The Restless Mouse

I got my long-awaited Chumby Internet Appliance a few days ago, so far I mainly use it to stream music from the Internet to my night-stand, but soon I will set it up to route only my most important email (customer emails and orders) so I can look at it without getting up.

This might seem a bit frivolous to you, but I work a graveyard shift trying to dig up more money, and to a night shift worker, sleep is a most precious thing. If I happen to be like 48% awakened, I can use one eye to check the chumby, and if I don’t have anything to deal with right away, it eases my mind and I can ramp up to maybe 95% asleep, never reaching the sweet release of 100% comatose, but that’s not important right now.

ANYWAY - I must say I am most impressed with the quality and simplicity of this device. It’s so well designed and of such high quality, I suspect it was made by fallen Amish people who could not resist technology.

I am getting one of those Chumby Internet appliances for my birthday, father’s day and part of Christmas, they shipped it but right now, I kid you not, UPS tracking has it at a place called “Chek Lap Kok” - so I did and discovered my fly was open… how long have I been walking around like that?

Anyway it sounds like the tweakers are making new applications for it (the chumby) all the time… I hardly ever get in early on anything because it’s better to wait for the shakedown and eventual price drop. My “1/2″ car had a tape player in it. (You know, “The average American father and mother have one whole car and half of another” - Jerry Reed)

Getting back to the Chumby… I guess I shouldn’t mind that they ship this (presumably) direct from the factory… But I sure hope they have a decent instruction/setup manual, instead of a scrap of paper saying “not to use in bathtub” or “DO NOT EAT”.