For the price of your monthly car payment you can buy an iPod. It will store your music and video. If you go on vacation, it will store the shots from your cameraunless you have one of those ancient critters that uses film.

The last feature strikes at this old mans heart. You can store a mess of pics and view them on the iPod while on vacation.

Its a fact that I would buy an iPod in a heartbeat except for the fact that when I go on vacation that after Im down the road exactly thirty-seven miles I realize that Ive forgotten my camera.

I never turn back to get it. That is contrary to the teachings of the Church of the Old Geezer. I go into a gas-station store or a Wal-Mart-type store and buy one of those throwaway cameras that they keep next to the checkout stand for forgetful old men.

Thats why I cant have an iPod.

Well, there are other reasons. I could never figure out how to use it, remember to charge the battery, and keep it in my pocket except when I throw my shirt into the washing machine.

Anyway, if I did have an iPod I would just lose it. I would be spending all of my time looking for the darned thing instead of fulfilling my destiny to write trivial articles like this one.

This brings us to the purpose of this article: What should one do if his or her iPod is lost, stolen, or out for repair. Here is a list of things to do while scheming to get your folks to fork up the dough to buy you another iPod:

Write that term paper for your English Class that was due last week.

Call your friend and see if you can borrow his iPod for a week or so until you get yours replaced. If he says, No Way! remind him of the photos you took of him making out with the sister of a mean, ugly, short-tempered guy.

Go to the library. That is the big brick building that has books. Have the nice lady tell you how to checkout a book. Take the book home and read it. Make sure you have the librarian help you find something you will like. Dont take home a copy of The French Revolution: the early years this early in your reading. Try The Complete Grimms Fairy Tales for starters.

Fire up your old Boom Box. Turn it to the highest volume. Your parents will breakdown and buy you a new iPod.

Well, that aught to do it!

The End

John T Jones, Ph.D.

Jones was a vice president of a Fortune 500 company subsidiary having the major responsibility for research and development and certain engineering functions. After he retired, he became editor of an international trade magazine. Jones is Executive Representative of IWS, sellers of Tyler Hicks wealth-success books and kits. He is a direct mail and mail order marketer and operates a dozen websites.

He has written three technical books, four novels (Bull, Revenge on the Mogollon Rim, Bone China, and In No Way Guilty), and many published papers on business, marketing, engineering and other topics. Details on many of these topics can be found at his personal web site.

Jones is a hack poet and amateur landscape painter. He lives in Idaho with his wife of 52 years. He has five children, three in medicine, a lawyer, and a portrait artist. The Jones? have thirty-two talented grandchildren (many with special musical talent and skills), and one great grand child.

Jones is a prolific writer which started when he was an engineering professor at Iowa State University (Go Cyclones!). He doesn?t know how to stop.