And you find some way to survive/ And you find out you don't have to be happy at all/ To be happy you're alive

A few weeks ago I won an iPad. This was very unexpected, since a) it's rather a nice thing to win, b) the odds were not in my favor (five winners out of several thousand options), and c) I didn't actually know I was in the running to win it.

I would add that I never win anything, but actually that's not true. I just tend to win really ridiculous things. For example, one time in college I won a door prize that was $200 worth of make-up (this weird make-up from a brand no one has ever heard of). Now, I never ever wear make-up, so this was rather pointless. It's also hard to re-gift, since it seems like you are expressing an opinion of someone's appearance if you give them $200 worth of make-up. Sigh.

Anyway, iPad. Yay! Probably the best thing I've ever won. I named it Lloyd, obviously. I'm very fond of it; I'd never buy myself a tablet/eReader, but it's lovely to have one. That said, it's made me feel like a bit of a Luddite, which is sad because my job technically involves being proficient with technology and keeping up with innovation, etc.

My iPad challenge has centered on how irritating it has been to get it to work as an eReader with DCPL. First I had to download an app, then I had to convince the library to recognize my login, then I had to find a book on the list available as an eBook (and not a book on tape), then I had to convince the library to again recognize my login, then I had to download something from Adobe that involved resetting a password I don't remember having at all (which was painful), and then I had to log back into the library, and re-find the book and re-log into Adobe. For one book. That's a stupid system. No wonder no one reads anymore.