MP3 Expert

About a year ago my son got himself a really cool iPod for Christmas, and that set in motion the NEED for me to purchase a few LIKE MP3 players for all the other children in my life. You know how that goes - one gets something the others think they need it. I didn't buy his MP3 player. I wouldn't have spent that kind of money on one, not when I know you can get them online through Ebay for pennies on the dollar. I'm not cheap, really, I'm not. I'm part Scottish. I believe in tradition to a degree, and well - OK...I'm a single parent raising a bunch of kids. I try what I can to put 1/2 smiles on my children's faces.

I remember I victoriously won a 2 gb blue iPod look alike for a drastically reduced price. It arrived, but it wasn't what I paid for. In fact it was only a 128K device, and held only 40 songs, nothing close to the 500+ songs the seller promised...don't worry, I got my money back. I believe in capitalism, I believe in online commerce, and I bought another player from the guy(s) who had first "accidentally" sent me the wrong device. They even let me keep the 128 player...I couldn't give it away, apparently they could. I bought a 2nd player, another 2 GB and my luck continued. I got another 128 in the mail. Someone wasn't paying attention to the previous address or the previous name. After another round of writing and another round of oh-my-gosh-I-can't-believe-I'm-really-that-stupid discussions with myself, I got another 2 GB MP3 player in the mail....yes I did! I win.

You can imagine my delight and my contorted face when I went to a different Ebay seller and purchased a third, I said 3rd, 2 GB player, a little iPod look alike, the little square looking nano type - and YES, YES, they did it again! I now own 3 very low capacity MP3 players with 40 different songs on each one of them. I am in the process of screaming through the e-mails at these guy(s) hoping for a similar result, you know, the player I actually spent $60 on. I don't think $60 is too much for a 2GB, but it is too much for the 128. If you think about it, I'm getting all these other players for nothing. If they let me keep it I can donate them all to a school for prizes, but they'd have to go to a preschool - - kindergartners would figure it out too fast "HEY! This this only holds 40 songs! What's up with that?"

I guess I could stop being so cheap and just go out and get an iPod. I could do that, but where's the challenge? It would end up working the first time, and it would be easy to download, easy to maintain, and even come with insurance....please, I get a lot of pleasure copying the same 40 songs to the playlists only to find out that the 41st song is overload - - that's when I figure out I can't trust my buyer's mind. That's when I get it...when the media player tells me that the song "May Not Fit"....you think? It either will, or it won't. I think my media player is a Liberal. With a Conservative media player I would get a completely different message, something like "Not Recommended for Children", or "You Ran Out of Space Already, Did You THINK You Could Get More for Your Buck?"

I could keep you posted as to whether or not I actually DO get the MP3 player that I paid for, but I bet you're already pretty bored with my little nonsense story. I don't live a life full of too much excitement - I could tell you about the nearly naked girl I saw chasing the geese into the pond this morning, but if I did...you'd believe me. I fed her breakfast soon afterwards and did the Mom thing. She was almost appreciative, but stated she's 17 and fully capable of pouring her own milk. I guess she didn't hear the part of my lecture about not going outside without her clothes on. The geese had little smiles on their beaks.