Dr. Gizmo

You’ve heard of Inspector Gadget? Well, it appears that Karel may be related. I came to this conclusion when he bought a vest with 42 pockets as a way to carry around his camera gear. This is in addition to a pair of cargo shorts with super duper deep pockets, and a new backpack with a bazillion compartments and attachable components for holding more camera stuff, laptop, iPads, GPS, and all the cords and chargers, and which I’ve nicknamed “the toy box.” The vest is a source of great amusement for me, as I watch my dear husband searching, searching, searching for his passport, travel vouchers, and room keys. The other day he lost an umbrella in there. He’s getting better at keeping track of what goes into which pocket, if only to avoid the ridicule.

We’ve discovered that using the roomy back pockets is not compatible with carrying the toy box. Also, no matter how deep the cargo pockets of your shorts, the one-and-only key to your bicycle lock can manage to fall out while you’re napping on a boat dock, and disappear between the planks into the murky deep (a near miss).

The first thing the Doctor did once we were settled into our hotel in Stockholm was to pull out the one critical gizmo, the enabler of all other gizmos: the charging station. This compact device turns one outlet—often all you get in a hotel room—into six outlets, four USB connections, and an iPod dock. He attached a European adapter and plugged it into the wall. Fireworks ensued. Of course, the electricity in our room went out.

Oh, well, we were ready to head out for a little bit of touristy activity, so we’d notify the desk on our way out. As we were leaving our room, however, we heard wails of lamentation coming from other rooms down the hall. A World Cup soccer match was just starting, but the TVs weren’t working! Apparently, Dr. Gizmo blew the circuit for an entire row of rooms. Oooops. We quietly slunk away.

Fortunately, the problem was easily corrected. Dr. Gizmo didn’t dare plug in the amazing charging station again until the morning of our departure, and was relieved to discover that the culprit was the adapter, not the gadget. Cue happy music. Disaster averted, all systems green.