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Sunday, July 6, 2008

A Very Small Roar and Menu Plan Monday

Welcome to another Menu Plan Monday!

Those Mondays just keep rolling on in, don't they? lol

My menu plan largely pulls from items that have been on sale
the last couple of weeks, that are stocked in my freezer or pantry.

Here ya go!

Oh, and if you don't mind, 
would you PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE keep reading on down to the end
and drop me a comment with your advice?
I'd love to know what you think!
::::smooch::::: in advance!

Sunday: Baked whole grain tilapia, au gratin potatoes, pineapple.
Monday: Sausage and cheese deep dish quiche, blueberry muffins.
Tuesday: Meatloaf, garlic new potatoes, green beans.
Wednesday: IKEA meal: swedish meatballs, cream gravy, egg noodles, lingonberries.
Thursday: Leeann and Boys to Dutch Wonderland- Kate and Rob pulled pork sandwiches.
Friday: Cheddar and Bacon baked potatoes, fruit salad.
Saturday: Rotini with homemade sauce, broccoli.

For more great menu ideas, please visit Laura at Orgjunkie.com!
.................

I am coming to the conclusion this weekend
that I am a wimpy little woman.

An addicted, confused, whiney, wimpy woman.

Curious?
Yeah, I thought so.

On July 2, my laptop started doing some funny things.
The mouse cursor would pause and then catchupreallyfast
to everything I had typed while it sat there, blinking.

Then, I tried to play something on Youtube
and the computer would play it in fits and starts.

A couple of times, I admit I even smacked it.
Just to show it who's boss.

That night I shut it down properly
(after Rob and I watched COUNTLESS versions
of "Charlie Bit Me" while laughing our fool asses off)
and assumed when I got up in the morning, 
it would be right as rain.

I dreamed happy, worry free little dreams.

The next morning, I woke up 
and leaned lazily over and picked up my beloved laptop.

I turned it on and waited for it to start up.

It seemed to be taking a while
so I went to freshen up
and when I returned, 
a rogue screen was facing me.

It said something along the lines of :
Start up failed... DUMPING PHYSICAL MEMORY.

DUMPING PHYSICAL MEMORY???!!!!!

I began to make little whimpery screaming sounds in my throat
as I lunged for the keyboard. 
After failing to abort the process, I turned it off manually
and collapsed on the bed, breathing hard.

Surely, I had just turned it on wrong. 
I made a mistake. 
I'd turn it on again and everything would be fine.
Right?

WRONG.

I got the same screen, 
which caused, sadly, the same level of panic
as it had only moments earlier.

I called Rob and told him that my computer wasn't right.
We agreed that I would take it to Best Buy
and have it looked at by the Geek Squad.
They'd be able to fix it.
Right?

WRONG.

My hard drive is dead.
Kaput.
No longer my beloved.

Trust me, I would be far more hysterical 
if I hadn't backed up all my photos within a month or two ago.
I have TENS OF THOUSANDS of photos on my laptop.
Every photo that has been taken of the kids in the last three years.

Thank God I had realized it was getting "up there" in computer years
and a problem would happen sooner or later.
I am so grateful I backed it up!

So, here I sit, in a dilemma.
Do I get a new hard drive put in my notebook?
Do I just buy a new notebook since the computer is several years old?
If I buy new, what brand is good these days? Sony? Toshiba? HP?
Should I get a Macbook? 

I realize this isn't a need. 
It is a want. 
But it is a great, big want. 
I don't buy clothes for myself, or shoes, or books.
However, other than reading and an occasional TV show,
I love, love, love playing on the computer.

In my bed.
Under the covers.
All snug.
It's my "ME" time.

So, how to reconcile this with Dave Ramsey?
With our Baby Steps and our plan?

Just the other day, I deposited 900 dollars cash,
most of which I had earned myself.
That would pretty much cover a new laptop.

Or, it could be two car payments (almost.)
Or, it could be money toward our trip to the Outer Banks
in August.

So, here I sit,
at the desktop downstairs instead of in my cushy bed.

I'm not sure what to do.

Readers, I am asking your advice. 
What would YOU do?

10 comments:

nicrogers said...

I say buy a new computer. And I just did it recently and did some research and I will share with you what I learned.

Toshiba-stay away.(not really sure why, just that epinions, best buy and circuit city guys all said no to Toshiba.

HP- this is what I ended up getting. Mike had geeky computer friends recommend it and the guys at both cc and BB like them. My mother has one and loves it. Personally, it is OK. When it was a month old the power supply cord stopped working. Which is ridiculous since it was A MONTH OLD! and, keep in mind that I do not take my laptop anywhere. When I took it to circuit city, they said no proble, you can just leave it with us and we will send it to HP and in a few weeks, they will send it back fixed. Um, no! Second choice-you can order a new power supply and in a week or so, a new one will come and it will be all fixed. Um, no! So third choice,(after whining about finals) they gave me one of their power supplies. Bingo! Right answer. OK, so the other thing about HP is it has taht mouse pad thing and it is centered in the middle of the keyboard. But it is not centered in the middle of the space bar which is where it should be. So I found it difficult to get used to. Also, the mouse pad thing has a scroll bar on it and I am always accidentally hitting it which drives me crazy. The last problem is it has a button on the front that you can turn on and off for wireless. Well, in my opinion, why the hell do you need a button? I will tell you why, because if there is a wireless on/off button on the front of the damn machine, you will bump it occasionally and your wireless(internet connection) will go out and you will be frustrated and pissed off, until you figure out what the hell you did. Stupid! Other than those little issues, it is a nice machine especially for the money.

Sony-this is what I wanted but was talked out of it by just about everyone because they are supposedly overpriced for what you get.

Mac-well I know you love mac but from what understand there is very little difference between macs and regular windows machines because they both have almost identical operating systems. Also, macs are wayyyyyyy overpriced for what you are getting.

OK, there you go, My little old opinions. :)

Natalie said...

Get a new laptop, girl. You're like me--you don't spend a lot on yourself. You deserve it! Plus, I needed it for work.

I went through nightmares with my Dell laptop so when I needed to get one for work, I looked elsewhere. Check out Consumer Reports and other sites. Toshiba was highly rated when I was looking last fall. I ended up getting a Toshiba and I really like it. It does have a nice little bug--when it gets hot, it shuts off. But now, I don't leave it on all the time, like I used to, and the shut down problem has gone away. I know I need to followup and see why it was getting hot, but classic procrastination--it's fine now! I got mine at OfficeDepot. It was $699 and had a $200 rebate on it. I'm really pleased!

Eamonn has a Tosh that has been great for the last 4 years. That's practically ancient in the world of technology!

Lori ~ The Simple Life at Home said...

Ok, since the ladies above are more knowledgable about the different computers, I'm going to address the money issue. You know me, I'd totally buy it. But then that's why we are so far in debt that we had to move to Qatar!!! LOL!!!!!

But you and Rob have done an amazing job with your finances of late and I would say, if he agrees with it (since you are working this program as a team) to go for it. Laptops are pretty cheap these days and, like you said, it's your one thing that you really enjoy. I'm sure you can make that $$ up pretty soon in your savings.

Cindi said...

Buy the laptop, lol. You deserve it. Now if you hadn't been saving so much money...I'd say, postpone the purchase until you have saved enough to purchase it.

Good luck with your decision!

Anonymous said...

I vote for a new computer. And I realize that I am biased, but I say get a Mac. I disagree with the poster who thought they were overpriced. They are worth every penny. We have 3 Macs in our family. I have the G5 desktop and we have 2 MacBook Pro's. Love, love, love 'em. Good luck on your search!

Kristi said...

My sweetheart bought me a sony vaio and I love it. It is refurbished, so it was a lot cheaper than new but I certainly could not tell. So light. There is a new laptop on the market that is only $400. I has little memory, it's like a memory stick, you take it and plug it into your other computer and download all your stuff. It's small, lightweight, and convenient too.

Anonymous said...

Definitely get a new one. You can save some $$$ by getting a re-conditioned one (I know in Austin there are a couple of very reputable refurbishers who stand by their products) and add software and/or hardware as you want to/decide you need it. If you can run across an IBM Thinkpad T43 or higher for a good price, that's what I recommend. Otherwise, go with something like Sony. :D

Lanny said...

Get a new one.

Personally, I HATED my HP. It spent more time away from me than it did at my house actually working.

My latest is a Mac, and I LOVE it. I didn't find it to be overpriced at all (and remember my dh is as cheap as they come).

Sorry yours has seen its last day. Good luck with figuring out a new one!

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna throw in my vote for a new one too, although I have no opinion really on what brand to go with. It sounds like you've earned a new computer! :)

dkuroiwa said...

I wish I could jump into the computer advice-giving group, but...I have no clue about computers, really. Mine is one that has been built, re-built and then after my hard-drive went ka-put, not really sure what my "computer guru" did but it's working (knock on wood).
So...my advice...until you decide...fire up that margarita maker...at least make "decision making time" fun!!

and hey...congrats on getting your finances in a more workable place!!