I have seen the light and it is the screen of a 16 Gig iPod Touch! Halleluja! Amen! I can now lift my head high and praise the benefits of belonging to the sacred church of Apple and the words of Brother Job.
In all seriousness (sort of), I finally found an iPod worth buying. Up until now hey've all just been fancy MP3 players but once they came out with the second gen of Touch and brought the price down under $300, I found I couldn't resist.
I was a Palm Pilot-junky for years but a couple months ago my antiquated Palm IIIc vanished (fell out of my back pack somewhere) and really no great loss because it couldn't hold a charge for more than 20 minutes and all I really used it for at the end was playing cribbage on the bus (not when I was driving). But the iPod Touch Gen 2 has this cool little think called an accelerometer which reads the angle of dangle on the machine and translates it into controls for various video games. The device also has a 3" widescreen and plays movies, videos, holds the usual photos, and it even has Wifi, and a GPS so the possibilities are nearly endless.
Of course I could have opted to get an iPhone 3G with all the same features plus the phone, but I just bought a Motorola Razer and hardly need a second phone. Besides, sometimes I just want a phone and don't need to carry toys with me (out for a run etc.) I do have a smaller MP3 player that I can use for those times.
So, I've become one of those lost souls wandering around civilization (and sometimes beyond) with a set of headphones on, a glazed look in my eye and a total disregard for the world around me. The big difference is that I bought black headphones so the world couldn't tell I was with the cult. *L* Yah, but I still am. I try not to be, when I'm with friends and family. I don't wear the headphones or even use the unit when I'm with other people I'm supposed to be talking to, and this iPod has external speakers so we can actually all enjoy the song, hunched around the all-knowing, all-seeing Oracle-Pod.
But it's good to get my tunes back and get a cool toy in the process.
That's all I have to say about that.
Ciao for now.
Tim Reynolds.
Author of Stand Up & Succeed
www.StandUpAndSucceed.com
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Monday, 17 November 2008
Pondering, wandering & wondering...
Just a question, once again more or less for myself, but out loud...
Have I repaid the debt we all owe for being given life, if I have simply coasted by, not doing everything I can to improve the world around me? What debt do I owe, and who exactly do I owe it to?
Should I be saddened by the fact that I've made no real efforts to start a family of my own, and in fact have probably made poor choices over and over again which have lead me toward a progeny-less existence?
Is there time to correct my 'oversight', and if so, how do I do that without breaking the hearts of those around me? Or maybe I've totally misconstrued the meaning of the whole enchilada called life.
Damned if I know.
That's it, that's all... for now.
TR.
Have I repaid the debt we all owe for being given life, if I have simply coasted by, not doing everything I can to improve the world around me? What debt do I owe, and who exactly do I owe it to?
Should I be saddened by the fact that I've made no real efforts to start a family of my own, and in fact have probably made poor choices over and over again which have lead me toward a progeny-less existence?
Is there time to correct my 'oversight', and if so, how do I do that without breaking the hearts of those around me? Or maybe I've totally misconstrued the meaning of the whole enchilada called life.
Damned if I know.
That's it, that's all... for now.
TR.
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Questions --- ask them, dammit!
Just a quick note as much as a reminder to myself as to anyone else that we should never be afraid to ask questions.
For as long as I can remember, my parents' house (now Mom's townhouse) held a six-inch-tall ship's bell engraved with 'Nichevo II' on it's waist (the middle of the bell part thingy). Where it came from I had no idea. I've since adopted said bell and thought I'd Google it today to learn what I could. Here are the results:
"The Nichevo II was built in 1962 at the Fraser Shipyards in Superior Wisconsin. Designed by marine architect Walter W. Haertel, this 65 foot motor vessel can carry up to 9 cars and 149 passengers. She is powered by a 350 horsepower Cummins diesel engine, turning a four-bladed, 52 inch diameter propeller, with a 38 inch pitch. This gives her a cruising speed of 10 knots (11.5 miles per hour). The smallest of the four Ferry Line vessels, the "Nich" is used primarily for over-flow traffic in the summer months. However, due to her ability to operate in the ice, she is used throughout the entire season, acting as a backup to the Island Queen during the cold weather months."
Very cool. It's not from a pirate ship or an ancient ship wreck, but at least now I know its origin. What I don't know is how the hell it came to be on the shelf next to my mother's fireplace. Where in God's name did Dad pick this thing up and why would we have it if the ship was still in service (which it is)? Dad's been dead for almost 26 years so I can't ask him. I just emailed Mom, but I'm willing to bet she's as clueless as I am on the topic.
My point? I've known all about the bell since I was old enough to pick up its brass mass and ring it, so why did I never ask Dad where it came from and how it came into his possession? And what about some of the other pieces in the family archives? Like the neck of the Mayan water bowl which might be as old as 2ooo years? Or the United Nations uniform arm band we found in with his Queen's Own Rifles memorabilia. Was Dad ever stationed at the UN? Not likely. Did he trade it with someone he knew who had? Maybe. Or did he just buy it in a souvenir shop on one of his jaunts to the Big Apple? Damned if I know. I guess I should have asked. Now I may never know.
To summarize, I suppose it behooves me to make sure that any item in my collection which has a story has that story told, for the sake of whomever gets to clean up my mess when I'm gone.
That's it. That's all.
Ciao for now.
Tim Reynolds.
Author of Stand Up & Succeed
www.StandUpAndSucceed.com
For as long as I can remember, my parents' house (now Mom's townhouse) held a six-inch-tall ship's bell engraved with 'Nichevo II' on it's waist (the middle of the bell part thingy). Where it came from I had no idea. I've since adopted said bell and thought I'd Google it today to learn what I could. Here are the results:
"The Nichevo II was built in 1962 at the Fraser Shipyards in Superior Wisconsin. Designed by marine architect Walter W. Haertel, this 65 foot motor vessel can carry up to 9 cars and 149 passengers. She is powered by a 350 horsepower Cummins diesel engine, turning a four-bladed, 52 inch diameter propeller, with a 38 inch pitch. This gives her a cruising speed of 10 knots (11.5 miles per hour). The smallest of the four Ferry Line vessels, the "Nich" is used primarily for over-flow traffic in the summer months. However, due to her ability to operate in the ice, she is used throughout the entire season, acting as a backup to the Island Queen during the cold weather months."
Very cool. It's not from a pirate ship or an ancient ship wreck, but at least now I know its origin. What I don't know is how the hell it came to be on the shelf next to my mother's fireplace. Where in God's name did Dad pick this thing up and why would we have it if the ship was still in service (which it is)? Dad's been dead for almost 26 years so I can't ask him. I just emailed Mom, but I'm willing to bet she's as clueless as I am on the topic.
My point? I've known all about the bell since I was old enough to pick up its brass mass and ring it, so why did I never ask Dad where it came from and how it came into his possession? And what about some of the other pieces in the family archives? Like the neck of the Mayan water bowl which might be as old as 2ooo years? Or the United Nations uniform arm band we found in with his Queen's Own Rifles memorabilia. Was Dad ever stationed at the UN? Not likely. Did he trade it with someone he knew who had? Maybe. Or did he just buy it in a souvenir shop on one of his jaunts to the Big Apple? Damned if I know. I guess I should have asked. Now I may never know.
To summarize, I suppose it behooves me to make sure that any item in my collection which has a story has that story told, for the sake of whomever gets to clean up my mess when I'm gone.
That's it. That's all.
Ciao for now.
Tim Reynolds.
Author of Stand Up & Succeed
www.StandUpAndSucceed.com
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