Abba Blabba Do

It’s another lovely autumn day. I am multitasking – updating this blog while loading my CDs onto my laptop so they can go on my IPod. Hey, just because I’m old doesn’t make me a square.

In the meantime, two of my daughters are happily flitting about Europe because all of the world, literally, is their playground. One is in England doing a semester abroad study program through her college. The other is in Ireland doing an art internship, which resulted from a study abroad program at her college.

Back to my IPod. I’m rather proud of this. I got the IPod six months ago and took it out of the package the morning of my husband’s trip to outpatient surgery for a hernia operation. I knew without daughters to keep me company and entertain me, I needed reinforcements. Electronic reinforcements will do just fine.

So now I have over 2000 tunes on my IPod and lovely noise canceling Bose headphones to listen to them. It only took me three pairs of Bose headphones to get to this state of almost euphorbia. I had a pair of Bose headphones before. I also had music on my old laptop. I liked my old laptop but it was big, clunky and heavy. Very heavy. I used it while traveling back and forth to Chicago every other week. I had to take it out of the briefcase and put it in a bin to go through security then shove it back in my briefcase and trudge to my terminal. This isn’t too bad in the Des Moines airport, but it can be challenging at O’Hare. But there were benefits – I am sure it made my wrists strong.

I also worked in a cube. I hate cubes. I hate working in offices where anyone has to sit in a cube. Cubes are basically just awful. This is why innovative companies don’t have them. Innovative companies put people in private offices where they found their employees are far far more productive. This is understandable. The “cube” concept must be a hold over from those one room school houses they had in the 1800s. The ones where children just sat in desks in the same room regardless of their grade. This didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now. It is basically distracting and an impediment to learning.

So when one works for a company that isn’t proactive enough to put everyone in a private office one simply needs noise canceling headphones. Therefore, I rescued myself from this predicament compliments of the Bose company. I loved those headphones, but I left this job and didn’t need the headphones so much. Then, my music loving artist daughter came home and discovered them. Of course, I gave them to her. She uses them regularly and loves them too.

Then our youngest daughter put a pair of headphones on her wish list. She had tried on a pair during a band trip and loved them. I think it was originally a Christmas wish list. But the problem was that she didn’t specify which kind of Bose headphones she wanted. Of course I got them for her. She tried out the ones I got and decided she wanted the other kind. Her birthday is a few weeks after Christmas, so, of course, I got those too. The end result was really a win win – a left over pair of Bose headphones. One for me! I don’t care what kind I have – just as long as they are noise canceling.

So, I put those lovely headphones to the test at the hospital. They worked just great. I was in bliss. I had transferred songs to my new very compact very portable Apple laptop. It had transferred the songs to my IPod. Pretty magical if you ask me.

There’s one slight problem. I have very distinctive kinds of music that I like. This basically means generally I don’t get to listen to my favorites in the car if anyone else is present. I like some pretty wild songs like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B” and almost all of the songs from the Disney kid shows – like “The Little Mermaid”. Another bad habit of mine is that when I really really like a song, I will listen to it over and over for hours. Sadly, this got the “Shrek” CD as well as the one from “The Little Mermaid” banned from my van. I guess my family just doesn’t understand the needs of my artistic child side.

Fortunately, I also like oldies rock and Beatles and Rolling Stones and “modern” groups like Lincoln Park and Fray. So basically, I get to listen to everyone else CDs or radio stations.

So, imagine my surprise when my IPod started playing a lot of my youngest daughter’s CDs. Like the one from “Mamma Mia”. That’s one of her favorite musicals. I like Abba but once is enough for those songs.

So, there I was, multitasking in the hospital waiting room too. It was a very lovely and comfortable room. I found a very comfortable couch across from a very lovely fireplace. I plopped down and began unpacking. I always drag a lot with me. Best to be prepared is my motto. So, I look like I’m moving in, wherever I go. I was set. I had munchies. I had my laptop. I had my IPod. I had those headphones. I had a book to read. And best of all, I had time to read it.

Back to multitasking. I quickly learned how to skip through songs. Then I discovered the most wonderful feature of all – yep, how to listen to the same song over and over and over and over. I was in hog heaven.

Then, suddenly, it was time to bring the old man home. The nurse bundled him up in a wheel chair and we trudged down the hallway to the door. I drove him home – listening to his radio station, of course. Today, he’s doing great after the hernia operation. He’s in hog heaven himself – in a rather blissful state from the wonders of modern medicine – pain killers! The Iowa Hawkeyes are playing and I doubt if he’s focused on the TV. At the moment he has a bit of a dazed look on his face and what could best be described as an idiotic smile. But then, that’s the way he looks most of the time. Unless he’s complaining. I’ll take this over complaints any day of the week.

And I am multitasking again. Loading my lovely CDs on the laptop so those wonderful tunes, like “Appalachian Stomp” and “Sing Sing Sing” can find their way on to my IPod. I’ve also discovered another wonderful feature. How to delete songs from my playlist.

Bye Bye Abba Blabba Do.