And, out of curiosity, my co-pay on my wisdom teeth is around $1100. How much did other people have to pay?

Milo, if you surf the internet, come home!

Background

If you're not lucky enough to have one of these, there are a few more options. The one I used to use, and I think the majority of iPod in Car users use is the FM transmitter. After doing a lot of research a couple of years ago, I ended up picking the Monster iCarPlay Plus Wireless FM Transmitter. It was great when I moved to Houston in a UHaul, but we had to keep changing the station as we went across the country. Then, I used it for a while in my Saab 9-3 before replacing the factory stereo with a Sony stereo with a line-in. Chenging the stereo was messy and I had an ugly cable sticking out. Well, I used that until the engine blew in my '99 Saab at around 105,000 miles.

The Dice install

My current ride is a 2004 Honda Accord EX. The factory radio is a 6-disc in dash changer with XM radio. I dont use XM and the installation stops that from working. I purchased a Digital in-car entertainment (DICE) unit through River Oaks Car Stereo in Houston, TX. The model # for the Dice for my car is "i-Honda-R3". The list price on the DICE website is $159.99. According to River Oaks Car Stereo, there isnt much room to discount it, so they gave it to me for $149.00 + installation. I brought the car in and the installation was botched the first time! The DICE unit was broken. So, they returned it and I came back a week later to complete the installation. They did a great job of hiding the unit. The cable comes out in the center console arm rest and you cant see the iPod at all!

Operation

When you turn on the car, the DICE unit (usually) registers as a CD Changer. The iPod turns on and starts playing the last song. If there is no playlist you have defined, it will begin playing your tunes, shuffling all songs. The volume of course works, and the track change works. Skipping back and forth within a song works too, however, it is not easy to be accurate. Turning off the radio while the car is on switches off the iPod and the song stops and starts without any noticeable content missing.

Issues

Sometimes the Dice unit doesnt register when the car starts up. It's really unfortunate that the only way to get it to register is to turn the car off and then back on again. For my Honda, the CD text doesnt show up. This isn't really an issue and I was aware of it, however, on XM, the text shows up, so this must have been too big a technical hurdle for the DICE people to overcome for my car. Maybe the market isnt big enough for the Honda to make it work perfectly?

Conclusions

Although there are a couple of quirks, the DICE unit is an awesome way to listen to your ipod in your car. Audio clarity is excellent, and hiding the ipod in the center console means I dont have to mess with things when I get in and out of the car. The price is pretty decent considering alternative options are not as good and generally dont allow you to skip tracks.

I have a zit on my chin. I dont usually get zits on my chin except when I eat lots of sugary foods. Now, let me explore why this could happen. I think there are a few scenarios here that are causing the zit so before I completely blame sugar, let's look at a few:

1. Sugar It's the damn sugar!
2. Hormone imbalances make me crave sugar and also cause the zits - therefore attributing it to sugar is a logical fallacy.
3. Dietary Change It's the other ingredients in the things that contain sugar (I've been eating ice cream, chocolate chip cookies and drinking coke).
4. Personal Hygiene - Has my personal hygiene been poor (NO! I still wash my face twice a day)

Alright, so looking at these few options, the one that makes the most sense is Dietary change. Assuming the amount of food intake stays the same, by eating more sugary / junk food, the less healthy diet means that the body is more prone to making evil zits. What do you think?

1. Only you have the power to realize your dreams
2. Bulletproof your ideas from the naysayers with guns
3. Think as big as you can. Your balls will have to catch up.
4. Make only the promises you are able to keep
5. Build the reality that you want, but remember you can only do it one brick at a time
6. Failure is when you screw up the same way twice
7. People will follow you into the depths of hell. Don't be scared - plan accordingly.
8. Recognize your shortcomings and arm yourself with people who compensate for them.

Translation:

The Man Who Opened Forbidden Doors

...??

Here are some shots (deliberately unflattering) of my progress thus far. I've lost an inch around the waist (damn pants are too big), my arms are bigger and I am starting to get definition. I am not quite at the flat stomach and rock hard abs stage yet. Check back in another month!

There are a common set of 5 stages of grief that people go through during a breakup:

1. Denial
2. Anger / Resentment
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Denial

At this point, you cant believe what has happened and you are most likely overwhelmed by shock - half expecting things to go back to "normal".

Anger / Resentment

This is when it gets nasty & you might be inclined to do or say things that you will regret to the other person. You blame the other person for causing the situation or wasting years of your life, or being so difficult. In many ways those things are necessary because essentially fighting with each other and causing hurt makes the break up easier to comprehend for each person.

Bargaining

Im not quite sure that this is next after anger. Apparently, this is where you will feel inclined to try to convince the person that you can change or they can change and you really should be together. The decision to break up feels wrong and it seems as though the solution is to get back together rather than stay apart.

Depression

It's really quite straightforward. You feel down in the dumps, alone and withdrawn from the world. At this point, the loss is acknowledged and it takes time to deal with it and sort through the issues. This is when you will feel most alone in the world. But dont fret! the best is yet to come.
Acceptance

The breakup is now in your past. You're able to move forward with your life. Hopefully at this stage, seeing the person doesnt send you backwards in to one of the other stages.

What else?

Now that you know the stages of grief, you can at least understand what you are going through. Some other things you may experience during grief is a sense of a lost identity. You need to rediscover and redefine who you are without the other person. It's difficult and dangerous because its important to have stability in your life.

How to get through it

• Go to the Gym / work out - This is a fantastic thing to do when you are getting over a break up. Working out releases endorfins in the brain so you feel better than you ordinarily would if you were going through a break up (I am working out 5 - 6 times a week).
• Be more social - Hang out in coffee shops with a good book, make some new friends who dont know your ex, get out of the house!
• Generally get more busy - The less time you have alone to think, the less time you will be sitting alone thinking about your break up. Dwelling on a problem rarely presents a solution. The only thing to help with a breakup is time. If you can allow time to pass without overanalyzing the situation, it will help.
• Join a club, group or new activity - Increase the number of times you do an activity during the week. Take a cooking class. Join a book club. Do something you've always wanted to try. Go travelling!

All of these can help you take your mind off grieving for the most part but will allow you to think about it in moments - to process things without dwelling.

In this case, I am taking my own advice! I hope it works for you.