Powerbook 12″ Mark 4

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I now am the proud user (not really owner) of a brand new Apple Powerbook 12″. My old one cleaned up and on ebay as we speak. I was thinking about upgrading for a few months. I didn’t need to since my old one is barely 6 months old, but I was feeling the lack of hard drive space. I can fill a 60gig drive really quick. So when the opportunity to upgrade to a new Powerbook (and give up my windows laptop at the same time) came up I jumped at the chance. I was using my windows laptop less and less, and if work was willing to get me a mac (and lets face it I was using my personal laptop as my work laptop for a while) I was going to take the offer. And I saved the company a ton of money by because getting a new windows box would be hundreds of $$$ more than the powerbook cost. Win win.

The only down side was I just wiped my old powerbook and reinstalled everything like 2 weeks ago. So I had to do it twice in a month. I am gettng good at it though! And yes you read the title correctly. I have gone through 4 versions of the 12″ powerbook. I also had 1 15″ before the 12″ came out but that was way too big for me. The first 2 twelve inch powerbooks were bought by people I know and they have nice homes now. The third one is on ebay since no one I know wanted to get it. It had a bunch of people interested but no one was ready for a new machine so a stranger will be very happy with their purchase!

Man Shopping

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Today I took the day off and went man shopping with my dad. Man shopping you ask? Well you will get the picture in a minute.

I got up normal time I would for work and headed out to my parents place. My dad picked me up at the end of the 7 line. We headed over to “the dinner” for some breakfast. Nothing says lets go man shopping like eggs, greasy hash browns, sausage, bacon, buttery toast (some whole grain toast, my dads only concession), cheese, and 5 units of insulin (not for me). When we were full we headed out to the mall, Roosevelt Field if you are keeping score at home.

We were actually shopping before 11AM. Even in a holiday time like now, you can expect little or no crowds at 11AM on a Friday. We hit the Verizon store to setup 2 new cell phones for my parents and transfer numbers from their old provider, 20 minutes. I was amazed that when we walked out of the store the numbers where already ported over. It took me a week and 7 phone calls when I did it. Next we hit the Apple store to just look. I didn’t find any cases for my new iPod so we didn’t buy anything. My dad liked the 30″ cinema display.

Next we were off to Best Buy to get a new PDA for my dad. This man shopping trip was for him, not me. We have been planning on doing this for months, so we had a list. He ended up going with the Palm Tungsten E2. Nice color screen but simple since he does not need tons of frills. He loved the screen on it.

After that we went to the La-Z-Boy store. He wanted a recliner. We spent the most time in this store. Most of it was lying in several chairs. We had to test them to make sure he was picking the right one. He found a nice comfy one in black leather. We paid and we were done with everything in under two hours. Now that is what I call man shopping!

I then went back with him to his house to move him to his new “temporary” computer. That took a few hours. Then we went to eat by my sisters to see her and morgan. My mom staid home since she was not feeling well. All in all a productive day (for him). I got not much done for me, but I had fun.

iPod 60Gig

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I took the plunge. I went to the Apple store and Kai and I both got a new 60gig iPod. My old 40gig (non color) iPod is being cleaned up for resale to someone. I didn’t get the new one for the video functions, but that was a benefit. I got the new iPod because it is supposed to have great battery life, it is slimmer than the old one, and it FINALLY comes in black. And of course the main reason to upgrade is the fact that it is 60GIG’s. I actually use the thing as a portable hard drive so I was running out of space on the 40gig. The color and video are nice extra’s (maybe even the final extra little feature that got me to buy it) but they are not the main reasons.

So far I am not happy that there was 1 type of case available for this model iPod at the apple store. What gives with that apple? So I am stuck with this really pathetic case they give you. Another, what is up apple? For $399 you can give me a better case than this. A cradle would be nice, but my old cradle works so I am not happy. The only other complaint I have is the fact that my nifty wired remote no longer works since apple decided to change the physical inputs. What gives there? Did you guys sit down and ask what good feature can we take away to piss off customers?

Yes I am griping. Why? Because I spent allot of money on a portable music player, and I expect to get my moneys worth. In general I am happy so far with my new pod, but it could be better! And yes in my book it is still the best out there!

Anniversary

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Today is my 4 year (full time) anniversary at my current company. In some ways it doesn’t feel like 4 years, and in others it feels like I have been there for ages. it is weird looking back. I really have been working at the same company for 5 years coming up in July. Or 5 years in March starting off at the original company that provided support for my current place. It was a rather complicated situation. In any event it is 4 years to the date that I stopped being a contractor and started my full time stint.

On most days I am happy and don’t even think about leaving. That is a big step for me since before this place I never stayed anywhere more than 2 years (nor did I want to). I say on most days because this has been a rough week. Things are settling down, but I had high stress levels dealing with some people.

Stupid People

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Why are there so many stupid people that take mass transit in NYC? Today I found my breaking point (aka the point where I stop being quiet and taking all the retarded people and start talking back to or commenting at the morons). It took being forced off the train due to switching issues and waiting for 20 minutes for bus’s that I couldn’t get onto and then forced to walk 20 blocks to the 59th street station to take a different train to work.

While I was waiting for a bus there was a huge line. I was like the 4th or 5th person on line. Not bad, until you factor in bus’s that couldn’t fit 1 extra person on them let alone 5. So when a bus pulls up I was slightly ticked off when this older lady behind me blatantly cuts in front of me and a few other people to try and get on the bus. After being delayed like 30 minutes already I opened my mouth to point out there was in fact a line. The lady played dumb for a while then got back in line. I mean come on. F–king idiots. Then some old guy in front of me started telling me how I should always respect my elders and I should have let the lady in front. I told him to mind his own business. I am all for helping an older person with a walker or someone clearly in need of extra assistance. But I am not going to yield for every “older” person who thinks they are entitled to cutting people waiting for ages just because they have some years on me. I am not trying to be mean, but when dealing with a public system (like the bus) NO ONE is special. Get over it. People are just inconsiderate, and don’t realize they are not the center of the universe. If they did people wouldn’t stop and tie there shoe in a crowded subway stairs, or get off an escalator and stop to look around with 100 people behind them. Also fat people would not push in front of you to get on a crowded subway car and then push there way into the car where it is clear there is not a reasonable amount of room for them. And then the idots standing at the door of the train would actually move further into the car allowing others to get on. The moronic tendencies go on.

I am glad I now know what has to happen for me to finally speak out against stupidity. It actually felt good. A weight lifted off my chest.

I actually got to work only about an hour late, but I felt like I sat in a steam room for that hour. I would like to say the rest of the day went better, but it didn’t.

Insomnia Sucks

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I can’t sleep. I can’t stand that I can’t sleep. I actually am up now (obviously). I usually stay in bed for hours hoping sleep will come. It usually doesn’t and I don’t feel any better so this time I got up and I am trying to do stuff to keep my mind off the fact that it is 5:30 on a monday morning and I don’t have to be up for another 2 1/2 hours but I am up. I have been up since 4:30. Well that was the first time I checked my watch. I have probably been up long before that. I am not sure how I will get through he day with almost no sleep, but I will find out.

Not much to do at 5:30 in the morning. I might watch some stuff I Tivo’d last night. Or just write some more. Not sure yet. What to do with hours of time you didn’t want or expect to have before work…

iPod Reformat

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I am formatting my iPod right now. It was working perfectly but it was setup for use on a Mac only. I want to use it as a hard drive to move files between my home PC and Poowerbook. I also want to use it to migrate data from my Dad’s dell to a mini I am giving him to try out. You need to have the iPod setup for use with a PC to do that. So now the Pod is formated with Fat32 and I am coping my music collection back onto it. Not done yet, but so far no issues.

I am also in the process of getting my Mini ready for my dad. I hopefully will give it to him next friday. Hopefully he will like it and I can get him off of windows. Less headaches for me, and I think he will be happier.

Yesterday Sucked

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Man did yesterday suck. I was right about not feeling well. I was going to goto the movies with Rich and Amanda but I started spiraling downward in the afternoon. An attempt at a nap didn’t help. By 7PM I had the beginnings of a full blown migraine. It really sucked. I ended up in bed and couldn’t sleep or do anything. It just hurt to lie there. The up side was that I was at home. When I am at home with a bad migraine I try not to take any meds and ride it out with sleep. Probably not the smartest idea, but I don’t like to medicate. I do it without question when I am not at home, so when I am home I just don’t.

I slept like crap last night. I was up at 3AM. The headache mostly gone, but I could feel the remnants of it. I slept or stayed in bed till noon. I am up now, and actually awake. Kristen is supposed to be coming over for me to help her with a school project. If it wasn’t for that I probably would still be lying down. She is running late so I write…

Feels Like No Sleep

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I was up till 1:30 watching a movie last night. When I finally went to bed it felt like I didn’t sleep at all. My head is all fuzzy feeling. My throat hurts from the dry heat in my apartment, and I woke up like 5 times between 8 and now. I have no idea why. I am just glad I have no plans today since I feel like crap. Maybe a shower and lunch will clear my head?

Yet More Cleaning

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I thought my apartment cleaning was over last week, but I was wrong. I ended up spending most of the day today cleaning. I went through a ton of computer junk and threw out allot of stuff I would never need. Why I had 3 iomega internal zip drives (still in original electrostatic bags) I will never know. For some reason I collected 4 cd-rom drives, 3 floppy drives, and 3 zip drives. I also tossed a ton of other useless gear like 10 analog phone cables, etc.

Things are neater now. I just have 2 old computer case shells that I have to find a way to toss.

I also finished more rewiring at my desk. Now it is time to just lie on the couch and watch some movies.