No, Really, I Am an American

So here I sit.

At my desk.

With my shiny new computer.

I don’t know how I feel about it yet, but so far, it smells new. Not exactly “new car smell”, but you know, new. When I was taking it out of the box, I thought I should keep it the hell away from Grant for some time, at least until I figure it out for myself. I absolutely envisioned him taking things apart and the like.

There are some things I didn’t know about Macs. For example, they really need to spell things out for people, and some part of me finds that just sad. There’s this one page in the user manual that goes over proper typing posture and how to hold your hands over the keyboard and stuff. I couldn’t help but think, “Really? You need to have a diagram for that?”

I also got an iPod Touch with my MacBook. I went to buy the new computer tonight since I knew my parents would be taking their walk at Woodfield (I still cringe at this fact) and Jason thought it was funny that we were all going. I told him I was buying a MacBook. He told me that if I didn’t want the iPod Touch, I should sell it to him. He also said I ought to go with the upgraded 16GB instead of the regular 8GB. I told him I’d think about it. (Heh, boys and their toys…)

When we got to the store, I showed my dad the stuff I was looking at. First the iPod Touch, then the MacBook. He did the math on the 16GB and proclaimed it a pretty good deal, so regardless of if I keep the iPod Touch, I went ahead and got that one anyway. (What do you want from me? I’m Asian! I desperately seek my family’s approval!)

There was a possibility that I wouldn’t get the educator’s discount ‘cuz I’m not teaching in America, but after the guy talked to his manager, they went ahead and gave it to me anyway. If I hadn’t gotten the discount, I would have gone with another computer, even though I could afford this one and the like. I also couldn’t help but shake my head at the fact that everyone thought I was buying it as a student. (And here I thought this haircut would make me look older.)

I was feelin’ pretty excited about my new toy. The second I got home, I promptly opened the box. (I was wishin’ I knew where Faith was ‘cuz my little Buck knife wasn’t really doing much for me. I ended up havin’ to get the scissors from the drawer.)

I decided that I wanted to sprawl out, and my room is a decent size, but it’s got a lot of stuff around. It was to the basement for me!

It took me a while to suss some things out, and yeah, I even had to break out the user manual — hence the discovery of the diagram. I didn’t want to do anything too much to the computer yet; Mark is gonna help me magic stuff over from John and make this guy Jean-Luc III (I’m thinking on calling him “Jack” which is a diminutive of “John”, but since it’s white, I also considered keeping it as a “John” but make it “Jon” after Jon Snow. Or possibly something to do with House Stark since their sigil is a grey direwolf on an ice-white field. Although, there is an apple on it, so maybe Fossaway even if the colors are all wrong. Or maybe Lothor Brune since there’s a bite taken out of the apple… It’s true. I am in love with A Song of Ice and Fire.)

Pretty much I just set up the wireless and nothing else. I didn’t install the DVD things that came with it either ‘cuz I figured I’d wait until I installed Office and do all that kind of stuff at once.

I shut down the computer not long after registering it and setting up the wireless. I was proud of myself for having some kind of restraint in that I didn’t play with it all night. I did want to write this post, though, so I pulled out the computer again but half an hour ago.

My brother was home by this point, and I think he and I had the longest conversation we’ve had all year. (For the record, it was like 10 minutes.)

So yeah, after two years and eight months of mulling over whether or not to buy a Macbook, I finally did it. I feel mildly frivolous about the iPod Touch though. I mean, really, I have a perfectly good iPod in Kaylee, and the thought of carrying around makes me nervous.

But it’s so shiny!!

I guess there’s gonna be a lot of playing with toys in the near future. And here I’m supposed to be packing or thinking about packing or organizing something or another. (Hey, for the record, I separated my hanging clothes to one side of the closet to establish them as ones I’m taking with me. It turns out I have sixteen respectable tops — nineteen counting turtlenecks — that I can use for teaching! And still, I know I need more clothes. How sad is that?)

All right. I’m about to hit that Publish button making this my first post on the MacBook.

Weird.