Learned the hard way

Inscribe your e-mail address on the back of your iPod so that if you, say, accidentally drop it when you get out of the car, the person who finds it might be kind enough to return it to you.

I’m totally iPod-less, and I feel utterly naked without it. And my home PC died. Again. Luckily, I only had my system and programs on the C drive that went. On the bright side…gosh, I can’t think of one. I’m too broke to replace either of them.

OK, on the bright side, now my kids can’t fight over who gets to play on the computer.

And now for something completely different

Here’s a story from Iraq you’ve never heard. A friend of mine who’s there just told it to me.

I was talking to some guys from a British Army detachment, and they said early on in the war, while the Brits were securing the Iran/Iraq border near Basra, an American man with a large backpack walked up to them and asked them for directions. The Brits were incredulous. “You do know there’s a war on?”

“No, I’ve been backpacking across Asia now for three years.” the American said, “What’s going on?”

The Brits said they had no choice but to take him as a prisoner of war until his identity could be established. Turned out, he was just some schmuck hiking across Asia. The Iranian border guards must have known there was a war going on, but they didn’t tell this guy anything.