life without an ipod

so among all other mundane things in life, my nano broke over the weekend. the geniuses at the apple store diagnosed it as a hardware issue, saying that the keys have stopped responding. nothing's wrong with the actual ipod, i just need to get my keys replaced - for $79.

considering a brand new nano costs $149 and a shuffle is as low as $49, i thought it would be silly to get mine fixed for $79. instead, i decided to finally utilize the 5 GB of space left on my iphone, ordered a cheap armband from amazon, and will be using that when i go on my runs as an alternative.

the nano was a generous gift from my best friend back when the first nanos came out (since she put me in her last blog post, here's a shout out to hers! check it out) my broken nano sort of signified a stage of our lives coming to an end. as melodramatic as that sounds, she bought me the nano as a xmas present after starting her first full-time paying job. jan had graduated a year earlier and started working the summer of 2006. we had exchanged multiple presents growing up, but the nano was definitely a gift that was far beyond the budget of a college student. i remember being speechless and in awe because i couldn't remember a time when we gave each other such pricey gifts. beyond the price tag, it was a gesture of independence and adulthood- an indication that she is successfully supporting herself in the real world.

now fast-forward three years, she is in LA pursuing acting, and i'm looking for a job here in nyc. in terms of finances, i don't think either one of us today can compare with the times when we could afford to buy and give the more lavish presents. yet, perhaps this is a different kind of independence. i certainly hope that learning to cope with life's changes, finding our own paths and pursuing goals and dreams that we've set out for ourselves make up the other layers of adulthood that cannot be quantified with dollar signs.

life without an ipod is definitely more quiet than before. it's interesting how easily-accessible technology has drastically shortened our attention span and made us crave instant gratification. i think it's good to have this literal peace of mind from time to time. i don't think i can happily survive for long without music when i go running, but at least for the next few days, i can hear myself think when i'm on the track.

a healthy dose of homesickness

i bought my plane ticket today for a short visit back to the bay in september. strangely enough, a few hours later, a small inkling of homesickness crept up on me while i was studying at starbucks. perhaps it was the soft acoustic jams they always play at starbucks or it was a reminder of the familiarity of suburban san jose/milpitas - i started to miss home for the first time.

for the past two months, i've been waiting for homesickness to descend upon me, and have been pleasantly surprised that it hasn't. i even told a few friends that i felt a bit guilty that i haven't been homesick since moving. i love the accessibility of this city, the bustling streets, the anonymity and even the cramped spaces, and have definitely missed my family and close friends in california, but have yet to feel nostalgia for the bay area, itself. until today.

i don't think it's the novelty of this city wearing off, but rather, an appreciation for where i came from and where i'll always call home. most people who grew up in the bay will probably agree with me that there is a level of comfort and security about the place that nowhere else can replace. i always find it interesting that the bay area is both a safe place to settle down and yet, is also the epicenter of technological change. all in all, i'm looking forward to the trip home, and will always be proud to be from the yay area :)

the real nyc apt experience

two events this week sum up the real nyc apt experience: 1) a 24-hr blackout and 2) killing a giant cockroach.

it all started on tuesday when our electricity cut out at about 3:30pm. my first reaction was that we blew out the power (wouldn't be a wild guess, considering every time a hair dryer is turned on, the lights in the entire apt dim...), but none of the switches in the breaker box had flipped to off, so i thought perhaps it was just temporary and that the power would be back soon. clearly, i had more faith in this city's utilities service than i should.

the calling-our-management-then-waiting game started at 4:30pm and didn't end until 4pm the next day. pretty much, i was calling the building manager every 2 hrs until we went to bed, and resumed again the next morning. electricians were sent over on 3 separate occasions, and my 24 hours were consumed by sitting and staring at the wall in our heated apt and running back and forth to starbucks to charge my phone and computer. long story short, power eventually came back, and when i called the management, complaining and voicing our frustration and inconvenience, i was told to "email propertymanagement@jakobson.com with my comments and suggestions".

....i almost threw my phone out the window.

then this morning, we found a HUGE cockroach lurking in our bathroom behind the toilet. at first, i couldn't see the cockroach, so i grabbed the closest spray bottle (thank you, air freshener) to "smoke" it out from behind the toilet. in between screaming like little girls and calling my parents for cockroach-killing advice (which my dad found hilarious and announced it to the entire group of family friends he was with...), floria and i devised a plan - i would stand guard and watch it while she ran to walgreens to get something deadly. the plan worked and we sprayed the roach with so much raid that, five hours later, our apt still smells like a strange mix of floral air freshener and chemical poison.

here's a photo. for those of you who know my mouse story, this is part two of my saga with household pests. please note that there is nothing to compare the size of the roach with, but do take my word that it was at least 2 1/2 inches long.