Reactionary

What a day I’ve had. It’s a bit of a convergence of the latest news for me and nationally.

Thursdays are conference days at work so that’s how it started, with a coffee and English muffin. It’s the only day of the week I don’t need to scarf something down at 530AM. So I sat there with the rest of the staff and listened to some plastic surgery lecture. Then, at 8AM, we went upstairs and grabbed assignments. The first case up was some quickie which we did efficiently and sent the doc to his little clinic early enough for him. And then we got some train wreck kid whose docs took forever to show up and there was a lot of extra work involved. We finally carted that kid back to the floor around noon.

I ran downstairs for lunch and when I got back, I heard we, the room’s team, was being shipped off to the ICU to bring the OR to some kid there. We were meeting one of my favorite surgeons. And then my shift was over and I was free to leave. I thnk I was whiney about it in the office to make sure no one left me high and dry in the ICU in case we went over my leaving time. I know this part sounds like a telegram, but you realise I can’t give many details here because of a slew of laws.

I started my Egyptian art history class today and since I was out at 330PM, it gave me two hours to get books before class. The problem was, I had no idea what the class number was. Was I supposed to know? That was kind of stupid of them. Even in the e-mail I got from them, it didn’t give me the university’s number for the class. By some quick research at one of the university book stores, I was able to match the teachers last name with some suspicious-looking class numbers. But the queue wound all the way around the store and I still needed to get dinner. It’s the first day of class for the place. So I didn’t get them and grabbed a Caesar’s salad at the market instead.

When I got out, it was time for class. I found the building with no worries. It’s a cute one right next to the library. I didn’t have books but it was kind of a blow off class anyway. We didn’t have blow off classes at my humble alma mater, but this Ivy league school does…

In spite of the blowoffidness, I did get to a realization about why temples tend to get built one on top of the other. It’s because a temple once built consecrated the ground it was built on. So instead of building new temples elsewhere, they built on top of the old temple. Once sacred ground, always sacred ground.

One thing that filled me with glee was the white Bluetooth Apple keyboard and mouse on the conference table the teacher was using. I was funny to see her struggle with the Mac interface. Windows users always assume things are harder than they are. The Mac is extremely visual. You shouldn’t have to work so hard to use the damn computer. I think the OS was Jaguar. Definitely not Tiger.

Speaking of Apple, I have to summarize what I think about yesterday’s announcement. The iTunes phone is so ugly, I have to look away. I realise Apple didn’t make it or design it, Motorola did. But Motorola also makes the Razr, the phone that made me rethink cell phones and go out and buy one (a $300 phone I once professed to not want or need). Why is the Rockr so ugly and the Razr so hot? Come on, Motorola. Also, having music on your phone doesn’t do things for me. I have my Razr and my first generation iPod. As Tim Robertson said on his podcast you could essentially glue an iPod shuffle onto my phone and have something more powerful (and probably a hell of a lot better-looking) than the Rockr. I hope Apple et al get smart and release an iTunes interface for all modern mobiles.

I like the playlist folders in iTunes 5. And the new Spotlight feature. I’m okay with the interface. The programs are starting to look all over the place, though, aren’t they?

iPod nano. My God, it’s cute! But $199 and $249 seems a bit steep for 2GB and 4GB. And I mourn the passing of that lovely little iPod mini all in aluminum and four colors. Why oh why couldn’t they keep it in some way? I love that nano, though. Many people will like the shiny black, but I still love white (and hate black, even on Apple products).

The best bit of news, though, was Madonna finally, finally, FINALLY letting her music hit the online market. Maybe she just realized it was costing her too much money in lost income, but I prefer to see it as a moving away from the centralized, antiquated recording industry (that’s managed by a bunch of greedy, heartless bastards). It should always be about the music. Not the money. Not the “new thing”. Not the what you think people will like. Not even about the fans. It’s about the music.

September 8th, 2005 | Category: General, Life, Tech |  Print |  Send it | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed