It is finally almost pretty close to being ready to be just about over. I mean the insane number of birthdays that people I know have this time of year. I’ve actually lost count. Just about everyone I know was born between September 1st and November 30th. How crazy is that? My uncle’s birthday is this Thursday and then my Mom’s birthday is right before Christmas, which doesn’t really count, but I figure I should mention it so she doesn’t kick my ass. My mom will be turning twenty-six again this year as she has every year since I can remember.
So I was at my grandma’s house this afternoon, and my uncle was putting on his parka (seriously, its not that cold) to go pick up the chicken (my grandma always has KFC on Sunday night for dinner). As he was walking through the living room, we had the following conversation:
Uncle: “So have you gotten me anything for Christmas yet?”
Me: “Dude, I haven’t even gotten you anything for your birthday yet.”
Uncle: “Oh you little stinker,” (edit: he talks to everyone like they are 4, its really annoying) “well I know what you can get me for Christmas, they are probably expensive, so maybe you can go together with your brother and sister.”
Me: “Oh? What’s that?”
Uncle: “I need a portable player, that plays the things like the DVD but for audio.”
Me: “Uhh…you mean a CD player? Like what you have in your car?”
Uncle: “Is that what that slot thing is? I know they are flat like a pancake, and look like DVD’s are they smaller?”
Me: “No, they are exactly the same as DVD’s but they have audio instead of video.”
Uncle: “Oh, and I will need some headphones too.”
Me: “What kind of headphones do you like?”
Uncle: “I don’t know I have never had any.”
Me: “Didn’t I get you a sports radio a few years ago that had headphones?”
Uncle: “Oh yeah, I remember those, those went in your ears, is that them?”
Me: “Well they have ear phones like those that go in your ears, headphones that just sit on your ears, and headphones that go around your ears.”
Uncle: “Which are the best?”
Me: “Well, it depends on what you want to do, if you are going to be working out, I would say ear phones, but if you are just going to be sitting listening, I would say around your ears.”
Uncle: “Oh I won’t be working out or jogging or anything. I just want to listen to music.”
I have a sinking suspicion that all he wants to do is sit in his apartment and listen to a CD. Of course there would be so many better alternatives. I think I will get him a portable player for his birthday, and then maybe some kind of little boombox or something for Christmas so he doesn’t have to use headphones in his apartment.
So as I sit here, I think to myself, all the times that I bought cd players, what kinds did I get. Well, Sony comes to mind, so I went to their site first. It took a while to actually find a CD player. Just about everything is mp3 or better. I so wish my uncle wasn’t mortally afraid of technology, then I could just get him a digital audio player and be done with it. Oh well, CD player’s are so cheap right now it doesn’t even matter.
Straight up, next level bullshit. 
So I finally found a CD player to give to my uncle for his birthday. Yeah, a week or so past due. I am actually a little surprised at how long it took me to find a portable CD player. I guess people just don’t buy them anymore. In case anyone needs one, I found them in that isle at target that has the kids phones and the walkie-talkies (you know, the crap electronics isle of stuff no one buys).