After this morning’s good news (courtesy of the scale at the gym), I admit that on this fine Monday I’m feeling dangerously attractive. I know the feeling will pass, but for now, it’s officially true. I’m. Too Sexy. For My Blog.
I’m annoyed with Apple this morning. Actually I’m annoyed with Apple this week, but particularly this morning.
Recently I’ve been having a problem that is evidently plaguing many iTunes users across the ether: The damn program has developed a mind of its own, and spontaneously launches.
Spontaneously launches! And iTunes is a big, clunky collection of SIX programs (I just learned that this morning) and it can take forever to launch. This is annoying even when I WANT it to launch. But when it does it on its own, as it does several times an hour, it’s obnoxious.
And lately it’s gotten even worse! Now it not only spontaneously launches, but it changes window focus to itself. This means that, in the middle of a World of Warcraft raid, when I’m tanking Mimiron’s head and everyone is counting on me, my game suddently alt-tabs out into iTunes!!
Not acceptable.
I’ve searched for this problem and it’s driving many people crazy, and they’re jumping through hoop after hoop to get it to stop.
Now, I have a pretty cranky attitude toward products that don’t work, and then the companies expect me to spend lots of time troubleshooting them.
I’m not a beta tester for Apple. The damn thing should just work. And if it doesn’t, they should patch it pronto.
So, I actually got an Apple techtard on the phone this morning, and let me just tell you, this guy had more attitude than Bronson Pinchot at a Palm Springs White Party. This is not an attractive, or appropriate, or acceptable tone for a customer support person to have.
I told him I had tried to solve the problem by uninstalling iTunes and installing the newest version and that hadn’t worked.
“How did you uninstall it?” he asked, voice dripping with Pinchot-tude.
“Uh, I went to the Control Panel and uninstalled it.”
He went on to sneeringly inform me that in order to make it uninstall properly, I had to not only uninstall SIX programs, but I had to uninstall them in a magic order! The order:
“All of these programs install on my computer when I just ask to install iTunes?!” I asked.
“Yes.”
“That’s kind of pushy, isn’t it? I don’t have any mobile devices that need Apple Mobile Device Support, and I don’t want Bonjour.”
“You have to have them if you want iTunes.”
Fine. Tonight I will try this, but if it doesn’t work, I may be making a little drive up to Cupertino with a chainsaw.
Ever realize you’ve just totally been missing the boat on something? Happens to me all the time.
Until recently, I’d never eaten hummus. Like , practically, never had a bite of it.
Why? I have it in my head that I don’t like Middle Eastern Food. And it’s true that I don’t like olives, or grape leaves, or sheep, or big scary rotating disks of mystery meat or baklava or feta or couscous.
But what the hell was my problem with hummus? It’s beans, garlic and some sesame. What’s not to like? Also, it’s one of the healthiest things you can eat.
I’ve been working on my diet and I’m always looking for 1) healthy snacks, 2) ways to upgrade my fresh vegetable intake and 3) ways to incorporate more beans into my diet (beans are one of the easiest health foods to incorporate into your diet and most Americans don’t like them, it’s weird).
So I bought my first container of Tribe Brand Sweet Roasted Red Pepper hummus this week and I am loving it. Even better, despite the titular sweetness, there is no sugar in it.
Next step: making my own tahini and hummus. How hard could it be?
I had a physical a month ago. I’ve been losing weight and eating well, and so my doctor and I had every reason to believe my blood numbers would come back fine. The way it works with my doctor’s office is that you have to call to get your test results. You can’t be passive and wait for them to call you.
However, because of my stupid, reptilian fear of anything medical, I have not made the call. Not because I expect to get bad news, but just because of the possibility of getting bad news. It’s really dumb.
So after wasting a lot of worry for a month (a MONTH!) I finally put in the call this morning.
And I am now waiting for Dr. Weiner to call back. Which means the rest of the day, or at least that portion of the day between now and whenever he calls, is ruined. I’m in a funk that no grain of Xanax, no vigorous session of cardiovascular exercise, can penetrate. I just have to suck it up.
Utterly irrelevant photo that I took:
Billy Zane, who was soooo not very good in Titanic, hiking Runyan Canyon with a bevy of young male friends. Good legs!
I have a question for all of my readers. Both of you!
I just bought one of those little blue tooth ear buds to use with my cell phone. I love it, but it’s so tiny I’m sure I’m going to lose it!
Does anyone have a clever and easy to use method of not losing this cunning little gadget?
Please leave your comments here!
And thanks!
Pete Rodriguez was my high school band director.
In time since I’ve been in high school (and let’s face it, I graduated months and MONTHS ago), I’ve always had a moment of confusion when I hear peers talk about “band geeks” or “band queers.” Evidently it’s a tradition that people in high school band are looked down on by the general population.
Know what? That wasn’t true in my high school. At Bryan High School, the band was widely acknowledged for its excellence and the school was damn proud of it. Why? Well, the answer is, mostly: Pete Rodriguez.
Rodriguez (or “Mr. Rod” as he was universally known) had a quiet, no-nonsense demand for excellence which had a way of sneaking up on you and bringing out your best. He was also quirky, funny, smart, and talented.
Never having been an athlete (as hard as that is to believe by looking at me), my experiences in speech/drama and band were my “team” experiences in high school. And Pete Rodriquez was a wonderful coach. He had such confidence in his own abilities that he could afford to talk to you with respect, as if you were a peer. He knew that he could do this without any of us ever mistaking him as an equal — something that absure would have simply never occurred to any of us. However, the respect he gave us, individually and as a group, was quite empowering.
We won lots of awards under his leadership, and had plenty of adventures on the football field and on the road. Perhaps our finest hour together occurred, ironically, in his absence. In 1975 he underwent bypass surgery and missed a few months of work. Under the skilled temporary leadership of Linda Adams and inspired by our desire to “win it for Mr. Rod, ” our symphonic band went on to win “Sweepstakes, ” which was the highest honor possible under the Texas University Interscholastic League’s yearly competition.
Mr. Rod once made a prophetic statement. “You watch, ” he said. “You’ll see. As you get older you’ll find that a huge percentage of your good high school memories have to do with band.”
Of course, he was right.
I called his widow Mary today and told her I couldn’t imagine my high school experience without Pete Rodriguez. I was lucky to know him.
No work!
No prospects of work!
No money!
Yikes!
Sweetheart:
I know that you don’t get that many requests for the sugar-free syrup. I know that having to go grab it gets you out of your rhythm.
But you know what? Those bottles of syrup aren’t usable right out of the box. No, really, they’re not! You actually have to screw off the spout, and then remove the freshness lid over the mouth of the bottle. THEN the magically delicious maltitol-based sweetness will pour happily out of the bottle.
I’m the customer. I shouldn’t have to do this myself every. single. time.
Thanks for your cooperation.
Note to sandwich makers: STOP PUTTING SPROUTS ON MY SANDWICH WITHOUT ASKING ME IF I WANT SPROUTS ON MY SANDWICH.
Sprouts are vile. They smell musty and they make your sandwich taste like a barn. Whose decision was it to turn this vile pseudo-vegetable into a default ingredient of sandwiches? And where do his children go to school?!?
