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I can't really recommend anything because most of the commercial packages that I've seen suck horribly. Having said that, there's a freebie thing called PHP Helpdesk which appears to have potential: http://phphelpdesk.sourceforge.net/ I haven't personally used this, so I have no idea if it's any good. I'm sure that there is other stuff out there, too, but I'm not familiar with it.

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A theatre will e-mail me with a problem and I enter it into the Palm. If it's something that can wait till the next time I go to that theatre I give the item a "2" or a "3" priority. If it's something that can't wait, it's a "1". (For "1's" I go there right away.)

I can attach notes to the items on the list to say what I did to fix it. When the item is done, I check the item off and the Palm inserts the date it was completed. Each location on my route gets its own category so that I can keep them separate.

At the end of the week (or whenever you want to) I HotSync the palm with my laptop computer and download the list. The Palm Desktop software has a feature that can export the Palm's data to M$ Word, etc. I just attach the resulting file(s) to the weekly e-mail that I send back to my boss. It's all pretty much automatic, now.

Another thing you should get for your Palm is Documents to Go by DataViz. It lets you send spreadsheets and word processing documents to/from the Palm. I use that when I do Preventative Maintanence (PM) calls. I usually make a spreadsheet. Each column is an item that I have to check off for each projector. (A-Chain, Oil levels, Lamphouse Hours, Amps/Volts, etc, etc.) Each row in the spreadsheet is for each projector that I have to check. Again, I download that file back to the laptop and attach it to the e-mail reports I usually send in.

You can also try the PDF reader software that Adobe makes for Palm OS. I thought it would be good for storing equipment manuals on. (All my documentation is on CDs.) I wanted to make it so that if I needed a manual for a particular projector, etc. I could upload it to the Palm as needed and I could look at it any time I wanted. It turned out that it doesn't work so well as I imagined. The Palm's screen is too small and it's hard to read the words. ESPECIALLY when the PDF file isn't text. If it's a graphic you won't be able to read it AT ALL. It just looks like little blobs! If the file is text you'll be able to read it but you'll have to do a lot of scrolling. It works but it's just easier to break out the laptop and view it (almost) full size on the screen.

Scott: I'll check out PHP Helpdesk. I have a cable modem hookup, and the cable provider will "look the other way" if you use it as a server (they don't offically approve it), if you keep the activity low.

Randy: I didn't think about using a Palm computer, but really, it might be the best solution. I just didn't want to carry another "thing" from the car to the theater! Also, I'd have to learn how to set it up and use it... and you know about old dogs and new tricks...!

A few months ago I saw a guy who had one and he let me check it out. I dicked around with it for a few minutes and I thought I would really like to get one for myself. It wasn't until I got tired of trying to remember all the things I had to do at all my theatres that I finally broke down and bought it. Even then it took me a couple of weeks to figure out how to use it for what I wanted to do. Now that I have it all "down" I wish I would have bought the thing a year ago.