The iPod shuffle is not waterproof!

One of the great things about the new iPod shuffle is that it can go anywhere. I used to keep it in my cargo pocket so that I can have tunes where ever I am.

One of the bad things about the iPod shuffle is that the small size makes it easy to forget that it's in your pocket. I was really tired and dirty after the Sea Otter and put my pants in the laundry hamper without checking the side pockets. The iPod shuffle and headphones went thought the wash cycle. The headphones went thought the dry cycle as well.

Needless to say that the iPod nor headphones are no longer functional. It seems that the iPod is not resilient enough to put through the wash.

I'm bummed that I don't have a shuffle anymore. At least it lasted for the ski-season. I didn't really use it for much else. The good thing was that I didn't put the 60G in the wash!

Tunes in My Head

I have been snowboarding quite a lot this season. There hasn't been a lot of snow in the Tahoe area - mostly man made stuff - but we have a ski lease this year and seasons passes for NorthStar. It's still fun since we are teaching our daughter to ski and skate. I also bought a bunch of protective pads and I'm teaching myself to jump and ride boxes but I wish there was a lot more snow. We picked the wrong year to get a ski lease. Curse this global warming!

For years, I have been wearing a snowboard helmet but a month ago, I lost the helmet at the top of the Comstock lift when it fell out of my backpack (update: this helmet was recovered a few weeks later). The old purple chrome Pro-Tec was too small and heavy and it was time for an upgrade.

I bought a matte pewter Giro Nine.9 after much research and fit testing. I also bought a pair of "TuneUps" - headphone replacement earpads. I also bought the second generation iPod shuffle to round out the fun factor and loaded it with 700 megs of Buckethead. The complete package is a light weight party helmet. Who hoo!

I'm having fun with the helmet. The only thing better would be more snow.

Dirt Cheap Mobile Audio Video

Last Sunday we got stuck in that hellish traffic jam on I-80 West on the way back from Tahoe. It was the first real snow this season and chain control and speed limits were in effect. This was also the end of the holiday weekend and people were returning from Reno and Tahoe. According to Caltrans, 1 in 4 drivers on I-80 have never driven in the snow. So speeds were slow and we were stuck on 80 for a few hours.

Jade had not got her proper sleep since Turkey day and had been a little whiny over the weekend. Being stuck in traffic was looking to be a nightmare. Fortunately for us, I found a dirt cheap way of creating a mobile audio/video entertainment system.

I used a video iPod, a set of portable Altec Lansing iPod speakers, a DC to AC power inverter and couple of bungee cords to create a audio/video system on the headrest of our Subaru. It's a great thing that I keep a power inverter and plenty of bungee cords in the car. I bought the Altec Lansing inMotion IM3 portable speakers back in May for my NorCal camping trip and I continue to find new and exciting uses for them. I used the red bungee cord to attach the speakers to the headrest. The iPod is docked to the speakers through the interface at the bottom. This interface also holds the iPod in place and was not designed to withstand the vibration from stop and go traffic. I uses the blue bungee cord to secure the iPod against the red bungee cord and this stopped the vibration. I connected the power adapter to the power inverter which was plugged into the car DC outlet in the cargo area.

I had the insight to download some preschooler TV shows like "Wonder Pets" and "The Backyardigans" from the iTunes Music Store before we headed up the mountains. Jade knows how to control the volume but she still doesn't know how to operate the iPod. The result is that Jade was cheerfully amused for a couple of hours while we were cursing Californians who cant drive in the snow.