Adventures of Kate No 3

The vacation from Hell continues...

The Adventures of Kate

Jesus cuts my grass and other musings

I have not written here in many a moon.

Everything that is going on politically makes me want to vomit.

Professional sports becomes more like Pro Wrestling every day.

College sports has less to do with sports than with making big dollars for the Uni, yet the tuition at these Uni's continues to skyrocket and they continue to become more inaccessible to more people.

Jesus cuts my grass
I heard an interesting theory that the USA needs these 15 million illegal aliens to be legalized so they can start paying social security taxes and bailing out us baby boomers. I don't think the vast majority of these types want to be legal. They are content with living under the radar and sending money back to their home countries. They do not want to assimilate.

Having said that, I think we really need these illegals. I was walking through the local shopping mall the other night and it seemed like I was the only one speaking English. These foreign types sure know how to spend money, and without their purchases, our economy would suffer. They are an integral part of our economy. It is not immigration that is broken. It is the government's system of letting people in this country that is broken. INS sucks.

Air Travel to Omaha 2007 style

I have been doing a fair amount of business travel. Five trips by the end of March, and one vacation trip for a total of seven in the frumpy skies. I hate the process of getting on a plane as much as anyone. American Airlines recently completed their terminal refurbishment at O'Hare Field which makes the part of getting your bags checked easier. Going through security is still an aggravating exercise in disrobing and re-robing. Watch, wallet and rings into computer bag. Computer out of computer bag. No liquids. Take off your hat. Take off your jacket. Take off your belt. Take off your shoes. Oops no socks today, my bare feet are following a scuzzy path worn by tens of thousands of other feet. Yuck.

Okay, so now I am through security and fast-forwarding to on the plane. I pray I don't sit next to some person who needs a seatbelt extender. It is just plain uncomfortable to rub up against a stranger for two hours. I have perfected my sullen look so that no one really cares to try to start up a conversation. Headphones and a book help as well. I hate take-offs. The only time I am afraid on a plane. Most accidents occur on take-off you know.

The inevitable fart in the fuselage occurs. Some creep passes gas and subjects the rest of it to his/her methane. Every trip. Never fails. And then I land in Omaha. It is a snap to get the bag and rent the rental car. Piece of cake, and minutes from downtown.

Being in Omaha after a plane trip is insult to injury you might say, although I am learning my way around the city and I find its desolate downtown and rows of empty buildings kind of charming. Omaha seems to say, Who needs the hustle and bustle of Chicago? We are just taking it easy here. The people are very friendly. There are some good restaurants. Rush hour is non-existent. Big time college football and basketball are right there. College World Series and the Omaha Royals are right there. Warren Buffet is right there. Quiet, civilized, unassuming. I like Omaha.

Resurrection of an iPod

Just a few days ago, I was despondent over the loss of my 20GB iPod Photo. Since I had nothing to lose, I decided to Google for a way to get it to work.

Yes, I was going to hack it! It was only a doorstop anyway, and I was not about to pay some goof $250 to crack it open for me. You can find the forums on iPod hacking yourself, they are everywhere. Most sites agreed that if you popped open the case and made sure the wires were seated, it would magically be cured. I was skeptical, but I tried it. It took me a bit to pry the case open with a screwgie, but I did succeed in doing so. Once it was open I sent a puff of air, like God's own breath, into the machine to clear out the dust and whatnot. Darn if it didn't make the hard drive start spinning immediately. That was three days ago.

Now I have two iPods! Yeah!

Death of an iPod

My 20GB iPod Photo is dead. Mort. It acted strangely the past month, freezing up with some version of electronic ague. Sometimes upon waking, the screen would just give me a sad face accompanied by an explanation point as if saying "I am gravely ill!" At those times, the little fellow could not muster enough strength to launch. The incidents became very frequent, to the point I decided to visit a Genius Bar at the Apple Store in Omaha, Nebraska.

When I arrived at the store, a demonstration of Garage Band was in full effect. A bunch of little kids sat at the bar while three odd-looking grownups, none of whom I would trust alone with a pre-teen, showed them how to create their own music on an Apple. One grungy looking male hipster employee was even dancing during the presentation. Okay, enough of that. Where is my Genius?

My appointment was at 6:00 pm. I was five minutes late, because I had just arrived from Chicago and came straight from the airport. I thought I had the trip timed, but I was five minutes late instead of five minutes early, and thus concerned that my appointment would be cancelled and I would be sniffed at by the Geniuses.

Tim the Genius greeted me with a smile and dismissed the apology on my tardiness with a wave of the hand. No worries, woo. He was a mid-twenties kid with a shock of red hair and an orange polo over the ubiquitous white tee shirt. While I was explaining the malady my iPod was experiencing, Tim tried to turn him on, and rubbed along his sides, all the while nodding and staring at the machine. He said he suspected I had been tampering with the iPod, that it felt as if it had been opened. Of course not was my reply. It feels so at the seams, that is why I ask, he replied, not accusingly.

Then Tim gave me the diagnosis. Imminent death. He put it up to his ear, concentration furrowing his brow. I do not hear the hard drive spinning. It seems like it wants to, but can't. You can have it repaired for about $250, either by Apple or a third party of your own choosing, but it is not worth it, in my opinion. As he spoke these words I kind of stared at him dumbly, as if some doctor was telling me my mother died. My thoughts were this is a movie, this can't be real, she's not dead. What is this?

Before I knew it I was outside again, walking to my car, the faint odor of manure in my nostrils, for there are many cows on the outskirts of Omaha.

When I returned home, I created a small playlist out my library and loaded it onto my kid's unused 2GB nano. Will life ever be the same without all of my music on me at all times? How much will I miss iPod Photo? Time heals all wounds.