Nanu Nano

My loving partner got me an iPod Nano and an iTunes gift certificate for my birthday. He told me he was going to do it. Frankly I didn't know what he was talking about and just nodded my head. I do that a lot when I don't know what's going on.

Unwrapped, the device looked like a nice lapel pin in a clear plastic ring box. I slowly turned the box around, admiring it from every possible angle. Really I was trying to figure out how the damn thing opened. I was glad when my partner finally asked if he could open the box for me. We're both tired of the disappointment that comes from me breaking stuff trying to get it out of the packaging.

The tiny little device includes an FM radio, a pedometer with several functions, and of course, music. You can even watch DVDs though doing so requires much better vision than mine. The wafer-thin touchscreen is maybe 1 1/2 inches square and amazingly easy to use. Trust me...I mastered the device in seconds and I'm a slower learner.

Setting up the iTunes account was a little more complicated, mostly because I have the patience of a gnat. My partner set up the account and even copied a bunch of albums from his collection to mine--he's sweet like that all the time. I was set.

Had it not been raining yesterday, I would have put my earplugs in and headed out to the yard to get some weeding done. Instead, I spent the morning shopping at the iTunes store. I focused my search on upbeat music from the late 70s and early 80s. Before long I'd purchased 19 golden oldies including a few rare treasures I hadn't heard for decades.

I had the house to myself while my partner ran some errands. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to connect the Nano to our stereo system (a problem since rectified). I just plugged in the earphones, cranked the volume all the way up and returned to 1980.

For the next hour I shook my money maker and sang at the top of my lungs. Both dogs freaked out...Toodles wasn't herself for several hours. Me singing full-on is hard on the ears. It couldn't possibly have been the dancing.

Today the sun came out. I popped in my earplugs and spent several hours pulling weeds. I sang along, of course, and on the good parts stood up and danced like I was back at Johnny Angel's. I'm sure the neighbors were impressed.

With my luck, one of them probably caught it on video and posted it on YouTube. If so I have no idea how you'd find it. Maybe you just search for dancing and...

The Crotchety Old Man