The Best Husband Ever.

The date: January 2, 2006. The place: Boston's Logan International Airport. The event: my beloved iPod meets its waterloo, battery-death style. That's right, after several consecutive years of constant overuse, my trusty, old, first-generation iPod bit the dust in Boston en route to Frankfurt. Maybe it was loaning it to the 10 year old sitting next to me for the duration of the flight that pushed it over the edge? Or maybe it was the fact that it was 5 years old! Whatever the cause, my iPod was kaput. My original iPod was a gift. and it was also probably the single most expensive luxury-type item I'd owned up until then. And I loved it. But, after it died, I couldn't bring myself to replace it, for whatever reason. I hemmed, I hawed, I considered cheaper non-iPod MP3 players. Nothing seemed quite as good, but the iPod seemed, well, a little over-indulgent. You can live without 1,000 songs at your fingertips, right? And the hemming and hawing continued, as fate would have it, into the beginning of this week. On Sunday, I went to an American store in Wiesbaden that has several models and ogled them through the glass case. I shopped, I compared, but I wasn't not able to bring myself to buy one. Not yet. Then yesterday, preparing for my upcoming road trip to Prague, I was really wishing that I had one, as I realized that there was no way I was going to be burning CDs to listen to on the 5 hour car ride between then and my departure on Wednesday. Oh well, I thought: there's always German radio! And then finally, today, I got in line to pick up my packages at the CMR. The female soldier in front of me was playing with a shiny new iPod, talking to her friends about how much she liked it. I sighed and for the third time this week, thought, "Boy, I really do want one of those..." Putting the thought aside, I walked up to the counter as the soldier collected her mail and walked away, and what do you know: the "getcher mail done!" guy hands me a box, and there on the customs form under "Contents" are the words "iPod: white (1)." I. Could. Not. Believe it. Inside, were two wrapped presents...containing a new iPod and the accessories for my trip. And that is just one more reason why I have the best husband ever. Thank you, thank you M.: you really are the best! Mwah!