NEW iPOD

I love all gadgets.  I’m not sure how this love started, but its there and I can’t get rid of it.  I love my iPod Nano.  I purchased my first one in Portland, Oregon.  Land of steel bridges and Powell’s bookstores.  Anyways, I upgraded my iPod a year later and gave my old one to my friend.

I listen to my iPod mainly to chill out, relax and sometimes, when I’m in a silly mood I’ll dance around my condo listening to my tunes.  And sometimes I’ll do that even when I’m not feeling silly -its a great stress reliever.  I’m really fussy about my music so I carefully load it with music that won’t annoy me over time.  Yes, I really am that fussy, and I have eclectic taste in music, at least that’s what my friends say.  So, I was quite content with my 2nd generation iPod.  I hated the look of the 3rd generation, so I was never tempted to upgrade.

So, about 2 weeks ago, I went to connect my pod with my computer to upload a song I had bought on iTunes.  Well, guess what?  My computer wouldn’t acknowledge that my iPod existed.  So, after many attempts of doing everything the Apple help thing said to do, except throw it against a wall in frustration, nothing.  I even tried to see if it was just my computer, it wasn’t.  And, to fix my iPod would be about the cost of a new one, so, guess what?  I bought me a new one in Buffalo and recycled my old one and left it there.  And, I got a 10% discount on my purchase for recycling it!

My purchase coincided perfectly with the launch of the new iPod Nano, so I didn’t have to buy the previous one which I didn’t like.  Timing is everything people.  I’m loving this new iPod, its sleek and has a few cool features to it.  And, hopefully this sucker lasts me longer than my old one – I plan to take it around the world with me.  Can you believe my first iPod is still working?  My friend hasn’t had one problem with it and I had to dispose of my newer one after only using it for a year.  Sad.

On a slightly related note, I have yet another business trip coming up so this new iPod will come in handy.  I’ll need it to entertain me while surrounded by big men and their big hats….inside joke. 

UNPACKING

I hate packing, but I think I hate unpacking even more.  I brought so much shit back from my vacation its not even funny.  No, seriously, its not funny.

I’d show you a picture, but its too embarrassing how much crap I brought back with me (plus, who wants to see my underwear, right?).  I don’t know how to freaking pack for a vacation.  Maybe there are support groups out there for people like me who over pack?  What do you think?

The day I left for my vacation, I went over to my friends place before we left for Buffalo.  You see, we flew out of Buffalo, yeah, not doing that again – I’ll pay the extra and fly out of Pearson.  Anyways, my suitcase was heavy and I was thinking to myself “self, what the hell do you have in your suitcase and do you really need to bring two backpacks with you?”.  Yeah, I brought two backpacks, one with my laptop and the other as an extra that was holding stuff (I won’t go into details).

So, I came to my senses, somewhat, and did a bit of unloading and left my extra backpack and other things I wasn’t going to use at my friends place before we left for Buffalo.  I was able to fit everything into one suitcase and still had some room.  I was quite proud of that - I down sized. 

While in Florida, I did buy a few things, but not enough to over load my suitcase.  But my weakness, and it always has been, is shoes.  And, they are bulky, even if they were just sandals.  Oh, and did I mention that I had promised myself no spending money on shoes?  Right, and that worked out horribly, but I’m giving it another go, no shoes as of now!  No, really!! 

Anyways, with all the sandals I bought, it definitely took up the extra room I had.  My friend bought a hell of a lot more than I did, cause she’s a shopper, I’m a shoe shopper, she’s a everything shopper.  So, I packed some of her stuff in my suitcase, which then over loaded it.  Now I’m left with sorting it all cause we got home so late that I just brought it all home with me.  I need the suitcase for my business trip which is in less than 2 weeks…so I need an empty suitcase and I have to start thinking about what to pack for this business trip.  Aiya! 

STUPID QUESTIONS

I was down in Buffalo this weekend, as mentioned below.  It was totally unplanned and I was totally guilted into it – but I won’t rehash the story cause it just pisses me off (still!).  Now, I’ve crossed the border a million times and I’ve had my fair share of stupid questioning at the border.  This weekend topped it though.  I realize that they are trying to do their job and probably trying to see if they can rattle me, but sometimes you have to wonder about the intelligence of these customs officers. 

Stupid question #1: “Your hubcap’s missing” - now isn’t that observant, I never knew that was against the law or a relevant question when you’re trying to get into the States.  I wonder if there is a rule where I have to have all four hubcaps on my tires?  Cause when I told him it was taken, he didn’t seem to believe me, I had to repeat myself twice.  What I should have said was that there were so many drug packets lined inside of the tire that I had to remove the hubcap to give it space..yeah, right.  Really, how relevant is it that I’m missing a hubcap?

Stupid question #2: “So, you went to university to make stickers” – that one made my friend and I burst out laughing cause it was so damn stupid and demeaning.  The border guy actually laughed too, and I think he was embarassed, cause I could tell he realized it wasn’t a smart question.  My friend already told him what she did and where she worked, but apparently he’s not only dumb, but deaf too.

There were other questions, but I won’t embarass the U.S. customs officers any further.  You would think by his line of questioning he thought we were trying to import drugs or go to Buffalo to prostitute ourselves or something.  He certainly inspected my car carefully.  He also made a point of asking over and over again if we were only going for the day and that we would return to Toronto right away.  Yes, Buffalo is not our dream destination and we wouldn’t dare stay longer than we have to.

I think the best stupid thing that a U.S. customs office did once was look at my passport, I’m Asian, and then look at my friend, who’s Albanian, and asked her if she was me.  Like, hello, I never knew Albanian people looked Asian.  Trust me, my friend and I do not look alike.  Makes me shake my head to think that these people are suppose to be protecting the United States.  Granted, Canadian customs isn’t any better, but the U.S. can’t say they are that great either.  I can give them great examples to support that.