The Future's So Bright . . .

Yesterday on his blog, "Whatever", SF writer John Scalzi expressed amazement over his new Droid X phone, and asked us all to consider the moment a particular piece of technology or advancement made us realize that we were now in TEH FUTURES!!! The comments from folks writing in their moment is quite the cross-section of different experiences, but little did I know that my own would come this very day. Like Scalzi, the discovery came with regards to my mobile phone; except that my phone is the phone everyone loves to hate -- the Apple iPhone 4.

See, I was watching a Chase bank commercial today. Chase is the bank that I'm with, for those keeping score at home. The commercial was for the Chase banking app on the iPhone that lets you manage your account, pay bills, and transfer money between accounts all remotely. I've had this app on my phone for almost 2 years now. It works great. But apparently it was recently upgraded to include a new exciting feature that has now convinced me that I am truly and surely in TEH FUTURES!!!

Let me presage this discovery by admitting that, in this day and age, I still find the occasion where I have to deposit paper checks. It doesn't happen every day, or even every week. But enough times throughout the year to make it an annoyance for me, particularly during tax season. So what has Chase done now to make my life all the better? Why, they've given me the ability to simply take a photo of my check with the iPhone's camera and use the Chase app to send the pic remotely. When the send is complete, the amount is magically deposited to my account sans the need for an ATM visit or face-to-face time with a teller.

In other words: I can deposit checks into my account FROM MY BED, people! Holy hells!

Yes, yes . . . I'm pragmatic enough to know that this singular feat is probably not as impressive to some of you as it is to me. And I'm also aware that the basic technology behind this function has been around in some form or another on mobile devices for quite some time. But I'd be willing to bet that *your* bank doesn't have this feature, not if your bank isn't Chase. And I'm also willing to bet that you receive the occasional check what needs depositing from time to time, too.

And, I'm sorry, but to me this is just friggin AWESOME!

Isn't it? Well -- ISN'T IT?!!!

Okay, okay. I'm calm now. Let's all return to our more important matters.

We're In The Money!

Well, okay, not really.

But Lisa and I just got our yearly tax return in the mail today. I mean, dayuuuum! We got a LOT back! But it only serves to demonstrate just how much we had to pay out in taxes last year. It's very depressing if I stop to think about it for too long.

And, yes, I know this is really just our own money being returned back to us. So it's not like we won the lotto or anything.

And yet . . . the amount we got back completely pays for our round trip flight, Rome hotel, AND the 11-night Mediterranean cruise later this summer -- all with about a grand left to spare! Super SWEET!!!

So yeah, in case you haven't guessed it, I'm immensely pleased today.

That is all.