Smudge

The FindMeSpot people announced the new Spot Messenger forever ago, and some months ago it was allegedly released - although no one actually carried it. And they restricted distribution to brick-and-mortar retailers. It wasn't like REI was selling out of it - they never received any shipments.

But they're in stock now, finally, and I have one - affectionately named Smudge. It's awesome. Tiny. Light. It feels solid. And now whereiscurtis.com shows that I'm home, as it ought.

--

I tried to switch my gym membership to a family membership to include Aimee. However, it seems that "family" is defined as "spouses and children under twenty". So, no, your immediate family is not "family". Right.

--

When I was at BestBuy buying the Spot Messenger, I had the chance to play with a Garmin Oregon. I had been holding off on the purchase of one because 1) they're stupid expensive and 2) I couldn't find any retailers that had a functional demo unit so that I could look closely at the topo detail. Well, the topo data is beautiful. And once you're zoomed in, the relief shading is excellent and is combined nicely with the contour lines. It's all very understandable. But it's still stupid expensive.