Tag: navel gazing

The case of the missing iPod

I lost my iPod.

This week was strange. Between appointments and other errands, I don’t think I actually walked to work all week. That’s the first time I’ve driven that much in a long time. I know I walked to the university on Sunday for gaming, and I had my iPod then. That’s the last time I’m sure I had it. I have this vague feeling I might have walked to work this week, but looking back, I don’t think I did. This is significant, because if I walked, I would have listened to podcasts.

Monday I had a cranial sacral appointment, so I drove. Or maybe I walked in the morning and came home to pick up the car at lunch. Tuesday I was supposed to meet someone for supper. I *might* have walked, but I’m not sure. Wednesday I had an chiropractic appointment in the morning and an appointment to get my car battery replaced at night, so I drove. Thursday I stayed home in the morning to make chicken soup and drove in for the afternoon. Friday I was going to walk but spent a half-hour looking for my iPod, so I decided to drive in.

Regardless, I don’t have my iPod now. This is kind of sad. I’ve only had it for a year. I got that particular model to put [iPod Linux](http://ipodlinux.org/Main_Page) or [Rockbox](http://www.rockbox.org/) on. Not that I have. But none of the current iPods will run either.

There are two general possibilities regarding what likely happened to my iPod. Either someone stole it, likely from my jacket pocket while I was in the chiropractic appointment (the jacket rack isn’t visible to the receptionist), or it fell out of my pocket somewhere. Or it’ll just turn up somewhere.

What’s really odd is I have my headphones. I’m not sure how that happened.

It’s been a pretty hectic week, so I’m missing a lot of detail.

Working on the “it’ll probably turn up” theory, I decided to go out to get a [cheap, sub-$20 MP3 player](http://factorydirect.ca/catalog/product_spec.php?pcode=SA0130). They didn’t have it, though, despite what their “check stock” thing says. I decided to head home rather than going with one of their other models, but I think I might go back tomorrow. I’ll let you know. I’m now thinking that the “probably turn up” scenario is looking less and less likely, so I’m looking at more of a long-term replacement. That requires some thought.

What’s most disconcerting about all this is the fact that I’m drawing a complete blank on what might have happened to it. My brain isn’t what it used to be (but then whose is?)

Insomnia

I am very, very tired, but I can’t sleep. What better time than to go ramble on my blog?!

Wa-hey, I have a blog. I keep forgetting. I’ve gotten out of the habit of thinking of things to post.

When I was in highschool, I had this idea in my head that I should really keep a (private) journal, because every once in a while I’d realize that I was framing things that happened to me into narrative, but I never wrote any of it down. I never got around to doing that.

It was actually one of the reasons I first thought it would be a very good idea to get a computer. Because if I had a computer, I could write things down there. My handwriting sucks, and typing out a journal on my typewriter (yes, I had a typewriter) seemed a bit silly.

Like I said, though, I never got around to doing it. Just writing for myself never seemed like enough motivation.

A decade or so later, I decided I could make my homepage more interesting by [posting stories and observations and stuff there](http://web.archive.org/web/19981206031231/www.undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca/~dscassel/). And that was nice. And then the whole blogging thing started to happen and I decided to get on-board with that. All because every once in a while I get things in my head that want to get out.

And I still get those, but I’ve never quite managed to get into a consistent routine about getting things out there.

[NaBloPoMo](http://www.nablopomo.com/) actually helped, even though I didn’t quite make it. Apparently they’re making every Mo’ a NaBloPoMo. It’s not [blog365](http://blog365.ning.com/), which seems like a bit of overkill for me, but maybe I’ll take up the challenge again in March or April.

I’ll have to think about it.

I have the stories running through my head, but they’re harder to tell right now. Work is interesting, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t get anything out of it. Trying to tell work stories is really hard, because trying to come up with something abstract to talk about that isn’t specifically about what I’m working on, yet isn’t so abstract as to be devoid of any meaning… that’s tough. I’m pretty happy with my personal life, but since another person is involved, I’m a lot more reluctant to talk about it.

Those two things are taking up a sizable portion of my headspace at the moment, so I suppose it’s not too surprising I’m having a hard time writing long dissertations on other stuff.

My brain is going all fuzzy now. I’m tying this in bed on [my new(ish) laptop](http://system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=47). That’s another thing I really should write about. I have things to say! Just not right now.

Maybe if I turn it off I’ll be able to get some sleep…

Election Posts: An Introduction

I’m in Belleville for the long weekend. Having just driven in holiday traffic for three hours, I’m a little tired. So bear with me.

I was going to write this as an introduction to my election post (which I keep talking about but have yet to actually write). That’s coming, but I thought I should lay down some guiding principles first.

First, I hate politics. I am, however, a firm believer in the importance of good government and performing my duty as a citizen in a democracy. Without getting all Jimmy Stewart, I think it’s vitally important to stay informed and do what little is expected of me: vote.

I don’t think, however, that debating politics (especially on the internets) is often very productive. So I generally avoid it. But I’m torn, because I think that by avoiding it, I’m contributing to a general malaise and cynicism about democracy which I think is a huge problem in our society. (For the record, I have no problem with malaise and cynicism about politics, which I think is natural and inevitable. However, I think it’s important to separate democracy, society and governance from politics. They aren’t the same thing. The former is important and the latter is a retarded spectator sport).

So I’m going to talk about politics, but in a particular sort of way.

I want to lay out the basis for my coming to a decision regarding the election, or elections in general. I want to do this both to help me validate those thought processes in my own mind. I also kinda want to subtly encourage people by example. Which is to say I don’t particularly want to slog out a debate about who’s the better candidate in the comments. I’m not going to get into that. I would be very happy, however, to see others post about their own thought processes. I like to read that stuff.

I am not going to stump for a candidate. I don’t think that’s particularly classy. If there was one candidate I was enthusiastically ecstatic about (and there isn’t), that would probably show through. However, it’s not my goal to make you vote the way I vote. This is mostly about me, but if I wanted you to take anything out of this exercise, it’s to think for yourself, evaluate your own values and beliefs and cast a ballot for the candidate that you feel would best represent you.

I think of an election like it’s hiring someone for a job. You need to have that position filled by next week, even if all the candidates who’ve applied are horrible. That’s all you have to work with. It’s your job to pick one and move on.

I’ll post about the candidates tomorrow.