My iPod died. This is a traumatic event, as I’m sure you’ll understand. One day on my way home from work, it refused to start up. Then, a death image popped onto the screen. It looked exactly like this:
Normally, this just means that the battery is low and needs to recharge. My problem was that the iPod was plugged in at the time. It made no sense. Then I remembered that iPods notoriously lose their battery life after 18 months or so. So maybe my battery needed to be replaced.
Having your battery replaced entails sending your iPod back to Apple and paying them 60 or so bucks for a replacement iPod. I didn’t really want to send Apple 60 of my dollars. I thought it unfair that a $300 piece of equipment had crapped out after a year and a half and now I had to spend $60 to have someone else replace the battery. Any other electronic equipment that I have – cell phone, Blackberry, nose trimmer – all have batteries I can take out myself and replace. The iPod’s battery is locked deep inside the bowels of the machine, soldered to the circuit board. You can buy a replacement battery and pry the old one out yourself with a butter knife, but there is a good chance you’ll fuck it up. Well, I should say, there is a very good chance that I would fuck it up.
But miraculously, just around Easter, my iPod started working again. On a whim, I plugged it in, it actually charged up, and it’s been OK for a week or so now. I couldn’t be happier. I just don’t know how long it will last.
So, now that I have my iPod back, I have generated a new, refreshed Top Ten list to the right of this blog. I know that you have been waiting.
In other news, I am turning 30 this year. This has been surprisingly difficult to deal with. I feel a lot like my dad did when he recently bought a Corvette at age 53. I am in panic mode. I feel like there is tons of stuff that I haven’t done that I need to do immediately. I must learn to play guitar now. I must begin writing again now. I must buy a record store now. It’s getting late, time’s a-wastin’. It’s all I think about.
So I probably need to chill. Modest Mouse is helping me in this effort. I noticed this morning that there are at least three songs in their catalog that contain the lyrics, “I don’t know, but I’ve been told/you’ll never die and you’ll never grow old.” I like that sentiment, even if it’s untrue. They also have a lot of songs about driving in a car and running out of gas. Those tunes haven’t been as helpful.