It's a beautiful day in the interwebs...

FINALLY! Google releases a tool to sync Google Calendar with Outlook. Yes, I can now update Outlook and it will show up on my GooCal and vice versa. And there was much rejoicing.

When you read the subject, you have to read it to the tune of Mr. Rogers. Because it is just that fantastic of a day for my productivity.

Maybe I'll start using my PDA again.

Here's a little background for you as to why this is such great news: Google Calendar has been my method of choice for scheduling life. Now, I don't use Outlook or my palm much myself, but mostly this quest for 2-way synchronization began when I started working at The Flipside as Kevin's assistant. He has a bad habit of making and changing his appointments at random... creating a problem for me when I am chasing down appointments for him.

So, I wanted a way for him to be able to schedule himself, but for me to access from my computer, preferably from anywhere (internet calendar) without him having to do anything. The only option that has worked, until today, was Yahoo Calendar - which still required him running a small application to sync (which he sometimes forgets to do). AND, I have had to keep a separate Firefox profile for him so I could be logged into my Yahoo on one browser and his on another. Not the most pleasant or uncluttered way to GTD.

I spent several weeks (or was it months?) trying all of the different options for syncing Google Calendar - I like that I can access it from right there within my own Calendar screen, and I believed that eventually the automation process would have to work. In fact, yesterday I went back to that old mistress, Remote Calendars, who has done nothing but wrong by me. She even once DELETED everything on my Google Calendar... yuck. Yesterday I thankfully couldn't even get the buttons to do anything in Outlook 2007, but I was still giving it another shot.

Today, I open my Lifehacker feed to see the beautiful news. And it's official Google, non of this third-party dysfunctional non-supported crap. And now that I know I can reliably sync my GooCal to my old Palm, maybe I can dig it out of the electronics closet in my office and put it to good use. Or maybe if I'm really good, Santa will bring me a Pantech Duo or iPhone for Christmas and I can have less gadgetry to lug around (I know, keep dreaming, right?).

SQUEEEEE!!! (it's the best way I can express the jubilation I feel in text right now)