Recently, I blogged about getting an iPhone and how it would affect my life. Of course, it hasn't affected things in any profound way -- I still live in the same house, work at the same job, etc. But, it certainly has made a mark on my day to day existence.

As I sip my Monday morning coffee, and watch my iPhone sync, here are some thoughts:

• With my old cell phone it got to the point that I hated to leave the house without it. After getting an e-mail about fixing something on the site last weekend while my child was on the slide at the park, I decided to be more selective about where and when I carry it. The problem is that I still want to have it around for an emergency, so in those cases, I bring it along and shut 'er down.
• However, the ability to ditch junk or unimportant mail makes arriving in the office a lot less stressful. If I can fire up the desktop on Monday morning and not see more than 100 e-mails waiting for me, my day gets going in a much better way.
• The day I got the phone, I got myself lost in Elm Grove looking for a new dentist's office. So, I learned quickly that the iPhone -- with its ready maps, among other features -- can be very utile. But I've since learned it can be useful in other ways, too. Explaining to a kid who Tennessee Tuxedo is? Pull up a You Tube video on the iPhone. Wondering about State Fair admission as you pull up to the gates? Open Safari on your iPhone.
• I used to try and time it right to catch the sports on the local TV news to see how the Brewers and Mets did that evening, and it was almost always frustrating. Now, I have MLB's At Bat app and I can not only follow the line score and summaries of every game -- along with video highlights that arrive quickly -- I can listen to every game live on the radio. Even better? I can choose which team's radio feed to listen to. One or two games a day are offered free on "TV," too. Since I've had the app there have been two Brewers telecasts (both blacked out) and zero Mets ones. So, that's not proving terribly useful so far. And to get them all, MLB wants even more money for an MLB TV subscription. Not happening.
• It's extremely handy having a camera -- even if it's not a great one, it's a serviceable one -- at almost all times.
• Buying apps can be addictive, so I'm laying low. I've downloaded a half dozen or more free ones, but I've only shelled out dough on At Bat.
• One side effect of iPhones that I didn't really consider in advance is just how easy it is to search and browse pictures of the Hulk, in all his incarnations.