Mostly Alive, Nearly Kicking

I am not dead! I felt as if I was, but alas, am not. I was going through a rough personal time including, but not limited to, death in the family. I’m still trying to get through it and I realize now that had I been regularly clearing out my mind here, I might feel better.

I’ll moving to a new site within the next few days and will be posting much more often.

Despite the bad, a few good things have happened since my last entry:

1) I went to see The Phantom of the Opera when the tour came to Seattle. It was a-effing-mazing and worth every penny of the exorbinant amount I spent on my four row-center tickets. Despite the fact I totally couldn’t afford them.

2) I took a day trip to Bellingham with my friend who was catching the ferry to Alaska.

I loved it, particularly Fairhaven. It was pouring down rain when we arrived by train and the first thing we see is a fish and chip shop being run out of a double-decker bus with a gazebo on the side for indoor dining. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen at that point. We were there for over half an hour and yet our food managed to be burn-your-mouth hot the entire time.

Click on image to go to source.

It’s particularly good that I loved it because I’ll be moving up there when I transfer to Western Washington University for their elementary education program.

I want to get my master’s degree in Library and Information Science (an MLIS) so I want to get my teaching qualifications as an undergraduate while still being able to double major. The education program before the double major is a five and a half year program. Adding in another concentration to that might add a considerable amount of time, but I’m hoping to plan it well.

3) My friend and I have resolved to travel through Europe for three months in 2009, unless one of us wins the lottery in which case we’re replacing the words ‘Europe’ and ‘three months’ with ‘the world’ and ‘forever’. Likely from September to December. I’ve done the math on what I need to save (plus what I was saving for my formal education, but am now deciding to blow on travel–a different sort of education, but arguably of equal importance) so I’m in the process of trying to find an additional job or two that pays the same or better than my current job.

Things on the Brain: Zombies (and Other Stuff)

I’ve been thinking about two things a lot lately.

Number one is I need to get another job. Preferably two more.

In early October I decided to drop my classes at Seattle Central–where I was attending until I transfer to an in-state university due to money–to take care of my mother and earn money for tuition.

Right now I’m just delivering newspapers which, quite frankly, pays shit. I have limited work experience because I was focusing on school and my family before, but now I need a few part-time jobs. The next couple weeks will consist of me applying everywhere that happens to be hiring.

I’m hoping to get one with medical, dental, and optical insurance because I definitely need all three. The fact that I could get really sick at any moment and be totally screwed without insurance scares the hell out of me. Who thought universal health care was a bad idea again?

I’ve also been thinking about zombie attacks and how to escape when one inevitably happens. I have a mental list of things to keep in mind when zombies attack (though a lot of points could go for Maoist rebels or something as well as zombies). Perhaps I’ll make how to guide out of it soon.

Excuse Me, I’m Off to Mourn the Loss of My Baby

On Monday, for the first time ever since I got my sexy MacBook Pro a year and a half ago, I drank something next to it. I didn’t even think of it. I was sick as hell, my head felt cloudy, I couldn’t breathe, and I just needed some sort of beverage.

Said beverage turned out to me milk.

Milk that turned out to be very bad for my computer. Particularly when I didn’t turn it off right away because my cold-medicine-induced stupor made me, well, rather effing stupid. I’m not even computer illiterate. I just wasn’t thinking.

Very, very, very expensive mistake. Expensive mistake that made me cry. Very expensive mistake that made my keyboard act as if it was possessed by Samara¹.

My dad fixes computers for a living. Spilling milk on it voided my warranty anyway (any problems it has can be blamed on aforementioned evil milk) so he popped it open, cleaned it out, cleaned under the trackpad, tried everything.

Keyboard is fried, trackpad is done for, has massive start-up issues (hit the button, wait for a minute before it makes any indication it’s going to start up at all — and sometimes it doesn’t start up at all) and won’t stay in sleep mode properly.

So today I go to the Apple Store at the mall because 1) I need an external keyboard² for now and 2) I’m applying for a job at another store in the mall. I asked for a quote on what a repair would cost.

Turns out said repair would cost about $1,200 USD. When I could just get a brand new iMac or MacBook with 2 GB of RAM, 2.16 GHz processor, and 160 GB of space (as opposed to my current 1 GB of RAM, 2.0 GHz processor, and 100 GB of space) with about the same amount of money with my student discount.

The thought of spending that much money on an item after only a year and a half of having my MacBook Pro makes me want to cry even more. I was planning on having this computer for several more years. I love this computer–I don’t want a new one! This one is the perfect size, sleek, sexy, and exactly what I need. But I’m definitely not putting up the cash for a brand new one either. I’ll live with a new MacBook despite my dislike of glossy screens, assuming I get this job. I’m probably going to wait until Leopard comes out to buy it to save myself US$119 (again, with student discount).

Hey, whatever computer I get it will always be better than what I had before my current love–a third-hand 400 MHz Dell laptop with broken hinges, 256 MB of RAM, and a 20 GB hard drive that only ran when I got it into the mood.

1. Well, perhaps not as much as that one time on a very, very old Dell laptop I had where I was typing and then everything was inserted backwards (siht ekil tsuj) and my then-girlfriend did not help with my fear that I was going to die in seven days. Have I ever mentioned that I went to a Christian summer camp where part of The Ring was filmed? And I’ve been in the cabin? ↩
2. Turns out it’s very difficult to do anything on your computer when 1) you cannot type and 2) it’s in various naked pieces. ↩

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