iPod troubles???

I bought an iPod Mini a little over a month ago. Along with it, I bought the FM transmitter that works with the older (and thicker) iPods and the Minis. It's helpful on the long drives to San Diego since my lab worker has an older iPod, and we can listen to either one.

My concern has been from day 1 was the battery. It seemed that even if it said it was charged, it would start to drop in power after a half hour (if not sooner). I took it back, and they told me to buy the firewire adaptor (instead of charging from my USB port). I said "thanks, but no thanks; I've already spent enough money". Yet, I haven't it run out of power, despite about 6 hours of constant play.

The FM transmitter also charges your iPod. Last Friday, I finally got my iPod to charge completely just before I got to my parent's house. I didn't play it but for maybe a half hour since I was talking on the phone more than listening to my music. I think that Sunday it did fully charge (again). Didn't start it Monday, or Tuesday. Wednesday, I cleaned up my files and got rid of some audio books I won't listen to on my iPod. I think it spent about three hours on my USB port and still wasn't charged. I left it alone yesterday. Today, I uploaded my latest podcasts this AM, and it still is charging (two hours and still going).

*sigh* It looks like my iPod battery is going to give me grief. Since I can't specifically say what's wrong with it, so I don't expect Apple to give me tech support.

It's a small small world

Even though I had been under the impression that shortly after Katrina was no more that our government was going to fix this on its own. It was about five days later that I heard that international support was being offered, but nothing being accepted as of yet.

Here's an excellent list of what has been offered in hurricane relief.

But if you want a more humorous list of offered relief, check this out.

Researching mice

I will have to follow this story to see what becomes of this story. Apparently, three mice infected with plague are missing.

It sounds like a real mistake, but it brings back the memories of when animal rooms on the University campus were broken into, vandalized, and "liberated" research mice. This happened back in 1993, and the incident has not been repeated on this campus. Animal Liberation Front (ALF) took credit for the incident, proud of the fact that mice used for horrible research experiments were set free. What they didn't either know, or didn't care, but the mice that were liberated had been infected with giradia and other third world gastrointestional infections. Needless to say, I don't think the mice lasted very long after their liberation.

Since we're on a university campus, the risk of activist students is always there. April is traditionally the animal research awareness month, and we all go into "awareness" mode. The third week of April is traditionally when a vigil is being held on the medical center grounds. Last year, the protest got a mention in the campus newspaper with the mention that 15 people showed up. This year, there was confusion because of the calander what week would be the awareness week, so I was never informed that there was even a protest at the medical center this year.

Unless something unexpected happens, it looks like the animal rights movement is dying out here.

Recovery and superstitions

Like with other pain episodes, my day of hell did pass. Before the surgery, the pain would not go away for days or weeks, so I'm very thankful that the pain does go away. I tried (unsuccessfully) to sleep the pain away. But it wasn't until around 6:30 PM did the pain finally abate.

However, I'm convinced that the angle of my neck on my pillow is the biggest source of the pain. After all, the fifth cranial nerve runs between the first and second vertebrae in the neck. And it seems that the pain flares up when I sleep on my side.
Yesterday I slept using a special cervical support pillow (a firm pillow with a space in the center for your head with firm support for your neck).

When I went back to bed last night, I was planning on sleeping on the support pillow. But Adira discovered that the pillow makes a wonderful cat bed for her little fluffy body. So last night, I managed to find a comfortable pillow arrangement to support my neck while sleeping on my back. Normally I don't fall asleep unless I'm on my side, but I was so scared that I'd bring back the pain that I didn't bother to sleep on my side all night. Not that it does anything wonderful for my lower back, but it's a small price to pay for waking up with minimal pain which got better as I got up.

I usually wake up with pain because it seems that no matter what I do, sleeping triggers my pain. I've tried to sleep almost sitting straight up, special pillows, and regular pillows. If I had a Lazy Boy, I'd try sleeping on it, but don't have the space or money just to try that for a pain-free night. I'll entertain any other suggestions....