Last Monday after spending the weekend in Washington, D.C., for work, I eagerly began a conference call with a guy in Boston when I spilled coffee on my laptop computer. I didn't freak, it WAS an important call, so I just slowly dabbed up what I could and kept going. Afterward, I called my IT person who is the nicest, most nonjudgmental IT person I've ever met and explained what I had done. "Oh. Oh, my." That's how I knew I was screwed.
Per her advice, I unplugged the battery and all the keys, dried the board and waited. In the meantime, I went to Best Buy and bought a new computer.
I needed one anyway. My little Acer laptop wasn't really appropriate for every day work. I had bought it as a personal computer a couple of years ago, but converted it to full-time business use last year when we moved and I started consulting. Now that I've gotten a permanent gig working from home, I needed to upgrade to something bigger and better. The new computer is beautiful and gorgeous -- mostly the monitor, of course. It's huge. Bjorn convinced me to spend the extra $59 for the super big HD monitor which makes a difference. At first, it was almost too bright, but now I've sort of gotten used to it and I really love it!
So to bury the lead, I now have a permanent gig, working from home, traveling occasionally. It's a totally awesome set up doing a project I really like. The only downside of working from home is getting disconnected when I'm on my own all day so I've asked to be included in staff meetings and I'm making a point to stay in touch via phone instead of e-mail. The perk is I have no commute, except to take the kids to and from school really, which gives me a lot more time for the rest of my life. It's also incredibly flexible in terms of the kids. I am super excited that Andy can actually do swim club this summer. In prior years, I was always working so he could never really go. I do miss the energy that comes with an office though so I'm going to find some interesting coffee shops where people congregate just for the social aspect of getting out once in a while. I also found out a neighbor just took a job working from home three days a week so I will have a buddy on the block to become my work water cooler.
Fortunately, I've been able to get about 4/5 of the keyboard keys back on. Typing is a mess still as putting these keys back on is like rebuilding an antique clock -- lots of small pieces that have to be painstakingly put back together.
Congratulations on the new computer, the new job (or is it old job redefined?) and on swim club! You are going to LOVE swim team for Andy (and it is fun for you too, to get to visit with all the moms. One word of caution- there are a few moms on every swim team - in EVERY age group (even 6 and unders) who define competitive. Scary, crazy, insane competitive. Pushes their kids, pushes the other fast kids (I didn't have to partake in this as George didn't get fast until the end and it was too late for her to worry about it) and is generally a scary person. (seriously, a woman on our team went and scouted other teams. For 6 and unders? Another mom yelled at her kid in front of others- YOU are the fastest! YOU ARE! There is more that involved the scouter and her telling other moms on the A team relay- "you know, we could shave off some time if your kids would learn how to dive..." FYI, on that note, it looks painful to watch six and unders dive. Just get ready. Ow.
ReplyDeleteI used to just tell George to have fun and swim like a wild man. That way he could never disappoint me and just had fun. He LOVED it. I loved, loved, loved watching him struggle, get it and blossom, all on his own without me anywhere involved in the process.