 am. Wait, what? How does that even happen? As of tonight, it’s still an hour ahead. Nick thought the microwave was wrong; I had to pull out my phone to prove I was right. (Pfft… like that needs proving ever.)

But even with the slightly sketchy delayed reaction of atomic clocks, it’s way better than the alternative. Within a few days, all of my clocks will be set to the correct time with little to no effort from me. Well, all except for the one in the basement, which will forever be 1:42 due to a dead battery.

Today I am expressing my thanks for the DVR. It’s something I take for granted these days. Every few days I fire open her up and see what entertaining little tidbits are waiting for my enjoyment. I never miss a show. I don’t even have to keep track of when shows come off of hiatus or new seasons premiere. Instant replay of live television shows, jumping ahead through commercials—the positive features are endless.

Now, I’ve had a DVR for a matter of years. So long, in fact, that I often forget what a pain it was to record shows back in the day of VCRs.

When I was a kid, a very young kid mind you, my dad taught me how to use the VCR. I don’t remember how old I was, but it was before I could read. He explained what the symbols meant in a no nonsense common sense kind of way. And he told me to NEVER push the circle with the little dot inside.

After that I felt like I could rule the world! I could watch any movie I wanted any time I wanted.

When I got older I learned how to record. What a super awesome thing that was! Waiting anxiously for the show to start so I could record it without missing a minute. Pausing during commercials but not being able to leave the room lest the show start up again (hey, space was a valuable asset!). That terrible moment when in the middle of recording and the tape runs out. The mad scramble to find another one that was either new or had something on it I didn’t care about in the sea of unlabeled VHS tapes.

Now that I think about it, that doesn’t sound very fun at all.

When I was younger I relied on one of my parents to record cartoons while I was at school. My Little Pony, She-Ra, Heathcliff, etc. Nothing, and I mean nothing, ruined my day and filled me with rage like having the beginning or the end of my show cut off.

When I was a little older, I got my own VCR. I could set it to record in advance, which was awesome because I could watch All My Children after school. It still sucked because, you know, the whole VHS tape thing still applied.

I’m happy to say those days are long behind me. I couldn’t imagine how my childhood years would have been different if DVRs were around, but I can guarantee you it would have been way awesomer.

While some people doing the 30 Days of Thanks are kicking off the month with things like family and dry land, I’m getting right down to business.

I’m thankful for my laptop, which I oh-so-affectionately refer to as Laptop.

not actual Laptop

Laptop is a friendly staple throughout my day. It keeps me company at work. It’s there at night when I write. It connects me to the World Wide Interwebz and houses everything from ebooks and movies to music and my Rob!porn collection.

Rob!porn

I couldn’t imagine a life without being able to compute anywhere in the house. Or *gasp* on vacation! How would I blog? How would I edit and upload the massive amounts of photos of fish and food? It would be a travesty.

So Laptop, here’s to you. May your battery always be charged and your hard drive always virus free!

So I have this really great idea (at least I think it is) about blogging 30 Days of Thanks next month. Because, well, November is the month of Thanksgiving, after all, and there are 30 days. But then I thought, how could I make this less lame? Why don’t I get everybody I know to blog with me??!?

Well, I’m a procrastinator. So here it is, October 25, and I’m frantically trying to find people to blog thanks with me.

I asked Mary today, and like the motivated go-getter she is, she immediately made a blog post about it.

So Jill came to me today and said:

“i’m going to post a blog every day about something i’m thankful for. it’s going to be funny and ridiculous (hopefully) and i’m trying to get people to do it with me”

And I was all… “Um… Okay!”
And because Thanksgiving is in November, we’re blogging thanks for 30 days and it’s going to be heartfelt, hilarious, ridiculous, and probably full of WTF and SRSLY type of items, people, places, whatever.
Thankful for cute kittens who make you smile? Awesome.
Thankful for the most comfortable pillow on your bed so that you can fall asleep while drunk? Best.
Thankful for parents who don’t kick you out? Sweet.
Thankful for male models who have no shame in strutting around shirtless? Lickworthy.
Anything goes — as long as you’re REALLY thankful for it!
And for those who are uncertain — Remember: scheduled posts are your friends.
COME JOIN US!

View the post here.

And then I thought, gee, I should probably put something on my own blog so my three faithful followers can join us!

You know who else is joining in? BRK! That’s right. The elusive blogger will be making a daily appearance over on RAS. And if she doesn’t, I’m going to eat enough sugar, carbs, and cheez to make up for the past 41 days.

A list of those participating can be viewed below. If you want in, let me know. Sarah? Ash? Nick? Bueller? Bueller?

• Ashley
• BRK
• Jill (me!)
• KB
• Mary
• Sarah
• Susie