No Alternative

So it was "Tax Free" weekend here in Virginia.
It didn't come at the most opportune time, as I didn't have a lot of spare cash lying around to go on a spending spree, but I did pick up a couple of things, including a portable 1 TB external hard drive, and a portable charging device that can charge laptops and cell phones.
Though less expensive than the other two things, I also picked up one of those neoprene laptop sleeves.
Why? I'll get to that.
In talking about my plans for the Baltimore Comic-Con, Dan had asked me if I had any sort of portfolio of my work. Seeing as how it's very rare that I do anything with traditional media, I certainly don't have any sort of physical portfolio. I suppose I could print some things out, but ink is pricey. I responded, "Well, there's my phone."
Knowing that I'm not an Apple fanboy, he decided to get in a little jab and said, "An iPad would be perfect for that."
I said, "Well, I suppose I could use my iPod." I didn't really like the idea - it's not that much bigger than my phone, and loading pictures onto it is kind of a hassle. I supposed that I could simply use the free WiFi at the Con - assuming there is free WiFi - and access some of my stuff onlinje via Picasaweb or Photoshop.com, but I'd prefer having local copies on hand.
"Isn't your laptop a tablet? Just bring that."
I was planning to bring the laptop along for the trip, of course, but I didn't really care for the idea of lugging it around the con.
I hated to admit it - and didn't admit it to him - but an iPad would be good for that (though I'd face the same hassles when it comes to loading pictures onto it).
And it was Tax Free weekend...
But no; I couln't bring myself to consider it.
So I did some searching online for iPad alternatives. I found one that would be perfect; a full-on Windows 7 PC in a small slate factor from Archos, the company that made the first (and second) MP3 player I had before I switched to the iPod (not because of any actual superiority - both of the Archos devices I had were great - but simply because I wanted something a little smaller).
Sadly, every review I saw of the device said that it sucked.
They had some other, similar products available - though neither of them was a full-on PC - but they had problems of their own.
Then I found a similar product from another company that looked great, and had gotten glowing reviews.
Unfortunately, it's not actually on the market yet.
I thought about it and realized that my laptop really isn't that heavy - and besides, I have been working out - and that the real problem would be carrying around my laptop bag.
Therefore I decided to just pick up one of those laptop sleeves, which would protect it while I carried it in my tote bag.
With one problem solved, I had to solve another: my laptop's been kind of wonky lately, being in need of a fresh install of Windows 7 to clear out all of the accumulated junk.
So that's what I've spent most of today doing.
It's pretty much back up to speed now, but there a few more adjustments that need to be made and applications that need to be installed.

Shameless Self-Promotion Department:
Early last week I learned that my promotion had finally gone through. It went into effect this past Friday. There's a substantial increase in salary and in my bonus amount - though not as substantial as I'd like as far as the salary portion - and, of course, a change in title.
Now I'm Senior Whatever-The-Hell-My-Job-Is.

The Joy Of Consumerism

When I moved to Virginia from Tucson, I didn’t have much furniture to speak of.
Apart from my dining room table and chairs, I had a bed, which I hated, a coffee table that my dad had found by a dumpster, an end table/lamp combo thing, and a sleeper sofa.
I had bought the sofa for $25 from some friends of my parents who needed to get rid of it. I didn’t much care for it, but for $25 I couldn’t really pass it up, especially when it was a sleeper, and, until my parents went back to Michigan and gave me their bed (with the intention of buying themselves a new one when they returned to Tucson the next year; they also hated that bed), it was all I had to sleep on.
As an aside, shortly after selling me that sofa, my parents’ friends started acting very strange towards them, and eventually they sort of drifted apart. We never knew if the two events were connected, but the timing was odd, and there was no other apparent cause for their weirdness towards my mom and dad.
In any case, while I replaced the despised bed a couple of years ago, the sofa hasn’t gone anywhere and has sort of come to fill the hatred void that was left when I got rid of my old bed.
Why do I hate it? Well, for one thing, it weighs a ton. For another, it’s got this ugly Southwestern-inspired pattern that I don’t much care for. Also, the cushions constantly slide out, and though I’ve thrown a slipcover on it to mask the ugly pattern, it does more slipping than covering.
Apart from a chair that Kathleen dumped on me a while back that I also don’t like and that doesn’t really fit in with the current arrangement in the living room and provides a lousy viewing angle for watching TV, the sofa pretty much provides the only seating.
Not that it really matters, as I seldom have company, and when Scott’s over we just each pick an end.
Still, I hate the sofa, and would like more furniture, so when I saw that the Room Store was offering no payments and no interest until 2010 this weekend I decided to check it out.
I found a set that has the same name as the street I live on, so I took that as a sign.
It was a five-piece set – reclining sofa, reclining loveseat, two end tables, and a cocktail table – but I added a matching recliner. Now I’ll have way more seating than I need, but it’ll look nicer than the rather Spartan design I currently have, and having a recliner will be a plus.
Here’s a blurry cell phone picture of the set:



You can’t really see the end tables, but they basically look like smaller, rounder versions of the cocktail table.
The recliner isn’t in stock, so, because I wanted to get everything delivered at once, it won’t actually be delivered until the 20th.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the old sofa. On the one hand, I hate it, and am inclined to just haul it out to the curb, but on the other, the fact that it’s a sleeper could make it useful in the other guest bedroom. Not that I have guests.
And of course hauling it up the stairs would be a colossal pain in the ass, so I think it’s bound for the curb.
Other than that, I went grocery shopping.
So that was my excitement for the day.