Tired, and apparently tense

I have been working through lunch for a while, so no posting....

I found out at an exam yesterday that I am exhibiting pre-hypertension. This does not surprise me. It actually surprises me that that's as far as it goes. But, regardless, it's a nice kick in the pants to jump start a healthy lifestyle again, especially now that it's spring.

We'll see how much of a jump start it is this time, but I'm hopeful. The last time I did this, I gave up regular soda, switched to diet, and stuck with it. The time before that, I targeted fast food, and by and large, I eat far less than I ever have. This time, I'm targeting salty foods - particularly potato chips. And since it's warmer out, I think the exercise will come naturally. (It's when it gets cold again that will be the test...)

I rented the first disc of the TV series Wonderfalls on DVD from Netflix. I think that show was really robbed when they cancelled it during its first season. It deserved better.

It's snowing, it's snowing... God I hate this weather...

In case you couldn't tell by the title, we rented a documentary on They Might Be Giants over the weekend. It was excellent.

Also, it is in fact still snowing, although it has turned to a slushy wet mix as I'm writing this post.

Also as a result of watching the TMBG documentary, please note that Ira Glass is my latest person to worship. I rediscovered playing "This American Life" sessions over Real Audio through my wireless headphones as I was working around the house, except when I was compelled to stop what I was doing and just listen - over 90% of the time I was working. I got very little cleaning done, and Ira Glass is a narrative giant. (There is no "might be" in that sentence.)

Don't be a slug. Donate to public radio. If you live in Erie, donate here.

Alpine iPod adapter

Got the iPod adapter for my car on Saturday with a new CD/MP3 deck. It works okay........ A pretty big learning curve because the Alpine deck interface has nowhere near the classy design of the iPod itself.

Ergo Car Audio in Edinboro was very helpful to me and did an excellent installation job.

Likes:

• Charges the iPod while connected (eliminating an extra power cord)
• Hides the iPod in the glove box (eliminating a visible audio cord)
• Reads playlists, artists, albums from the iPod (no reorganization of files *required* - see dislikes)
  
• Much better sound quality than a cassette adapter. (MUCH)
  
• Updates the iTunes play count (Whoo-hoo! That was a big ? for me, and for those of you who know how anal I get with these things - that could have been a deal breaker...)
  

Dislikes:

• No variable scroll speed. (Scroll wheel on the deck goes one... entry... at.... a... time...) This, frankly, sucks.
  
• Interface is NOT intuitive. (Press 1 for playlists, 2 for artists, 3 for albums), find your selection, then press another button to drill down to the next level, repeat. If you're on a song and you want to switch to another artist's song, you have to hit "Display" and then 2 for Artists, scroll to find their name, hit the select button to drill down to albums, scroll through the albums, hit select. I don't know a better way to do this on a regular CD deck, so it doesn't bother me as much as the scroll speed.
  
• Some overall limitations on number of entries on any given display. (Only affects me on my very large playlists when I shuffle - not all that common.)

My music is very tightly organized, so the album/artist search was no big deal really. I did have to tighten up my playlists - I think I'm going to use them to find my more popular music, because I can just have about 20 playlists, and go that way, rather than wading through hundreds of single-song artists to find Moby or U2.

If your iPod is not really cleanly organized, this unit could be either the catalyst you need to organize, or maybe just such a big hassle you end up burning mp3 CD's instead.

A short respite from updating

First off, thanks to everyone for the response regarding my grandmother. It was very appreciated!

On a brighter note, I recently found out that my grandfather and mother have been getting her out of the house more, particularly now that she comes in a convenient travel size. (They do have to leave her in the car though on most errands and trips. - I'm not sure they even crack the window for her.)

I'm having chicken soup for lunch. Every time I've felt like I've been getting sick for the past year or so, I've had chicken soup for lunch and I've stayed relatively healthy. (Flu/cold related anyway...) It sounds dumb, but I'm going to keep doing it until I get sick... I could be staying healthy because of all the liquid I have to drink because of the extreme sodium content.

I'm getting a new car stereo installed tomorrow with an iPod adapter to connect my iPod directly into the stereo, instead of the dodgy cassette adapter I have right now. Plus, it will be the first time I've had a CD player in my car. It took Ergo Car Audio in Edinboro a long time to get one in because of the demand. I'll make sure to post a review once I get a chance to use it a little.

Tiffany has been grilling dinner now that the weather has gotten better. We had some Omaha Steaks hot dogs a couple of nights ago that were fantastic. (They were a gift from the holidays - we normally get our hot dogs like everyone else, on sale at the grocery store...)

Virginia Najjar 1921-2005

She is many things to many people, but to me, she is Grandma.



My memories of her are of her wry humor that lay in wait for when you least expected it , and then afterwards, her patented giggle/chuckle that all at once proved her youth at heart, her wisdom in age, and quiet pride in me, my sister, our family. From my earliest memory, she treated me as much as an equal as I could understand for my age.

Her lesson to me was to enjoy today, look forward to tomorrow, and laugh inside at obstacles to getting to both.

I miss you already.

Link to the official obituary is here.
Link to the good people of Hospice who looked out for her in her last months is here.