That Burning Smell is Me Thinking…

I bought another iBook.

This particular iBook is a G4 1 GHz, it is less than 3 years old and it is in excellent shape. The gentleman I bought it from said this machine has seen very light use and has been sitting on a shelf for three months. This computer is very clean and there is very little wear.

The journey that led me to buy this computer is kind of complicated. When I bought my first iBook, I couldn’t afford a G4 iBook, so I found a G3 iBook for $400 on eBay. It already had an Airport wireless card in it so all I needed was a memory upgrade and I was set. I also bought another G3 iBook for parts but I was able to fix it so I sold it to a friend. Then my iBook started having video problems so my friend, Darren, let me have his old G4 Titanium PowerBook that needed to be fixed.

So I fixed the PowerBook and is OK, except that it is slower than my G3 iBook, is a little too big for my taste and it also is pretty worn out. I also don’t like the trackpad and typing on it is awkward. To top off all these lovely attributes, all the ports are located on the back beneath the screen hinge so it is very difficult to plug anything into it. The iBook has the ports on the side which is very convenient.

Needless to say, I really missed my little iBook. So I started looking around for another one when I saw a little ad for an iBook on Craigslist. The description wasn’t too detailed, so I emailed the guy and 11 messages later he answered all my questions and we agreed on a price. I was very fortunate because I was not the first person to make an offer. All the other people who were interested in it were not able to make it to his house because there was a big snow storm that day. So I was the only one who was willing to go out into the snow to pick up this little iBook. I think it may have been divine intervention.

On top of all that goodness, I found out that I am getting a new battery for free thanks to Apple’s Battery Recall Program. Bonus!

Wow, snow is gently falling outside and it is really pretty. I moved to the living room so I can watch it as I type this. It gives me a good feeling to sit here next to the window in my warm house with my cozy PowerBook watching the flakes fall.

In other news, my internal clock is really flipped. I was sick a couple of weeks ago and right after I got sick, I quit my job. I was about to quit anyways, so I decided to quit then because was easier than calling in sick every day and then quitting.

So I stayed in bed for a week. I would get up to try to eat around noon and then go to the office at Belly Acres for a few hours because I was bored from laying around sick all day and night. I think I had a severe cold because I was hurting and sneezy and ran a fever.

So I have been struggling to get my internal back on track, but I am also challenged by my Romanian studies. I try to get up in the morning to study, but usually I end up studying at night and keep going until 3 or 4 in the morning. Then I wake up at 10 or 11 and study a bit more and then eat and go to the office in the afternoons.

Saturday I was struggling to find a place to study, so I decided to go to my favorite local coffee shop and study there. I get there and find a table and after I got settled in, I quickly downed my first cup of coffee. It was nice to enjoy something warm on a cold day (it was 8º outside) so I ordered a refill. I was able to get a lot of work done, I ordered another refill. Then I ordered an apple soda and kept working for a while and I decided to leave around 9.

I got home and I realized I was really wired. While I was working at Neiman Marcus, I would have two cups of coffee in the morning and two in the evening and have no trouble sleeping at night because I had built up a high tolerance for caffeine. When I got sick, I didn’t drink any coffee for over a week and I realize now that besides a diet Pepsi and a cup of coco each day, I haven’t been drinking too many caffeinated beverages. It is amazing how my tolerance fell so quickly.

I was up most of the night and I ended up sleeping all day. Now I am sitting here at 4 am and I haven’t been to bed yet. At least the snow is pretty.

The Ground Hog did not see his shadow the other day so we should have an early spring, right? So after the Bears loss yesterday, my tears were freezing before they hit the ground. It is friggin’ COLD! Everywhere it is cold except in my bed when it is time to get up in the morning. So I am struggling with my faith in spring right now, but I do believe in global warming, so I have assurance that the ground hog is right. He better not let me down!

Each day is 2 minutes longer than the last, so spring will be here soon.