In addition to purging my dependence on the TV (which backslid a little when I had nothing to do but listen to the TV when I had LASIK), I also made a concerted effort to whittle down my general media intake.

The first thing I did was ditch the Zany Morning Radio Show local to Cleveland (good riddance), and started listening mostly to podcasts (including Radio Free Burrito care of Wil Wheaton, WTFPod by comedian Marc Maron, and a lot of NPR and NPR-affiliate podcasts).

Podcasts-mostly has expanded to now audiobooks-mostly, given that I don’t have a lot of free time to read, and I spend plenty of useable time in the car to-and-from work, Berea, and school to listen to them.

My car, however, was manufactured in 2003, before the personal mp3 player/cell phone/what-have-you became the ubiquitous device for delivering media and car radios came with an audio jack standard.  I had a tape deck, and used that wonderful device you remember from the 90s when hooking up your compact CD player into your car – the casette adapter.

With my little cassette adapter that could, life was pretty good: the sound quality was a lot better than the transmitter (the internal antenna in my car eats it), and I wasn’t breaking any laws by driving with headphone on (yes, Virginia, it is against the law to drive with headphones on).

Everything was great, that is, until my tape deck befell the ill that happened with every tape deck in cars that was used with frequency: it ate and refused to read my cassette adapter.  E tu, Hyndai?

To me, going without the ability to play my Zune through the radio of my car is just not an option.  I can go without pedicures, I can eschew new shoes for taking care of the ones I have now, I can avoid going out to eat for lunch, but I cannot go without a radio in my car.

In the grand scheme of things, I had been kicking around the idea of buying a new radio for the car, but I always figured I could make do until I bought a new car.  Besides the expense, the other issue I balked on was that I’m pretty conservative (well, my car is pretty conservative), and all of the after-market radios are just a little bit flashy.  When I priced some out at the company that’s doing the install, they did have one with pink lights (but that’s a little too much pink, even for me).

In the end, I settled for one by Pioneer, which is a company I used in the past to install a CD player in my old car, and I’m happy with the brand.  It’s being installed on Wednesday.

And to be honest, despite my initial horror at having to replace my car radio, I’m pretty excited for my new toy.

On Wednesday of this week, I went in and had Lasik surgery.

The decision came after 10 years of glasses originally intended to facilitate far-distance vision, and slowly integrated the correction of my astigmatism.  For 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for nearly ten years, I was a glasses-wearer.

There were some people who had never seen me without glasses.

I couldn’t wear contacts without a lot of irritation because of astigmatism and an eye infection in 2006.  I also wasn’t satisfied with transitions lenses, and I didn’t like the idea that I could be jetskiing with prescription lenses on and lose them.  The more I thought about it, the better Lasik looked.  Even with the costs involved, the expense would be a one-time expense with a lifetime guarantee.  The only thing scary about Lasik was the price.

Now here I am, a few days removed from the surgery, putting drops in my eyes on a rigorous schedule to reduce inflammation, reduce the risk of infection, and to maintain lubrication.  I’m forbidden from wearing eye makeup for the next few days, and discouraged from any strenuous physical activity that will cause me to squint and put strain in the incision in my corneas.

I am now free of the necessity of glasses – I can see perfectly clearly without my glasses.

To be honest, I feel a little naked.

The funny thing is, I never saw myself as a person who wore glasses – not that I have a problem with people who wear glasses (more power to Tina Fey, and Rachel Maddow, whose glasses are a part of their signature looks), but it wasn’t part of my self-image.

In my smoking cessation class, we were counseled that every time we give something up, every time we stop doing something, we feel a sense of loss.  I still have my glasses sitting on my nightstand, even though I will never wear them again.

I think that it will take a little time to admit that a part of me (that I didn’t realize I was, even) is gone.  That change can be a wonderful advantage towards new opportunities, but is a change all the same.

Well, I’m studying my buns off for my Managerial Accounting final tomorrow (which I will be taking in my office because it’s the quietest place I can find on a Saturday morning at 8 am).  So, in lieu of something ruminating over the theories of time management and whether or not to attend my alma mater’s luncheon, I give you the Friday 5:

Friday 5 for March 5: Staples

1. Of all the hundreds of sizes and shapes bread seems to come in, what is your favorite?
   I have two great loves currently: focaccia and ciabatta.  Great for paninis, and focaccia is ridiculously easy to make.
2. What’s your favorite thing to eat with rice?
   In other words, “what’s the only thing you eat with rice?” which is sushi.  Mmmm, pass the tuna, please.
3. What are your feelings about milk?
   I feel that milk has a proper place, but were are on cordial terms, simply, nothing more.
4. What was wrapped in the tortilla you most recently ate?
   A chimichanga…but that what a while ago.  God, since I’ve been getting into all this “clean living” I sure do miss a fried burrito.
5. How many staplers are there in your house and where are they?
   Who counts staplers?  Instead, I will tell you about my favorite stapler.  It is my red Swingline stapler, a la Milton, which my BIL got for me for Christmas when I moved into my new office.

Bonus points if you know from where the title of my post comes.