Battery Failure When I got back from Colorado on Saturday, there was a stack of mail a mile high. Most of it was junk, but there were a couple of meaningful pieces in there. One of which was a notification that I could qualify for something free from Apple. It seems that the Third Generation iPods (3G from here on out) have a shitty battery. Now, I could have told them that a long time ago, but fortunately for me, there are some folks out there who are a lot more litigious than I am and took it to the man.

So, right now, I'm following the prescribed "Battery Failure" test that they outlined in the paperwork they sent me. And, much like the average IT person's first line of defense against a computer that won't work -- turning it off and then back on again -- all Apple really has you do is charge up your battery, push play and then wait until it conks out. For the 3G iPod, if it conks out in four hours or less, bam! I get $50 bucks from Apple or a new iPod. (They actually mean refurbished, bastards.) The problem is that there are all these disclaimers on how, when and where you can use the $50 store credit. No iTunes music, no small items since you get no change. Luckily we have an Apple Store here in town. Maybe I'll buy a really bloddy video game and then make a stink about it to the media when it rots my brain.

Anyway, so far, the Allman Brothers song, "Ain't Wastin' Time No More" has been repeatedly playing for 26:47. As I write this, I realize how apropros that song is, as I actually am wasting time. And I wasn't trying to be ironic either, my first play list is Allman Brothers and the first song starts with A. Funny how that shit works sometimes.

I think I'm gonna have a case, though. After just 31:38 of battery action, I'm already down a bar.

Drain baby, drain!  ¶ 2:46 PM