iPod, iTunes, iRun

I am so happy to have my new toy, my sweet little 2GB iPod Nano. I swear I will probably only use it when I go running, but that will make it worth every penny. I enjoy running ten times more when I have the right music to keep me motivated. So far I have loaded 67 songs from 5 old mix CD's that I made years ago to take running with my clunky discman, which seems to be pretty much dead. So I loaded up the iPod, put it on shuffle, and hit the pavement. These are the tracks it served up:
1. Whiskey in the Jar - Metallica Version
2. Dizzy up the Girl - Goo Goo Dolls
3. Authority Song - John Mellancamp (Actually, I think that one is from his "Cougar" days)
4. Drug, Drug, Druggy - Manic Street Preachers
5. Spaceman - Bif Naked
6. Dreams - The Cranberries
7. Some dance track from Dance Mix 90-something. I think it is called "No Limit"
8. I want you - Savage Garden
9. Mr. Jones - Counting Crows
10. Everytime you Go - The Tragically Hip
11. Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden
12. If I were you - Kasey Chambers
13. Hello Time Bomb - Matthew Good Band

This list make me laugh. You can't say I have narrow tastes in music. I'm all about classic rock, banger metal, 90's pop, techno dance mixes, Welsh punk, Australian folk, modern metal bands covering Gaelic traditional. There are 54 other songs in my running folder on the iPod. I can't wait to hear what combination of tunes I get on Tuesday.

So, I have good stories from my run. First of all, I wasn't going to go, because it was raining when I got back from library. But while I was talking to my Mom on the phone, she told me to get off my butt and go anyway. Then by the time I was finished talking to the folks, it wasn't raining anymore. I left about ten past seven, and it was so nice out. Warm, but fresh from the earlier rain. I ran down Beach Ave, taking the "upper" path the second beach. Then I turned right and towards lost lagoon. I went around the lagoon sticking to the path close to the water's edge, until an enormous flock of geese seemed very uninclined to vacate the path, and instead continued to move towards me in a rather menacing fashion. I decided to avoid the confrontation, and ran up the slope to the higher path. As I was returning the second beach, I encountered two bicycles thrown on the path carelessly. Accident? Mugging? No, a family of raccoons and two stupid, stupid people feeding them and videotaping all their rabid adorableness. I wasn't terribly inclined to run past the garbage eating pests and risk frightening them, so I once again went off road, although this time I felt less conciliatory about it. I mean seriously. We don't feed the wildlife, people. They become dependent, and become even bigger pests than they already are. And yes, some of them do carry rabies. Idiots. I ran around second beach pool, and noted that the viz in the bay seemed pretty good (ever since I learned to SCUBA dive, I always check out the visibility when I am on the seawall). Spent the last stretch of my run with a full view of my apartment, which is always sort of fun. I was having such a good time that I ran a bit past our place, until I turned back and up the little hill back to beach ave. I counted 7 ships in the harbour and then had to wait and excruciating long time for the pedestrian light to change so I could make my way home to a hot shower.

Back to the library tomorrow. The good news is that I have only one chapter left to read in the textbook I hate the most, "Fundamentals of Private Pensions - 8th edition." Then it is on to the much more interesting "Private Pensions in Industrialized Countries."
I'm serious. It is way more interesting. Did you know that Chile has one of the most developed pension systems in the world?

Good night, and good luck!