I just got back from a trip to Las Vegas.  While we were in the area my girlfriend bought us tickets for a bus tour of Grand Canyon.  It turned out to be a bit of a drag (too much bus driving and not enought sight-seeing), but that is neither here-nor-there.  The highlight was when we were returning from the Grand Canyon and the bus got stuck in a 6-mile backup in the middle of the desert.  At first nobody knew what was going on.  The bus driver shut down the bus and was out walking amongst the eighteen-wheelers trying to get some details as to the hold up.  I quickly sprung to action with my new iPhone’s Emergency Radio app to see if I could get a signal, and perhaps obtain some information regarding any accidents.  It took me a bit to find the right channel, but even in the middle of the desert I chose the nearest location (60+miles away) and started to pick up some chatter.  I gathered that there were two cars off the road and probably some fatalities.  There was a helicopter on stand-by, and emergency services were on the scene.  I felt like a cheap hero, but was reaffirmed of my affinity for these technological-trendy gadgets.  I sat there gripping my headphones to my head in anticipation of the next broadcast, while periodically updating my neighbors of any new updates.

It turned out that there were some fatalities up ahead and when the traffic slowly snaked past the scene an hour-and-a-half later I said a little prayer for those that passed.  Just another reminder that no matter how many gadgets you surround yourself with, your mortality is always there.