Love my ipod! I take it with me whenever I travel and like forhtv enjoy being able to withdraw from the crowds. I have also found that I will walk for a longer time if I have it with me. Besides music, I have loaded webinars, seminars and recordings from various radio talk shows. I like the idea that I can listen to a recording at anytime anywhere and rewind if I miss out on something that was said. One thing that has worked very well for me are the upgraded earplugs from Apple. The ones that came with the ipod hurt my ears and did not fit well. The earplugs were pricey ($79) but when I had damaged them on a flight, Apple replaced them with no questions at all. Don't seem to listen to much music at home. Chris

Robo, it sounds like you had fun! I missed this post so I'm glad you gave an update. Mayflowers, thank you so much for the colored salt jar idea. That can be one of the crafts I do with my grandsons next time we do a sleepover. My DGSs spent the night last night. I got out my markers, colored pencils, oil pastels, graphite pencils and an assortment of papers. While they were working on their drawings I was playing music. My oldest DGS asked if it was Beethoven. As soon as they were finished with their project they had out their iPads and were listening to Whip NaeNae. I videoed the oldest DGS doing the dance and we sent it and pictures of their artwork to Mom. Bedtime is still a problem with the boys, they are only fifteen months apart and they pick on each other unmercifully at bedtime. I'm going to order a cot bunk bed for them as the second queen size inflatable mattress bit the dust.

brushworks, aside from Linda Ronstadt, it's interesting that while I'm a music hobbist, I haven't heard of those other names. For those of you who like Sirius, try Pandora or Slacker. For a free membership that only requires setting up a website log-in, you can customize numerous personal stations, each seeded with particular artists that you choose. Like, you can have a Paul Simon station, a Supremes station, a Guns n Roses station, etc., from which they will play songs of your choice plus others in the same style. As those songs are played, you can indicate - "I like this", or "Ban this group or song", so that over time, the song selection is highly customized. Pandora and Slacker will play over PCs, iPads and tablets, smartphones, apps on disk players and TVs, and other hardware like Sonos, etc., Two advantages over Sirius - 1) Sound is "broadcast" at a higher quality and so it sounds clearer and better. (compare music as it used to sound on an AM station to an FM station. Like that), and 2) Cheaper than Sirius, both are free. Another good choice is Spotify, which allows you to specifically pick individual songs to listen to and build a playlist that way.

Usually I switch between the public radio station and a local mostly "news" station which is unfortunately becoming more talk than news and info. But lately it's just too much political rhetoric that I wind up changing stations and when they're both polluted it goes off. There's a CD player in there but I don't use it. I usually have things on my mind and wind up making notes (on my digital recorder) so I don't forget. Only about a month until the election is over but then it's going to be too much holiday stuff on there. So, probably not listening to much. Have to rely on conversation when someone is with me. That can sometimes be tricky... :)