BEDAu, Day 5: What's this thing?

This may not be challenging for any of you, but there is a possibility that some of you won't recognize this object--and not just because it's a pretty bad picture that intentionally pushes the object out of scale..



I found this in my desk drawer at work today and was struck by the fact that you don't really see these things anymore. When I was a kid, just getting into music of my own and watching my brothers listen to music of their own, these things were more common. But technology has (it seems?) passed this object by. It still represents something that is very common, but standardization has made it less necessary.

What it is?

It's a headphone jack adapter.



Here it is in proper context. For the uninitiated, you sometimes has to use an adapter like this to plug your headphones into your older brothers boom box to listen to Boston or Kansas or The Steve Miller Band. Or if you were in the car, travelling to visit relatives in Kentucky, your Dad might demand that you plug in the headphones so that he could focus on negotiating the traffic on I-285 without all that noisy distraction of AC-DC  or Thriller.


Back before iPods ruled the music scene, there were a great variety of "portable" devices for you to listen to your Tears for Fears cassettes. And this was before everyone used earbuds, there were larger headphones that pretty much covered your entire head. And their plugs and accompanying jacks were about as large as an iPod Shuffle is today.

How I've held onto this bit of arcane tech and from where it originated, I don't know. But I've got it. And now you know about it.

BEDAu Day 4: Tired

I've got nothing worth saying tonight everyone. Sorry. I guess I should keep this short to avoid wasting more of your time. I had an idea of what to write on tonight, but after going to Hilliard and back this evening, I just have no energy left to try and spin something out of a half-baked set of ideas. I am also too tired to do any office work. So I guess I'll fall asleep on the couch before going upstairs to sleep some more.

And that is what my life is truly like.

Jealous?


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

BEDAu, Day 3: Suppose you knew that you had exactly 24 hours left in your life, and you could spend those 24 hours in any way you wanted. What do you suppose you would spend your time doing/seeing/ eating/visiting/arranging, etc.?

Well, I think that I would basically spend it with my wife and my kids.

If money was no object, I guess I would want to spend that time somewhere amazing, or be somewhere that I had never been before to share that unique experience with my most loved ones.

But you, questioner, made that hard for me by only giving me 24 hours left. So, unless I fly against the rotation of the earth, it's gonna be damned hard for me to go somewhere that is truly outstanding. For instance, I don't think I am going to be able to make it to Europe or Asia or somewhere like that and have any time left to really enjoy time before I kick the bucket. And really, the bulk of my time would be spent doing stupid bureaucratic stuff like waiting in line, transferring my luggage, and sitting in planes.

That, my friends, is no way to spend your last hours on earth. And why drag your wife and kids along for that ride? Because there will be so much pressure for that to be a wonderous time . . . that nothing would go well and disappointment would surely abound.

So, lets stay local, okay?

I guess I could make it to someplace relatively close like New York--a place I've never been. But would I want to spoil my wife and kids first visit to the Big Apple by up and dying on them? That seems kind of selfish of me. And I'd stick them with the necessity of bringing my dead self BACK to Ohio for the burial and stuff like that.

So, I guess the other extreme is to just make a picnic of really nice food and take my family to the local cemetary. If I have the foresight to pack a shovel in the trunk of the van, they won't have that much work to do after the picnic is over and there won't be the depressing travel back home, right?

Of course, that is ghoulish to the extreme.

So . . . I guess there isn't a perfectly good answer to the question. More than anything, I think I should spend time with Lynda, Sarah, Grace, and Hannah making them adjust to the fact that I won't be there anymore. I need to spend time making sure they know that I love them and will miss them. I should tell each of them individually how special they are and in specific detail how they have improved my life. I need them to come away from the loss with a sense of happiness and security. Where that takes place is less important than the fact that it needs to happen.

So, that's my answer.

Thanks for asking?

Ask me anything

BEDAu Day 2: Mini cokes

We recently started buying the 8 oz. cans of Coke. There are several reasons for this.

1. We reduce the overall consumption of sugared water we purchase and consume.

2. Maybe it is a minuscule contribution to less waste? (Obviously I've done no research on this.)

3. It reduces the number of chemicals and artificial sweeteners we drink.

4. It makes us feel like giants! (Neither Lynda or I are very tall.)

5. It makes me feel extra manly when I easily crush it by pounding it against my forehead. (Because it's SO tiny!)

(Hey . . . I've gotta get stress relief somehow if I'm not smoking or drinking.)

6. It makes me think we live in a bigger house with bigger kids, ready to move out and move on!

(This last one just seemed like a good joke opportunity . I'm not totally ready for that yet.)


-- Posted From My iPhone (so, I apologize in advance for any typos I missed)

BEDAu Day 1: Shower curtain epiphany