Known Knowns

For the last year, I’ve been struggling with different MP3 players, having gone through three since last June. And I’m really nice to my players, too. I don’t drop them all the time like I do with my cell phone. I keep them in special cases or in my pocket and am continually aware of their presence. I feed them expensive food. I’m really nice to my MP3 players, but they just kept breaking, either completely or partially. It was starting to tick me off.

So, I finally did the dirty deed and bought a freaking Ipod. The Ipod Touch, by the way. No small purchase. I had been holding out because I just never felt quite trendy enough to have one. It’s sorta like voting for Barack Obama. I wasn’t sure I was cool enough…(I’ve determined that I am, by the way.)

I was looking for something that would, first and foremost, not break all the time. I also wanted more space for my music, and a bigger screen so I could play videos (during my lengthy bus commute to and from the hospital and school.) I had started looking at Wifi players, although there are very few on the market right now so I wasn’t terribly concerned with it. I had thought I would get the newest Ipod Nano, which pretty much had the qualities I wanted, although I was concerned about giving myself a brain aneurysm if I watched too many videos on a screen the size of my thumbnail. (Just kidding. I know, it’s slightly bigger but you know what I’m saying.) I was willing to make a decent monetary investment because I’m making decent money at my internship this summer, and like I said, I didn’t want something that was going to break all the time. So a Nano it was, and I was all ready to buy it after selling my other MP3 player on Amazon.com.

Until my technophile husband stepped in.

I just love him. He keeps me wired. He keeps me hip (as much as it’s possible.) We always have the latest gadgets. I don’t know what I’d do without it.

“Why not just get an Ipod Touch?” he said.

I couldn’t think of a reason, except that I wasn’t looking forward to the ultimate sticker shock because those little beasts are expensive. Then again, I was planning on spending enough money to get what I wanted and make it last. So yeah, why not?

The following day, after my last final, we went to the Apple Store and came home with a brand new Ipod Touch.

It was an immediate dose of trendiness. I almost couldn’t handle it. I thought about returning the damn thing.

I’m over that. And I love my new toy.

Yes, the price is really ridiculous but at the same time, I almost think it’s worth it for the feeling, alone. I feel like I’m cutting edge, and standing on the brink of something that is going to be huge. I read an article today that the next Windows version will be some kind of touch screen. Right now, portable media players with wifi are pretty limited but soon enough they are going to be the thing, and there won’t be many places you can go where you can’t get a wifi signal. Hell, even some airplanes are going to start allowing wifi. So, it makes me feel exceedingly special to know that I was kind of an early adopter. Usually I consider that a bad thing.

The other thing I love about my new Ipod is that it’s got enough space that I’m able to store my entire collection of CD’s on there, and still have plenty of room left over. Granted, my CD collection is small compared to many others. However, now I understand the joy of having every CD at my fingertips, no matter where I am. I have spent the last week re-introducing myself to music that I haven’t listened to in ages. I love it. I’m remembering all the songs that used to give me goosebumps. Many of them still do. I’m reminded how much I love music, and how much I love the variety.

I haven’t yet tested the video features beyond watching a couple Youtube videos, which were not bad at all. I’m going to Indiana this weekend, and plan on loading up a couple movies for the plane right. I’ll be traveling without my laptop since this little bugger has everything I need; the ability to check my email, play music, watch videos, take notes, and anything I need to entertain myself. It will be nice not to have to haul 10 extra pounds around the airport. And I can’t wait to see how my pod performs.

There is one thing I dislike, and that is Itunes. I used the program several years ago with the first generation nano, and it was terrible. I thought by now, they’d have de-bugged it a little better. Well, it still runs like crap, bugs out frequently, and slows my computer down. I’m willing to tolerate it because I like my Ipod, and with all my other Mp3 players, I was never able to find a better piece of software to aggregate my podcasts and music, sadly enough. Someday something will come along. Until then, I merely tolerate Itunes. Bah.

In the meantime, I will enjoy my trendy, trend-setting self while it lasts. Give it a week.

In my family, eating has always been a social, and often celebratory event. As kids, when something good happened, the ‘rents would frequently take us to Applebees. The tradition is one I’ve had a hard time shaking as I’ve gotten older. Now that I’m in school, I celebrate exemplary events by eating chicken nuggets at McDonalds, mostly because we don’t have an Applebees around us, and it’s cheaper and faster. In accordance with this unspoken rule, I celebrated the end of my third semester by buying a package of turkey bologna and some Captain Crunch Berries. These were two of my favorite snacks as a kid, and I thought I’d use them to reward myself during my two weeks off.

I went home and eagerly made myself a bologna sandwich using all my favorite ingredients: miracle whip (NOT real mayo) and the fake American cheese that comes wrapped in plastic. The only difference was that I used to wheat bread. It was like being a kid in a candy store as I took my first bite. I was reminded of all the times when I used to eat raw bologna smothered in miracle whip just to irritate my brother. I’d sit on the couch and dangle it into my mouth while he sat on, disgusted, knowing there was nothing he could do but leave the room.

The bite went in. I chewed and chewed.

And chewed.

And swallowed.

And kind of grimaced.

Where was my happy childhood memory? This was the exact same kind of bologna, down to the brand, that I’d eaten as a kid. Why did it taste so different? Why was I more disgusted at the fact that I was putting this crap into my body, rather than enjoying every delicious moment of my blessed bologna sandwich?

The truth is that I’m getting old.

I haven’t broken my hip yet, but apparently, I am wearing out of my old childhood tastes. This is actually an amazing feat that I never thought would happen. Chicken fingers have been my favorite food since I was old enough to say the words. Although I’m kind of sad that I will probably never buy bologna again, I am kind of thrilled to see this major progress in my eating habits. Another thing I noticed was that there are actually foods that are too greasy for my liking, yet another impossible feat. I had fish and chips at a restaurant the other day, and I felt a little queasy because of all the grease. Unbelievable. This coming from the girl who would fry anything; a Twinkie, a hot dog, a cesar salad. I could sit in front of a chocolate cake and have no problem ignoring it but, but put a piece of fried food down there and you’ll never know what happened.
Now it appears that I do have limits.

This is thrilling because I’ve been working on my eating habits, albeit very slowly, for a couple of years now. (At least since I got out of college in 2004.) I always thought the progress was ungodly slow and really, what was the point if my tastes were never going to change? Well, my friends, I’m living proof that it does happen. I eat salads at home now. Salmon is one of my favorite foods. We use whole grains in almost everything, and substitute fatty meat for leaner stuff like chicken and turkey. These are baby steps, but to know that I’ve actually outgrown bologna is a huge feat for me.

I think I’ll celebrate. Chicken nuggets anyone?:

It’s been a long time, I know. I was actually thinking about deleting knownknowns but Mom convinced me otherwise, and told me that I just needed to write a quick message letting people know that I’m here but not as often as I used to be. So, there. That.

I am currently preparing for my med surg II final on Friday, and I’ve already lost a significant amount of sleep over it, not to imagine the inordinate amount of karma I’ve been trying to bank. For example, a kid came to my door trying to sell me a newspaper subscription for some college fund he’s a part of. I don’t need the newspaper, so I wrote the kid a personal check for half the amount that I would have paid for the newspaper. Normally, I slam the door on these people. (Not literally, but I don’t have any problem telling anyone “no,” especially with an 80 lb. German Shepherd standing behind me.) Anyway, I guess it’s not really karma if you tell people. Oh well. I feel kind of weird about it anyway because the kid begged me to take back the check and sign up for a newspaper instead. It was strange. I even told him that I didn’t care if he just bought beer ( don’t…I just told him he needed to “pay it forward.) Not sure why I feel weird about it. Oh well.
What else has been going on in my life?

I’ve been watching the primaries with feigned interest. Okay, real, true interest. Okay, I stay up until 1:30am watching to find out who won Indiana a couple weeks ago. Okay, I tried to convince my Mom to name her new cat “Barack.”

I’ve been going to school, and I’m down to 212 days which means I’ve reached the “final six months.”

Roland is good. He’s been eating poop tonight. I can smell it on his breath. Some things never change. Including my lazy ass cats.

And finally, I’m the team leader for a team in the WOMAN challenge, which encourages women to make healthy lifestyle changes including being more physically active. This doesn’t mean you have to run a friggin’ marathon. It just means you park your car father away from work, or take the stairs instead of the elevator one day. Seriously. It’s way low key. You set your own goal (and if you’re me, the goal is nice and low) and try to make it on 5/7 days. I even got a pedometer for ten bucks at target. If you want to join, let me know. We’re Team Ranch Dressing, and we’re taking over the world.

That’s all from now. I can’t promise how much I’ll post. I’ve got a big internship starting in June that is going to be very, very time consuming for most of the summer (especially since I have a class on top of the full 40 hour a week thing.) But I’m definitely still reading, and commenting when I can, and I’m definitely still posting on my nursing school blog, too. So please keep in touch.