I have hit the age at which responsible adults are encouraged to get colonoscopies. After dodging scheduling phone calls for 4 months, my own procedure is imminent. Went and got all the accoutrements needed for prep today:
- One 8.3oz container of MiraLAX powder
- Two bottles of magnesium citrate, lemon flavored (blech)
- One package of GasX (or comparable) tablets
- 64 total ounces of Gatorade (or similar)
- Some white bread to make plain toast for tomorrow's breakfast, which I will eat alongside two plain hard-boiled eggs, and possibly some vanilla yogurt (the most pale-ass caucasian of breakfasts possible)
I am really not excited about this. I know… not exactly a unique or novel reaction. Get in line, buddy. Millions before you, millions after you. You are but one butt amongst the endless herd… of butts.
I woke up in the middle of a weird dream, which often leads me to drowsy, disoriented mornings. Did not want to get out of bed. The sky continues to be grey and damp. Not helping.
Two of three kids were their usual selves; which is to say, two of three kids dragged their feet and required interventions to keep the wheels of morning progress turning.
I had a sinus headache, likely because of the weather.
As we were getting shoes to go out, one kid snaps at me, about laundry related drama (for you see, I am the laundry monger of this here domicile).
This clearly hit a nerve, and unexpectedly for everyone in the house—I snapped right back, louder and angrier and with such automatic instinct that I did not see it coming till it had already passed.
I feel terrible about losing my temper with my kids. I know it's not helpful. I don't think its something that happens with much frequency (I really try to keep the keel steady). But boy, it sure happened today. As with all things in life, continuous work and improvement is necessary. I'm sorry, kiddo. (but also please don't yell at me about the laundry that I'm constantly washing and moving around for you... just sayin').
Unrelated, but of the moment
An Ode to a Zune
Last night I plugged in to charge my old Sandisk mp3 player, and my even older Zune 30gb (1st generation!) player. I was happy that the Sandisk even worked anymore—its one of those little tiny clip players, with a postage stamp screen and a display resolution of a 1950s television set. I think it belonged to one of my daughters. I'll put some music on it for my son, who will be thrilled, I think.
The Zune and I go way back. Before it, I briefly had and used an iPod nano. That thing was fun (and it was a gift), but good lord, it scratched so easily, and I was never a full Apple lifestyle adopter.
I picked up my first Zune 30GB model when they were offered deeply discounted by the old Woot.com website (now a shadow of its former glory thanks to being sold to Amazon years ago).
That old Zune, paired with an eMusic.com subscription, fueled most of my music listening from around 2007 through 2011. These were the heady days of early smart phones, but still long before music streaming services, such as Spotify, would appear and become the monster they are now.
The Zune was often mocked in popular culture—in part simply because it was Microsoft attempting to catch up to the Apple iPod domination of the cultural marketplace. Also in part because they released a model in "brown", which I remember causing a lot of sarcastic derision.
This didn't bother me at all. It was SO nerdy and SO uncool that, to some of us, it came all the way around on that spinning wheel of pop culture ideology to feel a bit punk and anti-apple. An underdog of the mp3 player scene. Plus, man—I got mine for like $80 plus shipping! It had 30 gigbaytes! It sounded great, and I loved the software design, for both the players and for the desktop app that served as music player, music library, and for awhile, as a music storefront meant to rival Apple's iTunes Store.
I have more to say about my Zune, but I'll save it for another post, as I have some things I need to attend to.
