I Can't Really Complain about 2006

Sure, I suffered a few disappointments in 2006, but I realized (and it took me only four days) that I probably had a banner year. I'm still sifting through the holes in my memory, but let's look at the good things I can recall so far, somewhat chronologically ordered:

• I got two raises.
• I became an iPod owner; I traded for a 512mb Shuffle.
  
• I finally got to get my feet off of my continent.
  
• I now own a passport.
  
• I went on my first cruise.
• I saw water that looked the colors I'd only seen in pictures (unless they looked that way when I was in Miami when I was two, or Acapulco when I was five, but I don't remember anything of the first or much of the second).
  
• I got to explore Mayan ruins. Real ruins, and I'm not talking about my back yard!
  
• I hung out on a beach in Grand Cayman, a place I'd heard about but never truly hoped to see. I saw some of those banks I'd read about.
  
• Now my mother and sister aren't the only ones in my immediate family to have gone to Jamaica. Also, I experienced my first fall in a waterfall...and second fall...and...oh, shucks, I guess I fell all the way up the darned thing (well, it wasn't quite that bad; I wasn't one of the tourists going to the hospital, although my friend was).
• I went through Customs!
• I got back safely to my inexpensive broadband internet connection, which I missed sorely. Note to Carnival: the sight of women shaking their bethonged bottoms while hanging from "jail" bars will never even come close to being a suitable replacement for affordable internet connectivity (perhaps it would be if I were a guy, but I doubt it). Honestly, I can't believe they called that entertainment.
  
• I finally got a PDA Phone; I've wanted one since 2000. We fight over his memory management, but I wouldn't be without him.
• I went to Boston for the first time in my life.
• I didn't particularly want to, but I shopped at the nation's oldest off-price store, Filene's Basement. I have nothing against Filene's, but I would rather have been shopping at the nation's oldest technology store.
  
• When I needed an internet connection, my trusty new phone helped me out. That includes using Google Maps to locate places and things.
• I had lunch at Cheers Boston (the Bull and Finch Pub). I have a picture of me behind the bar. No, you can't see it.
  
• I also checked out the Cheers set replica at Feneuil Hall.
• I rode in a DUKW! I didn't even know those things existed!
• I heard the Bostonian accent.
• I ate at Boston's oldest restaurant, Union Oyster House.
  
• I didn't particularly want to, but because I was following my relatives around, I saw my nation's first college.
• I saw the Boston Harbor. Unfortunately, because I was determined to see it before leaving Boston, and because I miscalculated on my timing, I missed my plane and had to stay another day. Fortunately, I'd planned to leave a day before my relatives, so I just spent another day with them.
• Windows Live Writer and Ed Holloway gave me the ability to post in Ink!
  
• I got a foam guy (Visual Studio 2005 Superhero) from Microsoft. I probably would have gotten the SQL Server foamfriend, but they canceled one of my two required webcasts at the end of the dadgummed month! Haven't I mentioned repeatedly that I love swag? Hmm...they are giving away foamies again; must sign up!
  
• I became a Staff Reviewer for Allegiance Technology Partners. I get to handle and review the technology I love (and the first device was a Fujitsu P1610). Is that not the coolest thing? Thanks, John!
• I finally joined the Bluetooth generation and bought a headset to use with my Pocket PC Phone and...
  
• I got my Ultra-Mobile PC. I've been wanting one since I first heard about them. Mine is an Asus R2H. I'm fighting with it, too (process management issues), but it does what I need it to do (just not quite fast enough for me, yet, and I'm truly taking into consideration the 900 MHz Celeron processor). No matter what the others say, my GPS works just fine, thanks! I get good signals.
• I played with GPS for the first time. Sure, I've heard Microsoft Streets and Trips is not the greatest app for GPSing, but it serves my needs.
• I got tagged for the first time. Yeah, I'm one of those kind of bloggers, but then you probably already guessed.

If anyone ever hears me complaining about how I fared in 2006, just whack me in the head with my R2H. Don't hurt the computer, though.