Apple Store Adventure

A few weeks ago I decided that I just enjoy the mudane details of everyday life more than your average person. I think everything I do is just so interesting. I'd like to claim it's some sort of Buddhist "in the moment" sort of thing, but I think it really just comes down to me being easily amused and narcissistic.

Yesterday my iPod decided to take a vow of silence, apparently to protest my attempts to use it to transfer data from work to home. It stopped speaking Windows. Despite some gentle reassurances that I would let it go sit next to my iMac for companionship (Apple has made it quite clear that they only sell anthropomorphized electronics that have feelings and make sad faces instead of giving you those cold, impersonal error messages. So I thought some positive reinforcement and spending some time with another happy Mac might do it some good. I also considered trying to feed it some Prozac through the dock connector, but it appears that despite the iPod's tendency toward emotional instability, Apple has not yet added antidepressant capabilities to it.) it still insisted on crashing Windows Explorer and iTunes every time it was connected to the computer. So off to the Apple Store I went.

The Apple Store is not actually in Tucson, because your average resident of Tucson is not classy enough to be a Mac owner. I had to drive up into the foothills and arrived at an open air mall that had VALET PARKING. Do they have a shuttle bus to take you the 15 feet from Talbots to Crate and Barrel too? I don't see how valet parking could possibly be relevant in a mall situation. We're in the middle of a drought, but this place is covered in non-native (and therefore thirsty) plants and had fountains everywhere. Upscale retail is creepy. Anyway, I go to the Apple store and they replace my sick iPod with a new one. Mission accomplished.

Since I was halfway into the Santa Catalinas, I drove home on 1st Ave because it avoids having to drive down a twisty mountain road. On my drive down 1st Ave, I noticed all sorts of new things. I finally drove by the hideous apartments that were recently built and had only ridden past on my bike and now know they are at 1st and Wetmore. One of the pawn shops was bought out by SuperPawn and is proudly advertising that they are "Under New Management". Yeah, I'm sure that will really help clean up the pawn shop's image. I passed one of my favorite Tucson businesses, the House of Hubcaps. Seriously, that never gets old. I laugh every time. The Woods public library has some sort of neon sign I'd never noticed before, confirming my suspicions that 1st has special zoning regulations that require garish, hideous, and preferably glowing signage.

I drove back to work to put some files onto New iPod, and when I left the office my car barely started. I drove home and it died in the parking lot of our apartment complex. This is the third time the Trashmobile has died in the past two weeks, and it's beginning to get a little old. The first time there was something actually wrong with it, but the second and third times are because the DEALERSHIP BROKE MY CAR! Sigh. Hopefully they will fix it today.