I've been home in bed from work the last two days with a fever. Pictured is my lovely view of the headboard and ceiling over the bed. I'm better than yesterday, but the Vicks thermometer still reads 100.6 F. If I'm in bed some more tomorrow, I have the 20 LED reading lamp the arrived today from Levenger.com.

- mike lee - wheaton, md

I was Mr. Mom this afternoon keeping an eye on sleeping child to make sure her fever remained stable (risk of triggering her epilepsy) and making sure she didin't scratch her constantly migrating hives raw. I also did some phone calls with my managers at work, keeping my various communications gadgets close by.

But while child was physically feverish, I was emotionally feverish over the delicious details of the just announced Apple iPhone. Apple made the product site live in the afternoon, and I'll be watching the link tonight to get the replay of Steve Jobs' Macworld keynote speech. Engadget posted their own photos of iPhone from the exhibit hall. Someone has already taken the published dimensions of the iPhone and entered them into Sizeasy to create some diagrams of the device compared in size and profile to the iPod video, nano and RAZR.

Looking at my bedside collection of "comfort" gadgets, I saw the potential of iPhone (or a competing device) to finally replace my Sidekick and reduce the size of my gadget pile.

Time's Lev Grossman, who was flown into Apple Headquarters for a private demo with Steve Jobs, had this to say:

Apple's new iPhone could do to the cell phone market what the iPod did to the portable music player market: crush it pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority. This is unfortunate for anybody else who makes cell phones, but it's good news for those of us who use them.

I can't wait until June!

- mike lee - wheaton, md

Apple announces the widescreen multi-touch iPod and iPhone communicator...

!

Child is stable and sleepy.

- mike lee - wheaton, md

...gonna be a long night as child has developed a fever and patches of rash all over especially on her left forearm.

- mike lee

We took the new car out for a tour on Saturday ending up at Oxon Hill Farm, which is right at where the eastern DC beltway cuts across the Potomac River south of the city. This place is an actual operating farm maintained by the park service. Cianna had a great time seeing horses, chickens, pigs and sheep in the record breaking 73 degree weather. On the way home, we stopped at Marie's Bakery in Rockville where I was reminded that this will be the year of the pig. Chinese new year is Sunday, February 18th. Sunday, we had brunch at the Wheaton IHOP for the first time. Cianna always yells out "IHOP" when we drive by. Pictured here are the confused daffodils blooming in our front yard thanks to El Nino or global warming. Last are some shots of my evening project--setting up the 24" Sun Microsystems LCD monitor and WinXP workstation my brother-in-law got for us at a great price because the company where he works literally buys Sun servers by the tractor trailer full every week.

- mike lee - wheaton, md

Four more from today:

• The view east on F Street with the Verizon Center on the left and my office building (Terrell Place) on the right under unusually warm weather. The official high today in D.C. was 62 degrees. Not close to the record high of 73 tho.
  
  
• My office with the post-holiday addition of an extension to my desk (foreground), which finally after eight months gives me a little extra surface to lay papers down that's not covered by computer equipment or the phone. Facilities also mysteriously changed all the office nameplates from white type on black background to black type on white. Maybe the mostly white nameplates are more cheerful? Maybe the old nameplates marked 2006 as the black year.
  
  
• I arrived home to find the thinnest package I've ever had delivered from Amazon/Adorama Camera. Inside was the PhotoBert laminated cheatsheet for my Nikon D80.
  
  
• Cici showing off the box of Crayolas that "Auntie" Lily from the office gave as a holiday present.
  
  

- mike lee - wheaton, md

Here are daylight shots of the new Honda CR-V in our driveway, Cianna blessing the car interior with a shower of paper confetti, and views of North Capital Street and our parking garage from the new high perspective. The last shot is of the all-important AUX input jack where our iPods will plug in.

- mike lee - washington, dc

After work, and dinner at Boston Market, we all went to Oursman Honda to trade in our three-year-old PT Cruiser for a blue Honda CR-V EX. I entertained the other three-year-old while mommy navigated the pile of forms. Three hours later, we moved our mobile detritous out of the PT into the CR-V. Many handshakes, then we headed down the street taking in the new car smell and admiring the single digit odometer reading.

- mike lee - bethesda, md

Pics from Monday's quick visit to Nighttime Pediatrics to have Cici's waning bout with pink eye checked by a doctor so that we could get eye drops. Her eyes are pretty much clear of pink and gunkless today as she stays with her grandma for the first time in over a week.

- mike lee - wheaton, md