Hard of ‘earing

On my last few walks, I’ve noticed a problem with my iPod.  To be more precise, with my earbuds.  I’ve already complained that they don’t seem to fit in my ears very well, but this is a different problem.

There appears to be a crackling sound in them.  They are only two or three weeks old, so this is a vexing issue.  It sounds like the wires are wonky and are separating inside somewhere.  You’ve probably heard that sound too, in old earphones, and there are usually only two options:  fiddle with them until you find an arrangement that minimizes the crackling, or chuck them and get new ones.  

But my iPod earbuds are so new!  How could this happen?  How could Apple make such an inferior product? Or is it something I’ve done?  Is it because my ears are too small for them and I’ve forced them into a position that they were never meant to be in?

Actually, none of the above.  Upon further investigation during tonight’s walk, I believe I have solved the problem.  It is my dangly earrings bouncing against the wires as I walk that causes that static-like noise. So, don’t wear those earrings while on a walk. Problem solved.

The size of my ears continues to be an issue.  Not sure what to do about that yet.

These boots were made for walking

One of the things I do a lot is walk.  It started four years ago as a cheap fitness activity, an attempt to lose weight, and a New Year’s resolution.  Amazingly, all three have been successes.  This is probably because I really do enjoy getting out and about and checking out my neighbourhood.

I have a number of different routes, all of which take me between 30 and 45 minutes to complete.  One is simply down to the shopping centre and all around its parking lot, then home (I don’t do that one too much any more).  Another is a big loop that involves going past a couple of retirement trailer parks – oops, I mean Modular Home Developments Geared To Active Seniors.  That was the walk I did last night.

Hooked up to my trusty little new best friend, my iPod, singing along to my Elton John mix (hopefully mostly in my head rather than aloud), the scenery was quite fascinating.

I saw:  

1)  One of my fave Chinese restaurants closed down “due to unforeseen circumstances”, according to the   hand-lettered sign on the door.  Fire?  Death in the family?  Health inspector? 

2)  A missing sidewalk.  It was there three days ago, I know it was, but now there’s just gravel and an           obstacle course of equipment for walkers to navigate.  I thought the city was just widening the road, not     eliminating the sidewalk.

3)   An abandoned truck canopy, seemingly carefully placed on the side of the street behind one of the       trailer parks – I mean Modular Home Developments.  I can only imagine somebody trying to park their           car there late one night and ramming into the thing.  Why would anyone leave their truck canopy in               such a spot?  Didn’t they need it any more?

4)  What appears to be a burned-out TR-7 sports car.  What possible reason would there be to decorate     one’s driveway with such an object and then have to drive around it every day to get in or out?  I                   understand about hobby cars (the Ex had one, which lived in the garage, and PG currently has one,             which lives in his warehouse), but I don’t understand about keeping a piece of junk in the way for all to       see.  Mind you, the house looks well on its way to becoming a piece of junk too.  I’m seeing a pattern.

5)  A hand-written notice on a telephone poll begging for the return of someone’s beloved dog who was       apparently picked up by two girls.  A dognapping?  In my neighbourhood?  Maybe I can contact those       girls to come by my place and pick up my neighbour’s yappy Jack Russell cross too.  And the loud kid       down the street.

6)  No dead things this time.

iPod, youPod

I  think I have a new favourite toy:  my pretty pink iPod.  I’ve spent a great deal of time the past two days getting familiar with its functions and learning how to download and manage music, playlists, etc.  As DD says, “Welcome to the 21st century, Mom.  What took you so long?”

She’s right.  And I have no defense.  I am one of those people who can spend entire days without turning on the stereo (though I do like to wake up and fall asleep to talk radio and I always have music blasting in the car – when I HAVE a car).  I never used to be like that.  I think it’s a phenomenon that dates back seven years or so – possibly back to when the Ex and I split up (he got custody of the good stereo and I got the little ghetto blaster that I still have).

Actually, now that I think of it, I never even owned a walkman or discman back in the 80’s.  Listening to my own private music has obviously never appealed to me…till now.  This iPod invention is pretty damn cool! As most other inhabitants of first-world countries on this planet already know, it’s super-easy to find and download your favourite tunes, or to transfer them from CDs.  I quite enjoy creating playlists, I’ve realized, and it’s great fun to go on a walk in time to music I have chosen, tiny pink iPod tucked in my pocket.  I can also almost completely forget how uncomfortable the earbuds are (is it just me and my microscopic ears, or do they irritate inside everybody’s ears??).  

I do have to remember to not sing along so loudly, however.

Technophile

So I broke down and spent the money.  On a laptop.  And an iPod.  Money that was actually earmarked for – oh, things like my line of credit or my upcoming car rental.  I’m justifying the expenditure to myself with the fact that my old computer had been crashing a lot recently, and also that my new car will have a built-in iPod adapter thingy which will enable me to snap it in its dedicated pouch, attach it to its dedicated outlet, then use the stereo controls to run it instead of the clickwheel (which I haven’t yet mastered anyway).

However, another factor in my decision to buy now rather than later was that DD informed me that Apple currently has a deal on whereby if you purchase both an Apple computer and either an iPod Nano or iTouch with the educational discount, you send in proof of purchase and Apple sends you a cheque that covers the cost of the iPod.  Basically, buy a computer and get a free iPod.  Good deal, I thought, and since I’m a teacher, I do qualify for the 100$ educational discount.  I can’t lose, I figured!

Except, I sort-of did.  I didn’t read the fine print.  I bought my new technology at a store that doesn’t offer an educational discount and therefore isn’t eligible for the free iPod deal.  I did get almost 250$ worth of free stuff from the store, though, in place of the discount:  a power bar, a memory card reader, a USB port hub, and an external hard drive.  None of which I really need (although DD quickly snapped up the external hard drive) or were considering buying in the future.  The bottom line is that I spent almost 300$ more than I would have if I’d gone to an Authorized Apple Retail Or Campus Outlet Store, but I got almost 250$ worth of computery items that I didn’t really want, so my net loss is 50$.  Note to self:  read the WHOLE rebate form next time.

Anyway, DD’s new(ish) boyfriend is a self-proclaimed computer geek and actually is a computer tech support guy, so he helped me set up my new toy on our wireless network and also did stuff so that I can access my email easier and not have to go through the web site.  It took him all of two minutes, grumbling all the while that he is emphatically NOT a Mac guy, that he really didn’t understand all this Mac stuff and wasn’t too sure what he was doing.  Yeah, right.  Even DD was rolling her eyes.  But as I say, he was done in about two minutes, then he smiled beatifically at me and asked, “Is that it?  Anything else you need?”

I asked him for a ride to the Skytrain station.