The Curse Continues

I wrote too soon about things being back to normal, technologically. Today my iRiver portable CD player died. It was only two years old and I loved it for several reasons:

• It was so slim and portable -- with skip protection, too!
• It had a car adaptor, so I never had to listen to the radio.
• It played mp3 format. I could convert my audio books to mp3 and fit a book on one disk. That meant listening to a whole book without the inconvenience of switching disks while driving.
• It had easy-to-use switches (off, on, pause, reverse, etc.) that I could use without taking my eyes from the road.
  

Now it's dead and the company no longer makes portable CD players; they have been replaced with iPod-type mp3 players.

I love my iPod but I don't want to use it in the car, not even with a car adaptor and dashboard iPod holder. To do so would mean taking my eyes off the road. *Sigh.*

Fortunately, iRiver has a web site and an 800 number for customer service. They helped me find an older version of my beloved CD player in their clearance section. The price was so low they were practically giving it away. UPS tracking says it will arrive Friday, just in time for my trip to Kalamazoo Saturday, so I am saved from the boredom of radio and the danger of using an iPod in the car ... for now.