Monday, September 3, 2007

Computers and Me

I use to have personal computers. Yes, computers. Not all at the same time.

My first one was an Atari 2600 (not sure about the numbers). I mainly brought it for the games and visions of learning basic. I still have this computer with it's peripherials.

The second one was an Apple IIfx. This was the largest expenditure I had after the mortgage. Several years later, my first car became the largest expenditure. The Apple is still in the family. My bro has it, and I think he has plans to take it apart after he finishes renovating the house.

At about the time I got the IIfx, my employer started giving me a portable computer so I can monitor and troubleshoot system problems after hours. It was the size of a portable Singer sewing machine. When the PC became more powerful, employer decided to give me one for home -- desktop with dot matrix printer.

When I became a consultant, my employer provided me with a laptop. Since I was on the road constantly, I did everything on the laptop -- work and personal stuff.

At some point, I did buy a desktop -- a Compaq Presario. I did not spend much time on it because of the laptop. Too much hassle moving stuff back and forth between the two machines. When my niece said she needed a pc, I gave it to her and brought myself a newer desktop -- Dell with the latest available processor. My oldest sister finally became a homeowner and needed a pc to do whatever. So I gave her the Dell. It was sitting in my home office gathering dust. I still had my work lappy. I heard through the grapevine that she may have passed this pc onto my niece cause the Compaq died.

Well, the work laptop was not feeling well last week and I sent it to Doc IT for fixing. The laptop came back.

I cannot run my IM software (Trillian) on the lappy. Darn employer has put a locked down on software they frown upon. So now I cannot talk to anyone via the lappy when I'm on the road The cheapest form of communication when you have an internet connection.

I'm loading back software slowly and hope there are no others that are being prohibited. It might come down to buying my own personal something again. Most likely a laptop, but I don't look forward to carry two laptops with me when I'm on the road.

Oh, well, gotta see what happens. Almost to the point I want to retire. If I only won the $330 million lottery.

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