Bought a Dell M1330!

Since 1996 the computer I’ve worked has been notebook sized. I have always loved the portability of notebook computers although their weight hasn’t exactly cooperated with my desire for portability.

1996 – 2001 I owned a Micron notebook which weighed about 8 pounds, about as much as my son when he was born.

2001 – 2004 I owned a Sony Vaio ultralight which was a tiny little thing that weighed around four pounds. I loved the Vaio not only because it was so light; it was also small in dimensions and very stylish with a grey metallic powder coat and lavender trim.

Eventually, however, the Vaio’s processing speed and limited hard drive (3 Gigs) began showing its age. In addition, the battery no longer kept a charge and the powder coat on the bottom right side of the key pad began to blister and peel.

Although I loved the Vaio, I was disenchanted with the tradeoff between portability and performance so I tried buying a ultralight from Dell. At the time their smallest, lightest computer was the Inspiron 300m. First thing was the size. Even though it was relatively small and light it still dwarfed the Vaio and was considerably heavier. Problem #2 was the flimsy keyboard. Every time I traveled with the 300m individual keys would loosen and I’d have to push them back into place.

Eventually a couple keys just fell off and couldn’t be replaced because the underlying metal frame had gotten bent out of shape. Another annoyance was the way the printed legend for the cap lock, number lock, and so forth began rubbing off almost immediately. And of course the “E” on the E key has more or less rubbed off.

In 2006 I began doing more recordings and creating mp3 files and the 30 gig hard drive actually filled up.

So in 2007 now, I was once again faced with the same dilemma as in 2004: do I buy a sexy little Vaio or a different brand. In addition to the Vaio, I also looked very seriously at Lenova’s ultralight thinkpad. It turned out that Dell had just announced a new ultralight, the XPS m1330 which is not only thin and light but has very high processing speed, 2 gig of memory and a 120 hard drive. So that’s what I ended up buying.

Alas, the m1330’s are new and there is a one-month lead time between ordering and shipping so I anxiously await the new notebook. My waiting is all the more difficult because Microsoft Word 2000 has stopped running. I’m not sure why. Has something to do with a defrag program I bought which probably screwed up a setting on my registry.

Still, I do all my word processing using Microsoft Word. I loaded Word Perfect hoping to use it as a substitute until the new computer arrived but it’s interface is so incredibly different from Word’s that it hasn’t been an easy transition.

Mouse on a Wheel in My Brain Syndrome

Why this blog?

Because I’m not having enough fun in my life and it’s becoming a problem.

I never thought not having enough fun could be a problem. I thought fun was like dessert after you ate all the stuff that was good for you but not particularly enjoyable to eat. Fun was optional and had to be earned.

But I think I got it backwards or sideways.

I’ve had my own business for just about two years now and I’ve noticed that even though my business is doing better than ever, I still wake up in the morning and I feel tired, and drained. I don’t get out of bed looking forward to the day. More often I feel anxious and a sense of dread. And I started a business to get away from those feelings that I associated with the corporate world.

What was wrong with this picture?

My business wasn’t nourishing my heart and soul. Not the way I thought it was supposed to. My original belief has been that if my business is successful (meaning people are calling me, I have some money in the bank, and I’m getting the results I want) my heart will feel full. But that hasn’t happened. In fact the more money I earn the more worried I become about spending it! Freaky.

So, I’ve decided that I needed to go back into old territories, some of which I haven’t been in since I was a kid, and rediscover what lightens me up. Are there things I can experience that will make me wake up in the morning feeling like I can’t wait to get out of bed?

And, if I find those things, what will it do to me and how I feel about my business?

Stay tuned and find out.