ferrousland.com - daily news archives
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
new computer - 01:56 PM
(filed under 'general')
so after my old computer went troppo on me, i bought a new computer. i ended up getting a laptop. it's a toshiba satellite p200. it's got a nice big screen & a full keyboard with the number pad to the side, which i like. it's bugged me not being able to put in numbers quickly on the few occasions when i've sat at a keyboard without a number pad.
now i'm on the search for a decent bag to put it in. when i say decent, i mean one that doesn't look like a laptop bag. there are two reasons for this. firstly, security. i don't want it to be completely obvious that there's a laptop in there. secondly, your usual laptop bags are really kind of ugly. why not have something functional that's also good looking? unfortunately, all the nice ones i've seen so far are only made big enough to fit a 15.5" laptop, not 17" like mine. just a smidge frustrating.
it came with windows vista already loaded onto it. wow. talk about learning curve. it took me ages even to just find explorer. there's still heaps i have to learn about it, but the rest will come in time, no doubt as i find & re-install all the apps i was using previously. i would have preferred to stick with xp, but there was no choice in the matter. it seems all the new laptops have it pre-installed.
since i got it with flexi-rent & i hope to upgrade after two & a half years, i also got an external hard drive so that i don't have the worry of losing &/or having to back up all my data at any stage, either if it has problems & i need to send it in for repair, or when it comes time to upgrade. i haven't plugged that in yet, but i guess i'll do it over the next few days.
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too much going on this week - 12:24 PM
(filed under 'general')
i'm having trouble getting everything done this week. in fact, it's sort of hung over from last week when i was trying to get my assignment finished & my computer started playing up.
this week, i have more than the usual things going on. smiley's birthday is coming up soon & his birthday party is on saturday. i've hired an old school friend to do his domino the jester thing, so most of the party will be covered by his show. i've asked people to bring a plate (of food), so most of that is covered as well, but i still have to organise drinks, pass-the-parcel & some little party favour things for the kids to take home. i'm also making a treasure chest cake (wow. i think i really am a mum now. don't worry though, i'm not baking the cake, i'm going to buy a cake for the base. people want to be able to actually eat it, you know? lol! 
) which i'll be covering in icing & decorating to make it look like a treasure chest. smiley's request.
i also have my usual study to do (of which i have not done any) & uni on tonight. i'm a bit behind in my reading with that. i haven't participated in any of the course's blackboard discussions (the online forum type thing) this past week, either.
thursday is our usual homeschool playgroup day, but it's a special one because we're having a silver coin spring fair. quite a number of people are having little stalls. i said i'd make fudge, the same fudge i used to make for the stalls i had at the emerald & sapphire markets when we lived in emerald. it's been so long since i've made it, that i'm going to have to look up the recipe again.
on top of all that, i have to get a whole lot of data (including the fudge recipe) off my old computer. you see, i did end up getting a new computer. the old one is still functioning, but not very well. i need to have a reliable computer, not only for study (& work once i start doing proofreading & editing professionally), but for being able to stay in touch with people, too. most of my social life takes place on the computer. not only my social life, in fact, but stuff to do with being smiley's mum, as well. i'm on a few yahoo group lists that relate to him, two of them being two homeschooling playgroups which i take smiley to once or twice a week. one is for australian mums (we just chat & let off steam sometimes as well as ask for advice) & the other is about extended breastfeeding. suffice it to say that i'd feel really lonely & isolated if i didn't have access to a computer.
so the computer thing has been weighing on my mind. i do have a new one now (i'll blog about it on a separate entry in a few minutes), but even that has caused some brain strain, because there's been rather a steep learning curve with it. not only is it a laptop computer, therefore requiring me to get used to using a new keyboard & a touch pad (i know i could use an external keyboard & mouse, but i'd prefer to feel comfortable using it as is since if i ever take it anywhere, i'd prefer not to have to carry any extra stuff), but it's also running windows vista which is about as different to using windows xp as it would be if i jumped on a mac! i'm also having to reinstall all the applications which i use & prefer, such as firefox & my palm desktop software, to name just two.
after i've got the data i need off my old computer, i'll also have to try to get it working properly again so that it can be used by smiley (when he finally tires of using the switch between windows function on this one where the windows sort of fly across the screen. go to any computer shop to see this in action. it is kind of cool) & can serve as a backup just in case this one ever plays up. it's been a long time coming getting a new computer. the old one is kind of long in the tooth as far as computers are concerned & it simply wasn't reliable anymore, even aside from the fact that it now has god knows how many corrupt files on it due to it deciding to reboot in the middle of me uninstalling an application.
i have a pile of clean laundry on the dining room table waiting to be put away, as well as the boxes from my new computer & various bits & pieces that go with it. the fridge has just enough food in it to keep us going day to day since with everything else cluttering my brain, i've not had enough room in there to plan past the next meal.
this morning while smiley was lying all over me having his morning boobie, i made a list on my palm of the things i need to take care of for smiley's party, so i feel a little more focussed on that, at least. i made a note about making the fudge, too.
as i said to my good friend dave earlier today on instant messaging, having written about it, i actually already feel a bit less stressed already. yes, only a little bit, but everything helps.
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