Ubuntu.

As I have said before, I am not a Mac person.  I prefer the unpretentious easy usability of my PC.  I do not judge you for using a Mac, unless, of course, you start preaching at me from the Church of Steve Jobs.  I love my PC - my beautiful, sexy, amazing Dell.  She's hard not to love. --->

Before fate and AAFES Online brought us together, I spent the previous five years using Anna, my hard charging Toshiba laptop.  After two years of college and three years of being my family's home computer (including six months of TBS!), Anna was tired.  Really, really tired.  She was no longer quick with anything.  Even with an external hard drive to store all our TV shows and music, Anna was lagging.

So when Matt returned, and I had hooked up our wireless internet, Anna got shelved in favor of Matt's desert laptop (another Toshiba, of course).  No big deal, right?

Then, as Military members are wont to do, Matt had to leave the island for a while, taking his laptop with him.  And I realized I am not a one computer kind of girl.  I have my desktop upstairs, but what about when I am watching TV and I want to get a little more info on something?  I could not be expected to go all the way upstairs just to check it out.  What was I to DO??

Then, I remembered reading this article, about how to revive an old laptop with Ubuntu.  It's a completely free Linux based (don't ask me what that means) operating system.  All I had to do was burn it onto a CD (I used my desktop for this) and pop the CD in my laptop to try it out.  Ubuntu allows you to try the OS before fully loading it onto your computer.  It was in the trial mode that I found the new gaming love of my life - gbrainy.

Now, I haven't used my Ubuntu machine for much more than some web surfing and a little gbrainy playing, but I am really happy with it.   So basically, what I am saying is give it a try and if you're looking to speed up an old computer, it's worth a shot.

Fine. You win.

All right, all right. I'll write something real.

The Monday before Christmas, I started my new job. My new-job-that-is-really-my-old-job-just-in-a-new-center. It's great. And amazing. And happy and wonderful. The directors take responsibility for their actions. The caregivers do their job and don't gossip about each other (that I have to hear). And probably best of all, my co-secretary is awesome. She laughs. She's smart. She smiles a lot. And because of all that, I am the same. I don't wear my cranky pants anymore. And my brain feels stimulated from time to time, although I could be doing better on that front.

I finally ordered a new computer. It should be here any day. I have already received the speaker and I am just waiting for the CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse and, well, everything that isn't the speaker. When I get it, I will post loveliness and happy hearts.

I have been obsessing over Quentin Tarantino films lately. If you've ever met me (which most of you have) you know how it goes: for some reason, something goes off in my brain and suddenly I must know the whole story about an actor, a director, a talk show host, a TV show, and I cannot stop until this thirst is satiated. It's strange, but I'll be honest, enjoyable. Usually. Because usually I can easily find DVDs, footage, books, whatever on the subject. In Okinawa, I am not that lucky. The library is tiny. The video rental places are lame. My husband took Pulp Fiction to the desert with him (selfish!). I think the thing with Tarantino is that he is just so smart and so bizarre. I love smart and bizarre. Well, okay, I've probably worn out everyone's interest in that topic.

Wow. That's really about it.

P is PC.

Yes, I am going there.

I am a PC girl. There was a time, ages 5 - 11, when I was a Mac girl; I'll never forget my days playing The Dark Castle. But since then, I had developed a love for PCs. I liked them. They worked for me (well, okay, not the Compaq Presario 700, but that's a story for another time). They're unpretentious and I know the OS. What else do you need?

As most of you know, two weeks ago I purchased a new computer. It was fancy. It was beautiful. The screen was large and the picture was crisp. I liked Windows Vista. My music sounded great and my-oh-my, it even had a Blu-Ray drive. I loved my new computer dearly.



Well, apparently Queen Constance (yes, my technologies all have names) did not love me back. After five blue screens of death in ten days, I decided it was best if we parted ways. So I took her back to the store and they refunded my money. In cash. Now, all I have is an empty place in my heart where a new computer should be and $999. Cash.