[Joe]

I'm lost without my notepad and my Pilot G2 0.5 mm pen. I used it to keep track of how far down the fuel trucks are, what's coming in/already on the ramp (tail #, type, arrival and departure times, and wingspans in terms of feet and how many 15' concrete blocks each will take on the ramp), and fuel requests.

I also connect one of those shoulder microphone/speaker things to my two-way and clip it on my shirt collar; it makes hearing calls easier on a loud ramp and I don't have to take the radio off my belt to talk and clip it back on when I'm done.

A transceiver is a big help, too; I set it to scan tower, ground, and unicom, so I can hear what's going on if I'm not in the front office or line room, and I'm less suprised when the planes that FlightAware doesn't show (i.e. blocked aircraft, VFR flights) show up, and therefore, are unable to park themselves in a bad spot.