Really responsible

I now own the world's most expensive hand mirror.

I got an email from my division director the other day, saying that I'd gotten an award for being a wonderful guy this last year (when in fact I've been a grumpy curmudgeon and come in late way too often) and to expect a chunk of unexpected money in my direct deposit this week. Rather than do something boring and responsible with it, I went out last night and got an Apple iPod.

I've been coveting them since I got my iMac over a year ago, and finally went out and got one. It is, like almost everything else Apple makes, a gem and very pleasant, almost luxurious, to use. It just seems to do everything right, and there are fewer and fewer things that are like that these days. I want the things that are, so this gadget definitely has a place here.

I've had a small mountain of MP3 players (or at least, devices that could play MP3s), but this is the best of them so far. I found my very first one, a Rio PMP-300, in a box the other day. It still works, and still annoys me with the little things it does wrong. Add to that three or four Sony Clies, all of which could play MP3s, and a Creative Labs TravelSound MP3 gadget (hard to find but worthwhile if you travel), and this iPod has a lot of predecessors.

Anyway, it's now jammed with 3,800 tracks. And it has reminded me of the need to go back and clean up a lot of bad ID3 tag information and title information in these things. A lot of people are incredibly lax about that stuff, and it bugs the fuck out of me when I download something and the tags are all wrong.

BTW, if you have been thinking about one, get the 20Gb model. The 15Gb comes without a bunch of accessories you'll end up buying anyway, like the dock, the case, the remote, etc. Apple has lately been putting refurbished 10Gb iPods up in its Store for $199, but they appear to be out right now.

Melody and I have been wrestling with some philosophical differences the last couple of days. Both of us have been rather tired and very busy, which doesn't help things. I haven't had sex in days. Gadgets much suffice for now.

Not THAT kind of gadget. Jeez.