Love the Zune

I love music. All kinds of music. I seriously cannot think of a time or situation, where music would be unwelcome. Sure, certain types of music are better for certain situations, but on the whole, music is always welcome where ever I happen to be. Its a tough question when someone asks me  "What kind of music do you like." My usual reply is "All kinds." From Hank Williams (Sr) to Dire Straits, to Led Zeppelin, to Thelonius Monk to Count Basi, to Christina Aquilera, to Glen Miller to Mozart and Beethoven and their crowd and on and on.

I will admit that usually the radio station in the car is tuned to country music. But not exclusively. Many times I switch on over to the rock station, or the soul station. The problem with radios is, you only get one genre of music at a time. Then you have to go in search of something else if you don't want that particular genre any longer. Albums err, I mean CDs are the same way. They are not only one genre, but mostly one artist. That is what I love about having a media player. I hadn't thought about it before. If I had, I probably would have gotten one a long, long time ago. One great thing about having the media player is I have the ability to quickly and easily load pretty much whatever I want to hear at any particular time. Most decent ones (1GB and up) will hold hours and hours of music. Music that you have ready access too. Sometimes, I like to simply turn on the 'shuffle' mode, and start it to play everything in my collection (that's a ton of songs people). I do get sometimes a bit annoyed at some song I happen to have that isn't one I wanted to listen to at the time, but mostly, I get surprised by songs I may have not listened to for a long time.

And heck, I haven't even really gotten into the whole "podcast" thing yet. But I'm certain I will before too long. It just seems too easy not to do it.

Took the plunge (finally)

Well, I finally did it. I have been wanting to for some years now, and finally, I just said "enough is enough, I don't care what happens, I 'm just gonna do it." And, of course, I'm talking about getting an MP3 player - or what they refer to these days as a "Media Player" because most (like the one I got) will also play videos.

I've been wanting an mp3 player for years. The kids all have one, but I've never gotten myself one. I had high hopes this past Christmas when the 5/8 said she got me something I'd been wanting. I'm thinking to myself 'w00t! she got me an mp3 player'. But of course, that was just wishful thinking. What I ended up with was some portable FM radio thing that never really worked. It would just shut off for no apparent reason, or change station without warning. Anyway, I'd finally said to my self, "self" I said "self, enough is enough. You never really buy anything for yourself, and to hell with it, you're getting yourself a Zune." So I did. And I'm not sorry about it either.

After consideration of the options, I chose to go with the Microsoft Zune. The price - feature ratio is pretty good, and I just couldn't go with the iPod. The iPod, for those not in the know, is married to iTunes, and will only accept one type of music file. The Zune, on the other hand, will take any kind of music you throw at it, and load it up and play it, without the need for time-consuming conversions. Also, a built-in WiFi sync with the PC (which I haven't yet been able to get to work) and the ability to trade music/videos/photos/podcasts via WiFi with other, nearby Zune players is kind a cool (again, I haven't used it, and quite frankly, don't know that I ever will, but it does have a high cool factor).

Oh yeah, and I can plug the Zune into the kids' XBox 360, and watch the videos from the Zune on the TV. I don't think the iPod will do that (but I could be wrong). So far, I love this thing. I almost haven't stopped listening to music since I got it, and I only have two small complaints.

The most annoying thing are the ear buds. The Zune 80 (which is what I got) comes with 'premium' ear buds. They come with several sizes of rubber attachments that fit into your ear. This creates a seal which 1) pretty much completely seals off outside noise - very nice (especially when the 5/8 is ranting about yet another thing) and b) makes the full range of music sound oh so much nicer and more vibrant. I have never really paid much attention to things like headphones or earphones and their quality and what not. But my-oh-my these things make you feel like you sitting right there next to the musicians while they are playing.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking 'so what is annoying about that?', and the annoying thing is this. Well, I'll tell you. The Einteins that designed these things have a cloth-type covering for the cable instead of the standard plastic covering. While this gives the cables a nice look and feel, the problem comes when you're listening to the thing and the cable moves. The sound of the rough cloth-rope-like texture travels the cables and is loud.

The other minor annoyance is that you can't sync the Zune using Windows Media Player. I love WMP. I have tried other media players for the PC, and I have found them all somewhat lacking compared to WMP. I use it for everything, and even purchased the plug-in to allow me to play .m4a files (mp4 audio - what iTunes uses). Personally, I prefer using .wma files with their variable bit rate, but we can't get everything we want.

I can't figure why they did that. I mean, it is Microsoft after all. They make the Zune, they make Windows Media Player. It seems to me that it would have been much more efficient to create a plugin or special version of WMP to sync with the Zune than to create a whole new program that for doing it. Oh well, I suppose that is why Bill Gates & Co are worth billions and I'm...well...me.

Waiting at the tire shop

Sitting in the lobby of the Kansas Tire and Auto shop waiting for them to fix the hamster that runs around in the wheel to power my little nothing of a car. I have a Honda Insight - sure it is supposed to be good for the environment, but my purchase of such a vehicle was purely selfish - I had to admit it but it is the truth - commuting 70 miles each way to work everyday, I needed something that would get good mileage, and, seriously, without embellishment, I have a 58 MPG lifetime average on the car. That means over the course of the 172K + miles I have put on it in the past six years, I have saved...well, A LOT of money in gas. I spend about five and a half dollars a day on gas with that little thing.

So anyway, I'm sitting in the lobby of the Kansas Tire and Auto while they are replacing the front tires of my roller skate, and my mind starts wondering. They have no TV for those waiting and no free coffee (or even pay-for coffee) like most places do. So my mind starts thinking. This is usually a fairly dangerous thing. My mind goes places that Angels fear to tread when it is without stimulation. It makes it's own stimulation, and then takes some wild turns down tangents most people have never considered.

Luckily, this time, my mind was still mostly asleep after staying up so late playing Raven Shield with my buds, and getting up early to get the car here for the new tires, so I started thinking, and I mean seriously thinking, about what I would do if I won the lottery.

What I would do if I won the lottery:

Really, my plans for any lottery winnings would depend on how much was won. But lets pretend it is the $300 million lottery. Taking the cash and after taxes, I'm guessing there would be about 125 million simolians in my bank account after all the dust settled and Uncle Sam got his share.

First, I would give ½ to charity. That would be about $62.5 million dollars (I think most of it to charities the help the families of US service men and women who have been killed or injured). Then I would openly challenge John "you little people don't do enough for the poor" Edwards to match the donation.

Second, I would setup a college fund for any and all family members. The fund would be such that any family member who wanted to tap into it could. It would be a small interest loan (like 1.5% or something ridiculously low), unless the student received at least 4.0 GPA, then the loan would be forgiven and they would not have to pay any amount back. This might seem like a high GPA, but when one doesn't have to work, and all of their expenses are paid, and they get a monthly allowance for pocket money, there should be absolutely no reason why one cannot get a 4.0 GPA.

Third, I would hire a plumber and have all the plumbing in my house re-done.

Fourth, I would hire an electrician and have my entire house re-wired.

Fifth, I would quit my job and tell the little dictator in the corner office to 'have a nice day'

Sixth I would seriously investigate what it would take to get a fuel cell generator for my house. Not only would it generate electricity, but also produce water. And, if rumors be true, any electricity one produces but doesn't use, gets pushed back onto the grid, so the electric company has to pay them for the power (it would be SOOOO cool to get a check from those folks for once!). And for water, if I could get off the city water supply and have pure H2O - well, all the better.

Seventh, I would get the 5/8th that Jaguar she has always lusted after.

Eighth, I would by myself a big fat Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and ride the Al-Can highway on my Hog, camping from here to Alaska. Well, okay, I can get one for the 5/8th also, and she could come if she wanted to (I guess).

After all that, I figured I'd have about 20 or 30 million clams left, and I could use part of that to open a coffee shop. A roomy place, with tons of hard back books and giant, comfy leather chairs and big couches. Like those libraries one sees in those movies made from Agatha Christie novels. People could come in, be comfortable, enlarge their knowledge with old dusty books, drink coffee (or chai tea or whatever else suits them) and surf the 'Net if they so wanted. Oh, and board games, I'd have board games for people to play, checkers, chess, Chinese checkers, pente, Monopoly, stuff like that (hey, anything to keep them in the shop drinking coffee or what not). I'd need the business because, with only 20 or 30 million bucks left, even if on got only 5% interest on investments, that is only about 1 or 1.5 million dollars a year, and who on God's green earth can live on that pittance? I'd need the business to supplement that measly income.




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