I interrupt this massive study/project session to mourn the passing of my close and dear friend and companion... my iPod.

After my iTunes crash that apparently happened overnight, it has left my beloved iPod an effective brick. =^(

I did go on a small quest for resurrection software, and I even found a program that looks promising. The catch, the cost for it is $40.

No, it's not much... but consider this. The iPod Touch I ordered is supposed to be in on Wednesday, and it made a bit of a dent in my fall budget.

Plus, what if I purchase the software and it is unable to resurrect my iPod? Then I'm out lunch for a week... for no real reason.

However, in the last four years, I've trained my iPod to know what music I like, which music I find to be just "meh," and I even learned a lot about play lists to automatically build exceptional play lists based on play counts and ratings.

I don't use iTunes as my primary music software... so none of that information was saved on my computer. So, all of that training is lost. =^(

The plan was to continue to use my iPod to house the bulk of my music collection and to transfer the ratings into my Mac file server, which will feed the new iPod Touch. With the iPod holding most of my favorite music, I can continue to use the iPod Nano for workouts, and the Touch was going to hold a select library of music plus TV shows and music videos.

The main draw of the Touch for me was the wi-fi internet without carrying my iBook everywhere. That, plus I plan to put these instructional/self-help videos on it, so I can watch them during that "dead" time when I'm on the treadmill or exercise bikes at the gym.

Hopefully, in a couple of months, I'll be able to justify getting that software. Realistically, this isn't a terrible tragedy. Sure, I had to re-organize my Nano so it can fill in for the next few days, but I saved the workout playlists in a different library, so switching back shouldn't be a big deal.

When the Touch arrives, even if my iPod was still working, it would probably get shelved for the next month or so while I'm enjoying the new toy... so, no big deal, right?

I do hope that software will resurrect my iPod's library. However, it isn't worth worrying about now. I have too much to worry about for school right now!

Enjoy your well-earned vacation, old friend. =^)

What i'm listening to:

So Many Stars
Jane Monheit
Surrender