Gizmo's Gadgets Thingamajigs Whatch'ya'ma-callit's and other Handy Dandy Doo-ma-hickies

So, what are all those things I pull out of my pockets, unhook from my belt, or otherwise disentangle from my clothing at the end of the day? Somehow I've accumulated a barrage of all sorts of "things and stuff" that I carry almost everywhere, and I understand now why they make pants with extra saddle-bag pockets on the sides of the legs. You probably wouldn't know it by just seeing me walking around most of the time, but when I unload those pockets, all sorts of stuff shows up. Did you ever read the book Old Yeller? I think it was in that book where the mom always made the little kid empty his pockets at the end of the day, because when she would wash his clothes, she would usually find something disagreeable in his pockets, like frogs, spiders, baby snakes, sticks, rocks, and who knows what else. It's not quite like that for me, and not always the same stuff every day. Not all of my stuff is pictured here, but at least this gives you an idea. A camera, a trauma shears, Letherman tool, PDA (personal digital assistant), Sirius satellite radio, a watch, calculator, digital voice recorder, cell phone, stethoscope...

That's just what's in the picture. Depending on where I'm going for the day, there could be a few other things as well. Like maybe a tablet, pen, penlight, fire pager, EMS pager, ID badges from work or school, sometimes a sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff) and of course always my wallet. Oh, and lets not forget keys! I have keys to just about anything. My vehicles, the fire company, the ambulance building, my church, my gun cabinet and trigger locks, and so on. I'm basically a walking hardware store some days. Hey! That reminds me, I even have keys to the hardware store itself. The boss wanted me to keep them for now, but I think it's about time to just give them back anyway, because I doubt I'll be working there much anymore. It's been almost 2 years since I punched that time clock, even though I never officially quit. I just sort of gradually phased out of there with the agreement that if the boss ever gets in a bind, he can call me to help him out. That's why I still have the keys, but he hasn't called for a long time.

The trauma shears will cut through just about anything I need it to, including seat belts, my finger nails, a trauma patient's clothing, even a penny. The camera isn't mine, but I use it all the time to capture those Kodak moments. The calculator is slowly becoming outdated because of other technology, but it is still useful for its scientific functions in statistics and other stuff. The voice recorder is a great surveillance tool, and personal memory assistant. The watch is a cheap WalMart commodity, but it has this little button on the side, so that if I push it as far down on my wrist a possible, then extend my wrist (opposite direction of flexion), then the back of my hand pushes the button and the light comes on. That way my other hand is free, and I can check a patient's pulse in a dimly lit area.

Of all these gadgets, besides the cell phone, the two that I've used the most often over the past several years are the Letherman tool, and the PDA. I used the Letherman on a daily basis for just about anything when I was farming, building silos, wrenching on cars, and building pole barns. It's been used as a hammer, a wedge, a butcher knife, and who knows what else. I consider the PDA to be my "Letherman" of nursing. Certainly, you can be a nurse without a PDA, or a farmer without a Letherman, but it sure is handy to have right there at your side all the time. My PDA has a drug guide, medial dictionary, lab book, drug interactions guide, clinical calculator with all sorts of pre-programmed formulas, NCLEX practice test book, disease classification tool, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It has more functions than I regularly use, like bluetooth and infrared data transfer. It will connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, accept an SD card or a USB cable, play music like a iPod, keep a schedule for me, and store PowerPoint and MS Word documents. I even carry it to church, because I bought a digital NIV Bible and loaded onto the PDA. I would be in bad shape if that thing malfunctioned or got lost.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to brag about posessions here, because there's nothing worthy of bragging about; it's more of a pondering of these things in terms of their utility. In the fire department and on the EMS squad, even in the ER, they mockingly (yet somewhat affectionately) refer to people who insist on showing up at every single emergency call, and carry lots of stuff as "whackers." There's nothing like being prepared, you know, just like the goat in the movie Hoodwinked. All of this stuff is handy as long as you know how to use them, and they don't break or whatever else. I just wonder what kind of a different person I would be if I didn't have these gadgets to bail me out all the time. Would I have learned to be more proficient and intelligent, or would I be just as clueless as I am now, and just a little more disadvantaged?

What about you? Allow me to quote Capital One credit card company: "What's in your wallet?" Or maybe, Gollum, from Lord of the Rings, "What has it got in it's pocket'sz?" What sorts of small gizmo's and gadgets do you use on a daily basis? Tell me about it after you check out this rendition of Benji Gaither starring as the goat in Hoodwinked.