But a Book Doesn't Need Batteries...

Sony E-Book Reader...so cool.

I love gadgets. I would own every gadget that came down the pike but I also have a frugal gene that makes it almost impossible for me to spend hundreds of dollars on a cell phone or iPod or E-book readers but I want them all. I mean I really want them. My baby brother, the computer geek buys all the cool gadgets so I get to play with them and find out if they are worth it, but I have total electronic envy.

I was thinking though the other day about survival. Hey, I'm not a nut job...we had an earthquake and someone posted a web site that showed what a 7.8 Richter scale earthquake centered near the Salton Sea would look like. Sheesh. Talk about a downer. I vividly remember the Northridge earthquake thank you very much. We had been out visiting my mom in the Valley. Hot Tamale was 10 and Teddy Bear was about 4. Four thirty in the morning. I remember when it started thinking, "I hope this just rolls and shakes and then stops." Nope. It started with the rumble and the rolling and then literally, and I mean literally, it felt like a giant was outside the house shaking it. It was a violent back and forth motion. I could not have moved if I wanted to. Teddy Bear was in bed with me and Hot Tamale was sleeping in the pull out couch in the same room, thank god. There have to be guardian angels because just a few days before that my dad had tightened the screws holding up the solid glass closet doors because they were incredibly loose. If he had not done that, they would have shattered and fallen on us. As it was, it wasn't until daylight that I realized the TV had fallen on the pull out couch right at Hot Tamales feet. I am so thankful she slept curled up in a ball with her woobie clutched in her hands.

I still remember the feeling of not knowing how bad it was and wishing we could turn on the TV. It is still embarrassing to me that I was not sure how bad off we were until daylight came and we found a radio to hear the news. Like it wasn't real until I had seen it on TV. I am truly a product of the television generation. Today's generations probably won't feel it's real until they see it on the Internet~!

But, anyway back to survival. My earthquake kit is nonexistent since I moved. I was thinking how hard it is to survive without electricity, running water, etc. I have been trying to fashion a list of what I need and trying to imagine the worst case scenario. I would definitely include books in that survival list. (No, World War Z will not be on that list.) Can you imagine if the only books you had were ONLY on your e-book reader and you had no batteries or way to recharge it??? I'm getting palpitations just thinking about it.

Books are so cool but they are so old fashioned I guess. But you don't need to plug them in.