(no subject)
Jul. 28th, 2004 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hopefulnebula*groans* Not only do I still feel like shit but I just got into a rather heated debate with my mother.
She seems to think that I'm better off buying a "cheapo new computer" in Kentucky and keeping it there, to save shipping. I've lost track of the number of times I've told her that I'm taking this one with me but she either doesn't remember or doesn't give a damn. She then suggested that we buy a PoS comp there and switch the hard drive out whenever I travel. If that doesn't completely defeat the purpose, I don't know what does. She tried appealing to me by saying that whenever I visited home, it'd be "four weeks out of the year when you don't have your computer." I can use theirs during that time.
She just does not get it. (She's also the one who made me take six disposable cameras to France because everybody knows they're "more convenient" than the digital camera we already own. I made it clear after returning that I'd take the digital camera with me next time I travelled and yet I still had to fight with her about that before London.) I know my computer will be a pain in the ass to ship (I'm just talking about the CPU; I don't care if we buy new peripherals there). But it beats all the alternatives.
She seems to think that I'm better off buying a "cheapo new computer" in Kentucky and keeping it there, to save shipping. I've lost track of the number of times I've told her that I'm taking this one with me but she either doesn't remember or doesn't give a damn. She then suggested that we buy a PoS comp there and switch the hard drive out whenever I travel. If that doesn't completely defeat the purpose, I don't know what does. She tried appealing to me by saying that whenever I visited home, it'd be "four weeks out of the year when you don't have your computer." I can use theirs during that time.
She just does not get it. (She's also the one who made me take six disposable cameras to France because everybody knows they're "more convenient" than the digital camera we already own. I made it clear after returning that I'd take the digital camera with me next time I travelled and yet I still had to fight with her about that before London.) I know my computer will be a pain in the ass to ship (I'm just talking about the CPU; I don't care if we buy new peripherals there). But it beats all the alternatives.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-28 07:20 pm (UTC)Parents
Date: 2004-07-28 09:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-28 11:23 pm (UTC)Sure, it wasn't my PC. But I had all my files on CD, I had a few of my favourite games... and at the end of the day, I was there to work, so I treated it like a new machine with its own purpose, and I got over it.
(Admittedly I only had a drive to contend with, and a relatively short one at that; I'm assuming you'll either rent a U-Haul or engage a long distance moving/freight contractor.)
I know we've talked at length about our common difficulties, princess, and at the risk of sounding rude - don't be anal about it, the computer is just a tool at the end of the day. Sure, you're comfy with the PC you have on your desk, it's familiar and comforting and a piece of home, but it could turn out to be the equivalent of breaking up toffee with a 14lb sledgehammer (it does the job but it's too big and bulky to be practical), or of lighting the barbecue with napalm (same result, but do you really need all the excess "power"?).
Cheap analogies aside, this is what you need to be thinking: Be focussed, be practical, be like me - be aware of why you're going to college and what your priorities are (internet research, essay writing, email, 72-hour Neverwinter Nights marathons -- uh, better forget that last one!).
Seriously. If you have very limited space in your room, a laptop is the way to go - you can just move it off your desk when you need to, and it's small enougn not to get in the way the rest of the time, rather than hogging the whole desk with a near-immovable object. As an added bonus, you can schlep it to the library, you can commute near anywhere with it (and it's useful if you're doing a creative writing elective and the weather's just too darn nice to sit inside!), and you don't have to trust the moving guys with it because it's small enough to keep with you all the way to college.
Important Safety Tip #2: cheapo computers are bad. Sure, laptops tend to have to go back to the manufacturer to fix, and even desktops have warranty procedures, but a little extra expenditure can save a lot of time chasing the service department of an unreliable company who cut corners on components. If your mom gives two hoots about your education, she'll get where I'm coming from here. (At the very minimum, get something good quality, like Toshiba or Sony, with a CD-RW drive. Avoid Dell like the plague, their after-sales service is worth precisely shit.)
You know, I think we're going to have to sit down and have a very long talk about a few things before you leave. Not in the strict "this is bad, do this, always listen to your professor" way, but... just shoot the breeze and pass on some useful advice. You know I'm just looking out for your best interests, right? (After all, I just can't wait to hear how you go on... we can compare notes!)
Oh yeah, and stay away from drunk hornball frat boys, unless it's legal to carry tasers in Kentucky ;-)
xG
no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 06:43 am (UTC)I love my Toshiba laptop. Only things I've ever had that were more reliable are my old Amiga 500 (now sadly deceased) and this PC, which I built myself.
The old adage is true... you really do get what you pay for. There's a reason some PCs are dirt cheap, and that reason is usually that they're using low-grade, low-cost, rebranded parts, and their assembly line are a bunch of illiterate illegal immigrants (or possibly on a good day, inbred yokels or hung-over frat boys trying to make beer money).
You know, the Dell Dude from the commercials got busted with pot last year... I wonder what he's doing now. Assembly line work, maybe, or boffing Ellen Feiss (the Apple "Switch!" stoner chick)...
no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 08:20 am (UTC)He's a jack ass.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 06:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 06:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 07:12 pm (UTC)- Charles, Four Weddings and a Funeral
;-)
no subject
Date: 2004-08-01 06:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-01 09:00 pm (UTC)But don't forget to insure it.