I don't need your stinkin' iPod

So Michael is getting an iPod Nano for Christmas. I know this because about a month ago he called and begged his mother to buy one for him. Then he went and picked her up, drove her to the local WalMart, took her by the hand and led her to the electronics department and helpfully stood by her elbow as she completed the transaction. That depiction is only a slight exaggeration. Since that day Mike can talk about nothing but the glorious iPod. From whom should he download? What do I know about iTunes? Should he ready his playlist now in anticipation? What after market accessories should he buy? Where should he buy them? And the biggest conundrum of all, will the iPod have the ability to store two separate playlists?

You see Michael and I are to share the iPod. Now this would be fine if Mike didn't listen to crap. Remember this is the guy that willingly bought the Spicegirls CD. Also his last download session resulted in a lot of Supertramp tunes taking up valuable hard drive space. To be honest Mike has been doing the most complaining about have to waste precious space on "his" iPod with my music. I really don't care either way. Although I do agree it would be great to have while I was out walking or riding the exercise bike, I have managed to make it 33 years without one. So I think I'll be okay.

Technically Mike doesn't need an iPod. He just needs an mp3 player. He really wanted the iPod for much the same reason I wanted Jordache jeans and boot rollers skates when I was 8. Just trying to keep up with the Jones'. Way back in August Hershey Canada was holding a "Rip the Wrap" contest. Purchasing Hershey products would give you a code you could use to enter in draws for fabulous Dell prizes. I had decided to concentrate my efforts on a Dell Ditty mp3 player in hopes of winning one for Michael. Even though I was trying everyday to win I was still surprised to receive a "Congratulations, you may have won a prize" emails from the Rip the Wrap contest. Since I had only been entering to win the Dell Ditty you can imagine how shocked I was when my prize release forms listed my prize as a Dell wireless keyboard and mouse. What the hell was that all about? Since the rules clearly state the prizes must be accepted as awarded I didn't really feel I had any recourse so I resigned myself to winning the keyboard and mouse.

Fast forward to December. Hershey has been having a heck of a time auditing this contest. Even though I faxed my papers back 3 months ago I have still yet to receive my win. I had recently heard through the grapevine that the prizes were slowly beginning to trickle out. Some people had reported that Hershey/Dell had tacked a free memory key onto the keyboard/mouse winners as an apology for the long wait. That sounded fine to me. It would have made a great Christmas present for my brother who would have more use for it than I would. Well colour me shocked again because today they emailed me new prize release forms with a letter stating that due to a technical error people were under the impression they were eligible for a different draw than the one they had actually entered. Follow that? Basically even though their website led me to believe I was entering to win a Dell Ditty I was, in fact, entering to win a keyboard/mouse combo. So to ensure my happiness they are allowing me to choose which prize I'd like to receive. My choices being the keyboard/mouse or the Dell Ditty. More than fair of them I thought.

So now when Mike gets a hankering for some iPod Supertramp through the van stereo I can simply insert my ear buds and listen to something that doesn't suck from this decade.

Adjusted winnings for 2006 ~ $355