From Low to High Tech

It's been over a year since we heard the news that we would be relocating to Vienna, Austria in 2012. We are now 6 weeks from departure.

In the madness of the change that is upon us, I was reminiscing as I cleaned up the rest of this blog. Reading through them again I was amazed at how so much has changed in 3 1/2 years since we arrived back in the United States. I remember arriving to this new iPhone thingy that was really frustrating to operate at first. It has now become an appendage - without it I feel naked. I used to feel that way about my watch, but I haven't worn a watch in about 2 years thanks to the iPhone's multifunctionality.

The last time we moved away I had a 1st generation iPod. Just played music, no frills. When we moved to Warsaw, I had a backpack filled with actual books and my only entertainment other than music was the in-flight movie. The kids had a DVD player. This DVD player was left on a plane with a ton of DVDs more than once. Each time we were able to retrieve it intact (Germans are very honest people), but until we received it, it was like our travel entertainment was lost. While I was in Warsaw, the Cat upgraded me to an iPod with video that was quickly hijacked by my two young children who were never bored on a trip again. And forget trip! That device entertained my then infant/toddler on many trips to the grocery store and anywhere where she had to be restrained.

Today, the iPod is pretty much history. We just upgraded to an iPhone 4S and I hope that Siri can become my language coach as I speak German to her and she corrects me.

In my backpack, I will have my iPad loaded with books and my magazine subscriptions from the last few years as well as movies I actually want to see and even TV shows I have yet to watch thanks to the beauty of my TIVO desktop. In addition, it contains my P90X and TurboFire workouts that i will hook up to the TV and will no doubt keep me on track throughout the summer.

The kids...well between their iTouch and iPads loaded with games, books, movies and shows, we better not hear a peep!

We already had VOIP during our last posting although now there is a Skype app that can initiate a video call wherever you are. And texting, well there is an app that provides me with a USA number where anyone can text me and I receive it on my phone overseas. What did expats do 20 years ago? There has never been a better time to be an expat!

We had files when we last left the country. Over the course of the last few months, I have scanned every paper/file that could possibly be scanned and backed it up several times. This summer in between being a tourist in my new city, I will be tackling pictures.

I hear a flying car is in the works. Maybe for a future posting...the age of the Jetsons is here!