Bless me Father for I have sinned

[peteryoung]

In the Apple Store in Virginia's Tyson's Corner I was, inevitably and all too easily, seduced into buying the top-of-the-range 40GB iPod, price inc. 4.5% sales tax: £283. Apple Store UK's price (even after their £27 e-voucher discount): £371.

After I shelled out the cash, the salesman and I also got into the inevitable discussion about how good the current dollar exchange rate is for Europeans visiting the US, and he took some jaundiced pleasure in pointing out how the artificially weakened dollar is all part of the Bush administration's evil punishment of Europe (specifically France and Germany) for not getting in line behind the US invasion of Iraq: a weak dollar makes it harder for European manufacturer's to export to the US but easy for cheapskates like me to import US goods to Europe. As I am aware there is at least a grain of truth to this conspiracy theory, feel free to advise me on a suitable penance.

There's nothing like war and politics to dampen a little retail therapy now, is there.

Comments

[daveon.livejournal.com]

You could point out that the US balance of trade suggests that exporting manufactured goods isn't really their strong point and that a lot of their core imports of Europe (cars etc...) are, more often than not, manufacturered in the US or Mexico so that there isn't that much of a punishment either.

The biggests problem is it indicates that people are not wanting to buy or hold dollars, which, given that for decades holding and selling dollars has been the way the US economy has papered over the cracks they are now in serious trouble of having some foreign debt crisises which can't be solved by just printing more dollars.

Finally, you could ask why it is such a good plan to also punish allies like Britain who have just as large a share of their trade to the US and have stood by the US in thick and thin...

:-)

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

All your points stand, of course, and I would probably have been more than happy to discuss it with him all afternoon over a few tall skinny lattés in the evil coffee-serving empire that is Starbucks. But as I feel a hallowed place like an Apple Store should not be polluted by low things such as dirty politics I thought it best to just hand over the green stuff and run before he turns it into a sermon.

And you still haven't given me my penance, Father O'Neill. ;-)

[daveon.livejournal.com]

There is only one penance my son.

You must go and use a Windows ME PC for a week - I know it's harsh, but it's fair :)

[flick.livejournal.com]

No, that's too much!

Have pity on him!

Anything but that!

[(Anonymous)]

As somebody saddled with WinME, I find that excessively harsh punishment!!!

FPK3

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Did you get your tax receipt so you could claim back your 4.5% sales tax at the airport before leaving? That's nearly £12.75 (which will buy you most of a CD in this country, and probably two in the US!)

I'm wondering how many people actually listen to more than 20Gb of music on their iPods? (I know my friends are an unusual bunch so possibly a higher percentage of those) or are people using the extra storage for photos and files? Or is it just a dumping ground for albums that you'd otherwise not listen to but having them handy means you might?

I have about 135 albums on my 20Gb drive and still have 6Gb free, so I'm estimating 200 albums on a 20Gb and 400 on a 40Gb. And while I may well have more than 200 albums that I *could* listen to, I don't know that this isn't just an excuse for disk "clutter"!

I have 20 or 30 celtic albums to rip, plus a few more favourites, and then I'll start jettisoning things off this drive (like the I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue episodes, some of the duplicated PDQ Bach stuff, some of the Weird Al stuff, some of the compilations etc.)

Oh, but yes, I now lust after the 40Gb drives!

My 20Gb machine isn't a iPod, but an Archos Jukebox Recorder, which Amazon were just selling at 179 dollars plus a 50 dollar rebate ... so not as small as your iPod, not as sexy, but less than a third of the price!

Now if there were just a nice easy way for iPod (or other MP3 player) owners to just hook machines together to make file swapping easy!

[john-d-owen.livejournal.com]

Well, on my 40gb iPod, I've dumped just about every decent CD in my collection (plus a few, er, borrowed items), making about 7000 tracks in all. I find running the iPod on either random play albums or random play songs is great. On the latter, it's like having a personal radio station playing all this music you like without a DJ interfering. Playing albums at random means you get to listen to stuff that had been tucked away for years, which you can either enthuse over again or make a mental note to dump and sell the original! Helps thin out the piles of CDs at home (making room for even more!) Now I need a second iPod and the time to rip the best of my vinyl records. Will it never end?

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

Now I need a second iPod and the time to rip the best of my vinyl records

How do you go about digitizing vinyl and cassette stuff? Point me to a website if it's quicker for you than a long explanation...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Well, the easiest way for me is to take a line out from my stereo into my Archos Jukebox Recorder and press the record button! It takes a line in signal and records it as MP3s and even breaks up tracks when it hears spaces (if you want it to!)

There are a number of MP3 ripping software programs out there that will record from the Line In on your computer sound card. Again just a cable from the hifi to the line in on the sound card is all you need.

And for more complex requirements, check out http://www.homerecording.com/

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

Cheers. Useful.

And for Mac users ...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

http://www.macinstruct.com/tutorials/lpmp3/index.html

Ignore any "file not found" at the top of the page (that might just be my work firewall blocking ads!)

Or try here http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/abc2/v16/bobby16.htm

But the best info for non-mac users is that most CD recorders come with software that includes audio capture software (e.g. Roxio) and that most MP3 players come with something like MusicMatch Jukebox software which will record from the Line In on the computer and generate MP3s.

[john-d-owen.livejournal.com]

I'm trying it with a device called an iMic (available from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006BALQ/ref=br_lf_ce_2/026-7551492-3346829), which connects up my iMac to audio equipment. Then, using Toast software, you can record direct from tape or vinyl (allegedly). I've managed getting tape material across with reasonable success, but haven't tackled vinyl yet. Must try that during my Easter hols.

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

Did you get your tax receipt so you could claim back your 4.5% sales tax at the airport before leaving?

Yes I did,and you're probably the right person to tell me if Virginia refunds tax for overseas visitors (many states don't). If so, I'll be claiming back $22.46 next time I'm there.

This whole process will inevitably thin down the CD collection quite a bit, which is currently around the 1,500 mark. I've put many 'best of'-type compilations on CD-R already so I have plenty of ready-made playlists to download. Bowie first, I think...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

If it doesn't I'd be VERY surprised as it has all the embassies etc. down there.

My CD collection is about the same size and yes, I'm planning on thinning the herd in much the same way.

Are your CD-Rs just normal audio, or did you have a CD player that could handle MP3s?

I've a ton of folk and celtic that will need to be ripped (I'm comparing the ease of use of several rippers at the moment, the iTunes one isn't bad at all, but I'm using the one that <lj user="lproven" recommended)

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

Are your CD-Rs just normal audio, or did you have a CD player that could handle MP3s?

Normal audio. A few of years ago I invested in a fuck-off Pioneer PDR-555RW CD Recorder, which is still an excellent and versatile piece of kit but has since been easily superceded by MP3s.

Lots of Space

[(Anonymous)]

A friend of mine carries his work files to and from work and home in case he gets a call at home. He also carries a backup copy of Mac OS X on the iPod. Plus pictures and all sorts of other odds and ends.

And his record collection.

I would happily put all my CD's--even the rarely listened to ones--just for the spur of the moment need to listen to something. Along these lines, I carry something like 250 books on a memory stick on my Sony Clie. Will I ever need 250 books? Nah, but if I'm stuck in NYC, I sure do like having them there!

FPK3

[the-gardener.livejournal.com]

And have you seen this report, warning of the financial stings-in-the-tail which may upset apparently cheap US shopping trips?

[daveon.livejournal.com]

You do need to be sensible when buying abroad. Especially with electrical goods, I tend to make sure that I've unpackaged them and have them ready to use in my briefcase when I bring them back. Where practical, have the clothes run through the hotel laundry at least once and wear the expensive ones...

Not that I would advocate tax avoidance, that would be wrong.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

I don't even want to *think* about tax avoidance ... though if I did, then this last trip could have been expensive!

Gibson Chet Atkins guitar
Oscar Schmidt Silvertone Autoharp
RhythmTech "The Laptop" portable snare drum
Pair of drum sticks
Six finger picks (3 picks times two thicknesses)
Fender folding acoustic guitar stand
Archos Jukebox Recorder 20 MP3 player
Yamaha SY85 sample discs
Playstation 2 component video cables
Four large computer reference books (PERL, HTML, Java and documentation) + one on Windows 2000 Networking with software
Half a dozen shirts (including three tux collared shirts), several tshirts, couple of pairs of trousers, three or four pairs of sweatpants, 6 pairs of socks, a pair of slippers, winter gloves, winter wooly hat, a fleece, a scarf
Samsonite rollon case
small bag for hooking over handle of roll on bag
32" roll on luggage
Tons of sugar free candy and biscuits
About 20-30 CDs and maybe 10 DVDs (including two tin boxed Disney collectors edition)
TENS device (muscle stimulator for stiff shoulders etc.)
Little presents for various friends (muninnhuginn, if you see this, remind me I have something for "Ma-tilly-ma")
Screen protectors for the palm
A handful of pens including a red/black/pencil/PDA four way pen and a small notepad
Small storage bags (cloth with a window and a zip)
Small storage cubes (pop up, to put things like pens and pocket contents into)
flashy colour led pens (for rewards at the eastercon)
160Gb hard disk
Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition (grin!)
Two plastic mugs (with t-shirts in them)
A few more paperbacks
A "stadium" seat (for sitting on the ground, it opens "L" shaped and gives you back support as well as a padded seat)
Dell Latitude docking station
Dell Latitude DVD drive
A couple of software CDs (Lego Action Force and a calendar CD)
A couple of new carabiners (one in a heart shape, the other with a built in LED flashlight)
A bag of travel sized toiletries (toothpastes, mouthwash, deoderant, shaving cream etc.) plus some ibuprofen
Two wrist braces (I'd damaged one wrist the week before going out, and decided that the black velcro wrist brace looked cool for costuming so got a matching one for the other hand!)
A teddy bear (a cuddly toy! yay! Bruce/Larry would be so proud of me!)
Clip on mobile phone to radio hands free kit

Not sure on the tax situation on the 10 blank minidiscs I bought at duty free on the way out ...

and I'll think of a whole bunch of other things as soon as I hit send!

[the-gardener.livejournal.com]

You'd better hope that the taxman is not reading this...(!!)

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

You think maybe I should delete this comment? :-)

[replyhazy.livejournal.com]

I may set up a business specifically for exporting to you!

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

That would be great, thanks! :-)

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

Wow. Did you have to charter a FedEx plane aswell?!

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

No, I ended up taking two Air Canada flights, one for me and one for my luggage!

(semi-seriously!)

They announced at the gate that the Beech 1900 was overloaded and they were looking for volunteers to have their baggage sent after them. They told me that as I had an international connection in Toronto they wouldn't do that to my bags ... but one didn't arrive in London until a day after I did! (And even then the bottom of the bag had been broken, the bit that holds the wire frame to stop it falling over) and I believe that case to have weighed approx 40Kgs! Between my two checked cases they came to 73Kgs, my carry on was 16kg and the guitar must have been about the same weight.

Other stuff!

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Dremel type tool, in case with lots of bits
Sabatier breadknife in little wooden presentation box
Ice cube tray
A couple of pairs of pillow cases
A leather punch
glow in the dark star wars figures (about ten sets)
a "proper" star wars figure, in blister pack
two small flashing red triangles (for cyclists etc.)
five photo albums
low-carb macaroni and cheese
three video tapes
a couple of packets of batteries
three guitar "autoharp-like" adapters (push button chords!)

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

Indeed, I had to push hard to get a receipt for my $100 tailormade suit I posted from Vietnam so they couldn't estimate its value and charge me duty on GBP 500!

Consumers with jobs!

[(Anonymous)]

Don't confess! You haven't sinned! God (or George W.) will bless you! You're keeping the American economy moving for those of us (like me) who can't!

FPK3