Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Boo ya (1 of 2)
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Strength
These have been on my to do list for the longest time with the simple title "Look up these verses" - no idea why they were there or when I put them on there, but they're encouraging, I think.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Psalm 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Psalm 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Here's a story... of a lovely trash can
Actually, I don't like our new trash can. But, after being without one for a week, I'll take it.
The incompetant morons of Waste Management (wait... is that redundant to say Waste Management is stupid and clueless?) Anyhow, so I was saying... The insufferable nazis of Waste Management delivered us a new garbage can today. It's ugly. The body is gray with white speckles. It's like it's gone upscale. But the lid is green. Like when you have to get a new hood for your blue car and the only one you can find is red and you can't afford spray paint.
It all started a few months ago... got a letter in the mail saying our credit card was expired. I called in and they said that the expiration date was 2006. Odd, since they had been taking money from it every three months without fail since early 2006. Then the lady says "Oh. Well, we just upgraded our payment system. Maybe it carried over an old credit card number."
I didn't have the credit card with me, so I asked me wife to call in and give them the number over again. So she did and then confirmed with the woman that we were now all set. "Yes" was the answer.
Well, apparently not. Early August. Another letter. This time, a lot more doom and gloom. We're going to cut off your service. We're going to throw rocks through your windows and drop a garbage truck on your house from a helicopter. And then we're going to light it on fire. You know the type of letter. (Or, actually, you my dear readers, are probably the kind who pay their bills on time and don't have problems like this.)
Lori calls again. Yes, the new credit card is on file. Did we want to use it to pay the outstanding balance? Uh. D-freaking-uh. So now we were good, right? "Yes" was the answer again.
Well, apparently not. Last Tuesday I get home from work. I notice no can out front and make a mental note to thank Lori for bringing the can in. Only it's not in the garage. It's not next to the house on either side. It's not in the backyard. So I ask Lori and she says that it was there when she got home from the grocery store.
Weird. Did someone steal our garbage can? There were plenty of others still on the street, so that didn't seem likely. How do you call up and say "Someone stole my garbage can?" I called in the next morning and a nice woman looks up my account and says that the account was closed at the end of July for non-payment. But, she says that we are current on our payments. And that they called on August 2. (She tells me this just moments after finding out that they had an old number on file.) So, they may have called, but they didn't talk to us. I think there ought to be a distinction there.
So, all week without a trash can. No place to put bags of dirty diapers or cat litter. No place to put smelly kitchen stuff. Except in a big pile on the garage floor.
So, now we have a can and it's brand new. So I'm happy to fill it with all kinds of nasty.
But... this may not even be the end of the story. On the last call, to get the service turned back on, she told me there might be a charge for delivering new cans. (I should also note - they brought us a new greens can. And since the last owners never turned theirs in, we now have three. I'm trying to figure out how to get a few more so I can build a wall or several inground individual soaking tubs or something.) I expected that to be waived. She was happy to put a note on my account and I was free to talk to whoever I wanted. Yes, she said that.
So, thanks for the bumbling idiocy of Waste Management, I've just wasted a few precious moments of you who bothered to read all the way to the end.
The incompetant morons of Waste Management (wait... is that redundant to say Waste Management is stupid and clueless?) Anyhow, so I was saying... The insufferable nazis of Waste Management delivered us a new garbage can today. It's ugly. The body is gray with white speckles. It's like it's gone upscale. But the lid is green. Like when you have to get a new hood for your blue car and the only one you can find is red and you can't afford spray paint.
It all started a few months ago... got a letter in the mail saying our credit card was expired. I called in and they said that the expiration date was 2006. Odd, since they had been taking money from it every three months without fail since early 2006. Then the lady says "Oh. Well, we just upgraded our payment system. Maybe it carried over an old credit card number."
I didn't have the credit card with me, so I asked me wife to call in and give them the number over again. So she did and then confirmed with the woman that we were now all set. "Yes" was the answer.
Well, apparently not. Early August. Another letter. This time, a lot more doom and gloom. We're going to cut off your service. We're going to throw rocks through your windows and drop a garbage truck on your house from a helicopter. And then we're going to light it on fire. You know the type of letter. (Or, actually, you my dear readers, are probably the kind who pay their bills on time and don't have problems like this.)
Lori calls again. Yes, the new credit card is on file. Did we want to use it to pay the outstanding balance? Uh. D-freaking-uh. So now we were good, right? "Yes" was the answer again.
Well, apparently not. Last Tuesday I get home from work. I notice no can out front and make a mental note to thank Lori for bringing the can in. Only it's not in the garage. It's not next to the house on either side. It's not in the backyard. So I ask Lori and she says that it was there when she got home from the grocery store.
Weird. Did someone steal our garbage can? There were plenty of others still on the street, so that didn't seem likely. How do you call up and say "Someone stole my garbage can?" I called in the next morning and a nice woman looks up my account and says that the account was closed at the end of July for non-payment. But, she says that we are current on our payments. And that they called on August 2. (She tells me this just moments after finding out that they had an old number on file.) So, they may have called, but they didn't talk to us. I think there ought to be a distinction there.
So, all week without a trash can. No place to put bags of dirty diapers or cat litter. No place to put smelly kitchen stuff. Except in a big pile on the garage floor.
So, now we have a can and it's brand new. So I'm happy to fill it with all kinds of nasty.
But... this may not even be the end of the story. On the last call, to get the service turned back on, she told me there might be a charge for delivering new cans. (I should also note - they brought us a new greens can. And since the last owners never turned theirs in, we now have three. I'm trying to figure out how to get a few more so I can build a wall or several inground individual soaking tubs or something.) I expected that to be waived. She was happy to put a note on my account and I was free to talk to whoever I wanted. Yes, she said that.
So, thanks for the bumbling idiocy of Waste Management, I've just wasted a few precious moments of you who bothered to read all the way to the end.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Vacation
Had a conversation with someone this morning at the coffee machine and they were moaning about being back at work after a vacation. I'm no expert on vacations, I tend to take vacation days one at a time. (I think I'm only planning to be in the office three Fridays in September and October this year.)
But I think my friend make a fatal flaw in her vacation schedule... you gotta ease out and ease in.
Ease out... many people start their vacations at 5 pm Friday and end it on Monday at 8 am. If, for instance, they're taking a week, they think this gives them a nine-day vacation. That thinking is flawed. Saturday (and possibly Sunday) occur as normal on your way out. Not only that, but all your colleagues are also gunning for 5 pm on Friday, which means they're not stopping to think about the fact that you're going to be gone. So, ease out. Take your leave mid-week. This really puts you in vacation-mode right off the bat -- you're at home while all your co-workers are still at work. Muwahahaha. On top of that, book the last few hours of your last day in the office to make sure no one can get you in a meeting. That allows you to wrap up details and remind your colleages (multiple times) that you're going to be gone. (Also, this allows you to travel on a weekday or very early on a Saturday and get a jump on the other travellers.)
On your way back, you have the usual Sunday afternoon stuff before heading back in.
Ease in... if you're dragging yourself in Monday morning, so is everyone else. And you complain about being back from a vacation, you're going to get no love. But, if you come in mid-week, you're a fresh face helping bolster everyone mid-week. But, if you come in mid-week, come in swinging. The worst thing you can do is come in and then hide in front of your computer with mounds of email. Easy solution - work from home your first day back. Download all your mail, disconnect, and start plowing through. Reconnect when you've done all you can. That prevents you from seeing new mail while you try to catch up, and prevents your mail from getting out there and generating new mail. (Sadly, my email program won't do that - it will stop incoming, but will continue sending out my responses - unless I completely disconnect but then I lose access to some things I need.)
Then wander back into the office around 2 pm. (Maybe bring in doughnuts or coffee. A nice touch I just thought of.)
And if traveling, pad your trip, before and after, in order to to do packing and unpacking. (For our last trip, Corey and Gilda gave us five nights at a World Mark resort. That means we had a kitchen and washer and dryer in our unit - so we actually returned home with all of our clothes already clean. That was nice.)
But I think my friend make a fatal flaw in her vacation schedule... you gotta ease out and ease in.
Ease out... many people start their vacations at 5 pm Friday and end it on Monday at 8 am. If, for instance, they're taking a week, they think this gives them a nine-day vacation. That thinking is flawed. Saturday (and possibly Sunday) occur as normal on your way out. Not only that, but all your colleagues are also gunning for 5 pm on Friday, which means they're not stopping to think about the fact that you're going to be gone. So, ease out. Take your leave mid-week. This really puts you in vacation-mode right off the bat -- you're at home while all your co-workers are still at work. Muwahahaha. On top of that, book the last few hours of your last day in the office to make sure no one can get you in a meeting. That allows you to wrap up details and remind your colleages (multiple times) that you're going to be gone. (Also, this allows you to travel on a weekday or very early on a Saturday and get a jump on the other travellers.)
On your way back, you have the usual Sunday afternoon stuff before heading back in.
Ease in... if you're dragging yourself in Monday morning, so is everyone else. And you complain about being back from a vacation, you're going to get no love. But, if you come in mid-week, you're a fresh face helping bolster everyone mid-week. But, if you come in mid-week, come in swinging. The worst thing you can do is come in and then hide in front of your computer with mounds of email. Easy solution - work from home your first day back. Download all your mail, disconnect, and start plowing through. Reconnect when you've done all you can. That prevents you from seeing new mail while you try to catch up, and prevents your mail from getting out there and generating new mail. (Sadly, my email program won't do that - it will stop incoming, but will continue sending out my responses - unless I completely disconnect but then I lose access to some things I need.)
Then wander back into the office around 2 pm. (Maybe bring in doughnuts or coffee. A nice touch I just thought of.)
And if traveling, pad your trip, before and after, in order to to do packing and unpacking. (For our last trip, Corey and Gilda gave us five nights at a World Mark resort. That means we had a kitchen and washer and dryer in our unit - so we actually returned home with all of our clothes already clean. That was nice.)
Repaving AND recycling... at the same time
This is pretty cool... click the link to see more, including a video.
Repaving AND recycling... at the same time: "
You’ve probably heard of recycled paper, recycled glass or recycled plastic, but we’re wiling to bet that you’ve never heard (or thought) about recycled asphalt.
Repaving AND recycling... at the same time: "
You’ve probably heard of recycled paper, recycled glass or recycled plastic, but we’re wiling to bet that you’ve never heard (or thought) about recycled asphalt.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
My Playlists
Corey had asked me for the criteria of my playlists after I explained them to him the other day. Unfortunately, it looks like iTunes would have trouble exporting and importing them since they are dependent on each other. So, I decided to write them all out. Had thought about doing that for some time, but always wondered if I could screen grab or something. Anyhow, here they are.
Note: All of the smaller playlists are titled with z-James in front of them on my list to keep them out of the way on the iPod which doesn't have folders. My master list as "> " at the front to get it to the top of the list.
Playlist is z-IncludeChristian
Playlist is z-IncludeChristmas
Playlist is z-IncludeHighestRated
Playlist is z-IncludeInChristAloneAndOthers
Playlist is z-IncludeOldest
Playlist is z-IncludeFromJames25
Playlist is z-IncludePurchased
Playlist is z-IncludeTopThisYear
Playlist is z-IncludeLeast
Playlist is z-IncludeLeastNewAdds
Playlist is z-IncludeFromLori'sList
Playlist is z-IncludeMovieTV
Playlist is z-IncludeSkip1
Playlist is z-IncludeSkip2
Playlist is z-IncludeSkip3
Playlist is z-IncludeSkip4
z-Exclude1
Note: First exclusion list. Could probably clean up by tagging the childrens' music with a comment and then matching that comment. (This was a quick fix to make sure I could still hear Jim Brickman who was also included in the kids' list.) Yours will, of course, vary, though I would hope anyone reading this would still have the first one in theirs.
Artist is Hanson
Artist contains Bee Gees
Artist is Bette Midler
Artist contains Laurie Berkner
Artist contains Veggie Tales
Album contains Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert
Album contains Classical Music for Babies
Album contains Disney's Lullaby
Album contains Lullabies for Babies
Album contains Mother Goose Lullabies
Album contains Jack's Big Music Show
Album contains Classic Disney
Comment contains Instrumental-Lullaby
Comment contains Sound Effects
Comment contains SoundEffects
Comment contains Children's Music
Comment contains [xJames] <-- another way to permanently ban. All of my new comment tags are in [] to avoid clashes with other comment tags.
Name contains zzz-delete <-- this is my shorthand for deleting music - just a quick rename. I'll go through later and completely delete.
Playlist is Audiobooks (built-in iTunes smart playlist)
Playlist is z-Exclude2
Playlist is OSBC -- for choir practice, Lori temporarily loads music (this prevents it from appearing in my list since I don't own it)
Rating is * -- allows me to permanently ban something from the iPod by quickly giving it one star
Skip Count greater than 4
Last Skipped in the last 4 months
z-Exclude2
Note: This keeps the top 5 most overplayed songs on our playlist off of my iPod.
Playlist is Only Music
Limit to 5 items by most often played
Live Updating
z-IncludeChristian
Note: Bring in 25 Christian songs that haven't been played recently, provided they've only been skipped once at most.
Playlist is Christian Music
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is less than 2
Match all
Limit to 25 items by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeChristmas
Note: This helps skew Christmas a little higher than normal during the holiday season.
Playlist is z-Christmas
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is less than 2
Last played is not in the last week
Match all
Limited to 30 items least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeFromJames25
Note: Causes items in the James25 list to be added more than they normally would in general selection. Picks least played, meaning they were the most recently added to the z-James25 playlist. (So ones I've recently decided I really like a lot.)
Playlist is z-James25
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Last Played is not in the last 7 days
Skip Count is less than 2
Limit to 25 items least often played
Match all
Match only checked items
Live Updating
Note: Lori has a standard playlist of her favorites. It includes stuff I've just purchased and stuff that are on my z-James25 list. (So that means that some of my favorite stuff I'd never get to listen to under normal circumstances because she would have recently listened to it. )
Playlist is Lori's
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Playlist is not z-IncludeSkip1
Playlist is not z-IncludeSkip2
Playlist is not z-IncludeSkip3
Playlist is not z-IncludeSkip4
Skip Count is less than 2
Last skipped is not in the last 30 days
Match all
Limit to 25 items by least often played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Note: This lets more popular music back onto the playlist sooner.
Playlist is Only Music
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Last played is not in the last 1 month
Skip Count is less than 2
Match all
Limit to 25 items by highest rating
Match only checked items
Live updating
Note: This was originally just to let that one song back onto the list after a few weeks, but I've added a couple of others since then. So now it's just like James25, but a lot more exclusive.
Comment contains [JamesSpecial]
Last played is not in the last 2 weeks
Match all
Match only checked items
Live updating
Note: Gives the least played items in iTunes a slightly better chance of being played, provided they've never been skipped. Socialism.
Playlist is Only Music
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is 0
Last Played is not in the last 14 days.
Match all
Limit to 25 items least often played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Note: This gives the most recently added items a better shot of being played again soon. It's a mixture of added/purchased but in general probably helps purchased get played more since there's a second list for purchased also.
Playlist is Only Music
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Playlist is not z-IncludePurchased
Skip Count is 0
Last Played is not in the last 14 days
Match all
Limit to 25 items most recently added
Match only checked items
Live Updating
Note: A fun sublist. These are sound clips - random pieces of dialogue, theme songs, etc. from everything from Futurama to Bear in the Big Blue House to Mystery Men to The Angry Beavers. This just provides fun little random interludes.
Genre contains "TV and Movie Themes"
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Match all
Limit to 10 items by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Note: This is the big one, the largest piece of the playlist spaghetti. This will contribute about half of the songs to the playlist when all is said and done. This is the music with the least recent "last played" dates. (Also any that are blank because they've never been played.)
Playlist is Only Music
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is 0
Match all
Limit to 150 items by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Note: Keeps the purchased items in slightly higher rotation.
Playlist is Purchased (built-in iTunes playlist)
Playlist is Only Music
Playist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is less than 2
Match all
Limit to 25 items by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Note: It gets harder to get on the list once you've been skipped. The next few playlists let a few songs on the list, but it gets progressively harder to get played as your skip count increases.
Skip Count is 1
Playlist is not z-Exclude
Last Skipped is not in the last 2 months
Last Played is not in the last 6 months
Match all
Limit to 5 items selected by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Skip Count is 2
Playlist is not z-Exclude
Last Skipped is not in the last 2 months
Last Played is not in the last 6 months
Match all
Limit to 4 items selected by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Skip Count is 3
Playlist is not z-Exclude
Last Skipped is not in the last 2 months
Last Played is not in the last 6 months
Match all
Limit to 3 items selected by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Skip Count is 4
Playlist is not z-Exclude
Last Skipped is not in the last 2 months
Last Played is not in the last 6 months
Match all
Limit to 1 items selected by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Note: This pulls in the top 15 (it says 20, but remember that the very top 5 will be excluded) most listened to songs. This and a few of the other "popular" lists were needed because before they were added, the list was a little dull at times.
Last Played is in the last 6 months
Last Played is not in the last 3 weeks
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is less than 2
Match all
Limit to 20 items by most often played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Note: This pulls all Christian music, unless it's been commented/tagged "[xChristian]" - there's some stuff on WOW and some Veggie Tales stuff I want to exclude because it's too jarring, too inconsistent with the rest of the music. We only pull the top 800 least recently played (just temporarily keeps the most recently played off the list).
Playlist is z-Christian Music
Last skipped is not in the last 12 months
Skip Count is less than 6
Comment does not contain [xChristian]
Match all
Limit to 800 items by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Genre contains Religious
Genre contains Christian
Genre contains Gospel
Comment contains Christian
Match any
Match only checked items
Live Updating
Playlist is not Audiobooks (built-in iTunes playlist)
Genre is not TV Shows
Podcast is false
Kind is not mov
Genre is not Podcast
Genre is not Spoken Word
Genre is not Audiobooks
Kind is not PDF Document
Playlist is not Movies (built-in iTunes playlist)
Playlist is not TV Shows (built-in iTunes playlist)
Playlist is Music (built-in iTunes playlist)
Match all
Match only checked items
Live Updating
Note: I usually keep all unchecked except "Jingle Bells" by Barenaked Ladies. Starting in October(!), I'll start checking a few boxes a day to ease into the holidays and by Thanksgiving I'll have all of them checked.
Comment contains Christmas
Album contains Christmas
Album contains Holiday
Genre contains Holiday
Match any
Live updating
Note: This was originally supposed to be my list of my 25 favorite songs, but I had a hard time keeping it to that, so there's a lot more in there. I suppose I could have used a standard playlist like Lori does. *shrug*
Match the following rule
Comment contains [James25]
Live updating
----------------------------------------------------------
Also one I like, but not part of the list above (not required by any list up there)
Note: Ok, so this is a complex one. This one mixes Christian music with my general smart playlist at a much more even mixture rate. There are certain songs in my playlist that I like that are really probably ones I wouldn't want my church friends to hear playing. The "[xSunday]" tag makes sure they don't play in this Sunday afternoon list. Also, they can't have been skipped, and they must have already been played. Not something just purchased or something from the iTunes free song of the week that I'm not yet sure about the content of. Goal of this is that we can play it on Sunday afternoon on the home computer with children around.
Playlist is z-Sunday Afternoon
Playlist is not z-Instrumental
Comment does not contain [xJames]Comment does not contain [xChristian]
Comment does not contain [xSunday]
Skip count is less than 1
Play count is greater than 1
Match all
Limit to 300 items selected by least often played
Match only checked items
Live Updating
Playlist is Master List
Playlist is Christian Music
Match any
Limit to 1,000 by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Note: All of the smaller playlists are titled with z-James in front of them on my list to keep them out of the way on the iPod which doesn't have folders. My master list as "> " at the front to get it to the top of the list.
Master List
Playlist is z-IncludeChristian
Playlist is z-IncludeChristmas
Playlist is z-IncludeHighestRated
Playlist is z-IncludeInChristAloneAndOthers
Playlist is z-IncludeOldest
Playlist is z-IncludeFromJames25
Playlist is z-IncludePurchased
Playlist is z-IncludeTopThisYear
Playlist is z-IncludeLeast
Playlist is z-IncludeLeastNewAdds
Playlist is z-IncludeFromLori'sList
Playlist is z-IncludeMovieTV
Playlist is z-IncludeSkip1
Playlist is z-IncludeSkip2
Playlist is z-IncludeSkip3
Playlist is z-IncludeSkip4
Match Any
Match Only Checked Items
Live Updating
z-Exclude1
Note: First exclusion list. Could probably clean up by tagging the childrens' music with a comment and then matching that comment. (This was a quick fix to make sure I could still hear Jim Brickman who was also included in the kids' list.) Yours will, of course, vary, though I would hope anyone reading this would still have the first one in theirs.
Artist is Hanson
Artist contains Bee Gees
Artist is Bette Midler
Artist contains Laurie Berkner
Artist contains Veggie Tales
Album contains Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert
Album contains Classical Music for Babies
Album contains Disney's Lullaby
Album contains Lullabies for Babies
Album contains Mother Goose Lullabies
Album contains Jack's Big Music Show
Album contains Classic Disney
Comment contains Instrumental-Lullaby
Comment contains Sound Effects
Comment contains SoundEffects
Comment contains Children's Music
Comment contains [xJames] <-- another way to permanently ban. All of my new comment tags are in [] to avoid clashes with other comment tags.
Name contains zzz-delete <-- this is my shorthand for deleting music - just a quick rename. I'll go through later and completely delete.
Playlist is Audiobooks (built-in iTunes smart playlist)
Playlist is z-Exclude2
Playlist is OSBC -- for choir practice, Lori temporarily loads music (this prevents it from appearing in my list since I don't own it)
Rating is * -- allows me to permanently ban something from the iPod by quickly giving it one star
Skip Count greater than 4
Last Skipped in the last 4 months
Match Any
Live Updating
z-Exclude2
Note: This keeps the top 5 most overplayed songs on our playlist off of my iPod.
Playlist is Only Music
Limit to 5 items by most often played
Live Updating
z-IncludeChristian
Note: Bring in 25 Christian songs that haven't been played recently, provided they've only been skipped once at most.
Playlist is Christian Music
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is less than 2
Match all
Limit to 25 items by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeChristmas
Note: This helps skew Christmas a little higher than normal during the holiday season.
Playlist is z-Christmas
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is less than 2
Last played is not in the last week
Match all
Limited to 30 items least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeFromJames25
Note: Causes items in the James25 list to be added more than they normally would in general selection. Picks least played, meaning they were the most recently added to the z-James25 playlist. (So ones I've recently decided I really like a lot.)
Playlist is z-James25
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Last Played is not in the last 7 days
Skip Count is less than 2
Limit to 25 items least often played
Match all
Match only checked items
Live Updating
z-IncludeFromLori'sList
Note: Lori has a standard playlist of her favorites. It includes stuff I've just purchased and stuff that are on my z-James25 list. (So that means that some of my favorite stuff I'd never get to listen to under normal circumstances because she would have recently listened to it. )
Playlist is Lori's
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Playlist is not z-IncludeSkip1
Playlist is not z-IncludeSkip2
Playlist is not z-IncludeSkip3
Playlist is not z-IncludeSkip4
Skip Count is less than 2
Last skipped is not in the last 30 days
Match all
Limit to 25 items by least often played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeHighestRated
Note: This lets more popular music back onto the playlist sooner.
Playlist is Only Music
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Last played is not in the last 1 month
Skip Count is less than 2
Match all
Limit to 25 items by highest rating
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeInChristAloneAndOthers
Note: This was originally just to let that one song back onto the list after a few weeks, but I've added a couple of others since then. So now it's just like James25, but a lot more exclusive.
Comment contains [JamesSpecial]
Last played is not in the last 2 weeks
Match all
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeLeast
Note: Gives the least played items in iTunes a slightly better chance of being played, provided they've never been skipped. Socialism.
Playlist is Only Music
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is 0
Last Played is not in the last 14 days.
Match all
Limit to 25 items least often played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeLeastNewAdds
Note: This gives the most recently added items a better shot of being played again soon. It's a mixture of added/purchased but in general probably helps purchased get played more since there's a second list for purchased also.
Playlist is Only Music
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Playlist is not z-IncludePurchased
Skip Count is 0
Last Played is not in the last 14 days
Match all
Limit to 25 items most recently added
Match only checked items
Live Updating
z-IncludeMovieTV
Note: A fun sublist. These are sound clips - random pieces of dialogue, theme songs, etc. from everything from Futurama to Bear in the Big Blue House to Mystery Men to The Angry Beavers. This just provides fun little random interludes.
Genre contains "TV and Movie Themes"
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Match all
Limit to 10 items by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeOldest
Note: This is the big one, the largest piece of the playlist spaghetti. This will contribute about half of the songs to the playlist when all is said and done. This is the music with the least recent "last played" dates. (Also any that are blank because they've never been played.)
Playlist is Only Music
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is 0
Match all
Limit to 150 items by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludePurchased
Note: Keeps the purchased items in slightly higher rotation.
Playlist is Purchased (built-in iTunes playlist)
Playlist is Only Music
Playist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is less than 2
Match all
Limit to 25 items by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeSkip1
Note: It gets harder to get on the list once you've been skipped. The next few playlists let a few songs on the list, but it gets progressively harder to get played as your skip count increases.
Skip Count is 1
Playlist is not z-Exclude
Last Skipped is not in the last 2 months
Last Played is not in the last 6 months
Match all
Limit to 5 items selected by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeSkip2
Skip Count is 2
Playlist is not z-Exclude
Last Skipped is not in the last 2 months
Last Played is not in the last 6 months
Match all
Limit to 4 items selected by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeSkip3
Skip Count is 3
Playlist is not z-Exclude
Last Skipped is not in the last 2 months
Last Played is not in the last 6 months
Match all
Limit to 3 items selected by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeSkip4
Skip Count is 4
Playlist is not z-Exclude
Last Skipped is not in the last 2 months
Last Played is not in the last 6 months
Match all
Limit to 1 items selected by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-IncludeTopThisYear
Note: This pulls in the top 15 (it says 20, but remember that the very top 5 will be excluded) most listened to songs. This and a few of the other "popular" lists were needed because before they were added, the list was a little dull at times.
Last Played is in the last 6 months
Last Played is not in the last 3 weeks
Playlist is not z-Exclude1
Skip Count is less than 2
Match all
Limit to 20 items by most often played
Match only checked items
Live updating
Christian Music
Note: This pulls all Christian music, unless it's been commented/tagged "[xChristian]" - there's some stuff on WOW and some Veggie Tales stuff I want to exclude because it's too jarring, too inconsistent with the rest of the music. We only pull the top 800 least recently played (just temporarily keeps the most recently played off the list).
Playlist is z-Christian Music
Last skipped is not in the last 12 months
Skip Count is less than 6
Comment does not contain [xChristian]
Match all
Limit to 800 items by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
z-Christian Music
Genre contains Religious
Genre contains Christian
Genre contains Gospel
Comment contains Christian
Match any
Match only checked items
Live Updating
Only Music
Playlist is not Audiobooks (built-in iTunes playlist)
Genre is not TV Shows
Podcast is false
Kind is not mov
Genre is not Podcast
Genre is not Spoken Word
Genre is not Audiobooks
Kind is not PDF Document
Playlist is not Movies (built-in iTunes playlist)
Playlist is not TV Shows (built-in iTunes playlist)
Playlist is Music (built-in iTunes playlist)
Match all
Match only checked items
Live Updating
z-Christmas
Note: I usually keep all unchecked except "Jingle Bells" by Barenaked Ladies. Starting in October(!), I'll start checking a few boxes a day to ease into the holidays and by Thanksgiving I'll have all of them checked.
Comment contains Christmas
Album contains Christmas
Album contains Holiday
Genre contains Holiday
Match any
Live updating
z-James25
Note: This was originally supposed to be my list of my 25 favorite songs, but I had a hard time keeping it to that, so there's a lot more in there. I suppose I could have used a standard playlist like Lori does. *shrug*
Match the following rule
Comment contains [James25]
Live updating
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Also one I like, but not part of the list above (not required by any list up there)
Sunday Afternoon
Note: Ok, so this is a complex one. This one mixes Christian music with my general smart playlist at a much more even mixture rate. There are certain songs in my playlist that I like that are really probably ones I wouldn't want my church friends to hear playing. The "[xSunday]" tag makes sure they don't play in this Sunday afternoon list. Also, they can't have been skipped, and they must have already been played. Not something just purchased or something from the iTunes free song of the week that I'm not yet sure about the content of. Goal of this is that we can play it on Sunday afternoon on the home computer with children around.
Playlist is z-Sunday Afternoon
Playlist is not z-Instrumental
Comment does not contain [xJames]Comment does not contain [xChristian]
Comment does not contain [xSunday]
Skip count is less than 1
Play count is greater than 1
Match all
Limit to 300 items selected by least often played
Match only checked items
Live Updating
z-Sunday Afternoon
Playlist is Master List
Playlist is Christian Music
Match any
Limit to 1,000 by least recently played
Match only checked items
Live updating
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