Saturday morning I woke up really hung-over with a bad case of iPaditis.  It didn’t help that we had to get up even earlier than normal (my brother had to be some place at 8:00AM!) Trudging to the kitchen bleary-eyed, revving up the tea kettle (& looking for something to use as an IV tea drip liberally dosed with Tylenol) the why-oh-why recriminations stacked up…

Maybe I should back up.  Two weeks ago my sister came to to hang out with the Savvy Saints so my brother Dwight & I could have a whole Saturday out.  Discussing schedule priorities on the way to the Big City (besides meeting up with friends for supper), Dwight mentioned he wanted ‘to go to the Apple Store.’

Suddenly my day got better and BETTER (more than just prospective Cheesecake Factory yums.) You see, my brother likes i-whatevers, but especially his iPad.  He pre-ordered the first version (after reading trade mags, MacLife & Pro-Apple Propaganda of all sorts) and has been a real iPad groupie/enthusiastic user since.   When the iPad2 came out in April, however, he did not get too excited (despite my encouragement.)

As the beneficiary of his two previous i-touch technology upgrades (so very cool to make playlists with zillions of songs), you may understand my reaction when he added, “I want to buy the new iPad2!” and why I so helpfully guided him through the maze of shops directly to the doorway of the Apple Store (and why I treated him to coffee afterwards at Nordstrom’s…)

Happily thereafter as the new beneficiary of my brother’s iPad2 technology upgrade, I have become an iPad1 enthusiast – keeping up with so much more on the internet (now surfing at nite during ‘must-rest-knees-blues!’) signing up for blogs, loading my Kindle books (right to the same page read, amazing how they can do that!), watching Netflix streaming movies, shows and doing so much more – (you can even send your ‘notes’ in one touch to your email!)  – the first two iPad user weeks zoomed busily by.

Friday night, however, I decided to learn about APPS (my brother loaded a few, but he is into GAMES, it must be a guy thing) and how to get them (ie, set up an Apple Store acct) and finding good ones …wow oh wow oh wow!!! so little time, so much to do! Tunein Radio (accessing hundreds of stations all over the globe- Brazilian jazz, baroque classical, World music etc.), news apps, cooking apps, ‘pimp-your-screen’ apps with lots of crazy artwork… podcasts of fav authors, actors, personages.  All these new iPad to-do-tasks might distract from prayer – but then there are PRAYER APPS and devotions (280 radio broadcasts in a Fulton Sheen app, more dailies to read, special prayers…even faith-based-FOOD apps…)

AMAZING!!!

Back to Saturday morning’s painful technology upgrade Hangover – it’s too easy to stay up way, way, way too late having too, too, too much fun on the iPad thus contracting iPaditis (lack of sleep due to iPad overindulgences..)

The Cure?  Self-control to turn iPad OFF by 11:00PM (maybe 12:00AM on weekends??)

grace, peace & sober iPaditis survivors –

Virginia

p.s. my benevolent brother is, like, TOTALLY AMAZINGLY UTTERLY AWESOMELY AWESOME!!!