And brothers too

A couple of weeks ago, brother Joe called me to float an idea for a birthday gift. The family has a habit of creating Communist plots ("from each according to his resources, to each according to his needs") around gift-giving. One memorable year we all gave Erin some professional lawn care; there have been various other grupengifts over time.

So this birthday, I was to be the subject of a Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy consisting of my three sisters, two brothers-in-law and one brother. My parents were left out of it only because they already knew what they were doing for my birthday. They get their own post.

Anyway, Joe called. He'd had the idea of getting the sibs and in-laws together to give me an iPod for my birthday. He thought, because my commute is so boring and coffee is off-limits, it would be nice for me to be able to plug the iPod into my car's existing sound system and enjoy some music during commuting times, drives hither and yon to see shows, trips to the airport, etc.

It was a very thoughtful gift idea, but even more thoughtful, Joe ran it by me. He knows I'm not a huge gadget person, and he wanted to make sure I'd enjoy this gift. It was very nice to talk about. But then the next day I emailed him a follow-up idea. Ever since a friend of mine put satellite radio in his car three or four years ago, I've been carrying around the idea of doing the same in mine.

I floated that idea back to Joe, and the siblings ran with it. At some point soon, I'll add that technology to my life, and think of my siblings and brothers-in-law every time I use it. Which will be a lot, given my current lifestyle!