Organiser II for shopping
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We decided to visit a supermarket amid current quarantine. The overall
risk of the COVID-19 is seem to decrease but in our area there is
unusual rise of new cases. Anyway, we needed some food so visit to the
supermarket became inevitable. We of course used stuff like respirators
(covered by another protector to be in line with regulations) and
gloves and so.
But what to use for shopping list? I didn't want to use any regular
device which the would require some disinfection procedure which can
damage it (I don't have an UV light at home). All that Palm cases I
have are cool but at the end in order to use them one has to expose (at
least partially) the front side of the device.
The only device for which I have waterproof case is the PSION Organiser
II. I have got it for fun but it's quite useful. IT is waterproof }at
least for splash water - I tried several times to clean it with water
an other liquids and nothing leaked to inside) and it's also pretty
massive. Still, the Organiser can be controlled as usual - all buttons
are available through case's keyboard and screen is under the (still
readable) transparent protector.
The only issue is its size. The Organiser II is already massive device
by today's standards and the case add some 0.5-1cm in every dimension.
So people in the supermarket looked strangely on me.
The second problem is the software. The "LZ" type devices (with
four-line screens) have the Notes application (essentially a simple
text editor) which is enough for a short shopping list. But I selected
the older "XP" model with two-line display. It's less expensive to
obtain and (which is important) the letters on its display are HUGE and
easy to read. But this older thing has no "Notes". I tried several
approaches (I even thought about writing my own shopping list program)
but finally decided to use the PALM Spreadsheet and put one item in one
row. It's a bit stupid but it worked perfectly. For the next use I
might prepare a customised spreadsheet with expected prices but for now
it was just what I needed.
I always thought that people who use spreadsheet programs just to keep
lists of text items are too simple. Now I'm doing the same...