Solar Tablet/Smartphone Charger — Sandy has raised my consciousness BIG-TIME

Having followed Paul Biba's on-the-ground reports from Sandy-ravaged Bernardsville, New Jersey for the past week — power went out at 5 p.m. last Monday and there is no restoration even remotely in sight — I've woken up and realized that we all live on a thin edge of civilization that can be tipped over into "The Road" in a heartbeat.

To that end, when I happened on this nifty all-in-one 10 watt solar charger for tablets and smartphones a moment ago, I ordered one for Paul, one for me, then wrote this post.

A must-have.

It has two USB ports so you can use both your tablet and phone while simultaneously charging both.

Paul's iPad and iPhone have served him well as his only lifelines to civilization during the outage and he has remarked on several occasions, after we'd been on the phone speaking for an hour or two, that he'd need to stop and charge his phone soon.

Since he opted for Verizon, he can't use his iPhone as a computer while we're talking but instead relies on his iPad for Internet access.

This device would let him charge and use both at the same time.

$62.70 if you're not in a crisis — priceless if you are.

I'm thinking Paul may get this puppy delivered by UPS before he ever gets his electricity back — I'm having it shipped to him via Amazon Prime Next-Day — in which case I'm gonna feel like for once I've done something that didn't annoy the crap out of him.

But I digress.

Think Like An Anesthesiologist.

And if you can't do that, become friends with one.

Failing that, there's always bookofjoe.