New Toy

I believe in shopping locally. I want a neighborhood that I can walk around in, where I can get what I want from a real business with real employees and real inventory.

When I went shopping for my new iPod, I went directly to the Radio Shack that’s just a few blocks from my home. Yes, I could have gone near where I work and had a bigger selection; I could have purchased online and had it engraved.

The only color they had in stock was pink. This would not have been my first choice, but it really looks pretty nifty. I’m happy that it’s a sharp, almost metallic pink, rather than cutesy Hello Kitty pink.

While I’m sure the 8 MG Nano isn’t special for earlier adopters, I’m very pleased with my new toy. Not only does it download and display album covers, it lets me load and display my own photos, which makes them digital wallet sizes. While I don’t need to have piles of pics there, I enjoy having my favorites at hand.

The End

The iPod is dead. Like I've heard of the recent bank and financial institution collapses, the decline was slow, then it was fast.

The good news is, I had a relatively short run today, and the silence gave me more time to think about God and how God and the Tao are the same. Harmony in the world is often inharmonious seeming. Some days belong to the oak, others to the reed.

Marathon Miscellanea

I registered for the 2008 Seattle Marathon today. On the application, there’s a blank for projected finish time: I entered 3:41:24, which, I believe roughly corresponds to an 8 ½ minute mile. Barring illness or injury, I think that’s reasonable, especially when the passion of the day catches me.

The iPod is going to be a photo finish. The battery swap that I wrote about earlier has shifted the machine into a new and different phase of unreliability. The battery, once charged, seems to last for several hours. That’s the good news. It seems to last around the same amount of time whether it’s playing or dormant. It also has developed a habit of spontaneously turning itself off. That’s the bad news.

I Don't Know

what it means, but I now have both Facebook and Twitter accounts. Myspace is SO 2007.

I don't expect to do much twittering, but it is fun to follow the flow of ideas amongst one's friends and acquaintances.