I’ve been in hiding (somewhat). The past two weeks have been hectic at work. Yesterday, the students had their last exam and I can finally breathe. 🙂 Oddly enough, my work has actually just begun because I’m preparing for the classes in the spring. Being the coordinator, I’ve got to take an inventory of our supplies and make sure that all is ready for the classes in the spring. I’m alive and kicking. lol. I’ve also been rather busy on the launch of my Jane Talks Tech! site so please bear with me.
Tag: work
Can’t understand the Vista loathing
Okay, let’s me just say this: I’m clearly a biased dyed-in-the-wool Microsoft user and I cannot fathom transitioning to Apple’s world. Nevertheless, I have used Macs and I will allow that they are definitely cuter than Microsoft’s offering. Still, I do think that their latest OS (operating system) stands head & shoulders above XP. I cannot get enough of how snappy my system is and I’m completely sold on their instant desktop search function. I no longer have to dig for programs or my files. I guess the difference between someone who would hate Vista and myself is the fact as much as spending hours troubleshooting can be frustrating, it’s incredible rewarding to me. With Vista SP1, I haven’t put in as many troubleshooting hours as I have put into my XP computer. I love Vista’s ability to self-diagnose issues and it gives me the feeling of complete control over my system. I don’t care that they ‘cribbed‘ some design elements of Macs. Heck, imitation is a form of flattery, no? 🙂 Anyhoo, I just wanted to add a consumer voice to the fray and tell Microsoft that I think Vista does rock. I am not a ‘regular’ user and yet not quite a ‘power user’. I do think the User Access Control needs to be toned down a bit because I can see how irritating it gets. I have it turned on right now, but for software installations, I tend to have it turned off because I know/trust the programs I install on my laptop. I love the improved version of Outlook 2007 so much so that I didn’t even bother installing Mozilla Thunderbird on my laptop. I don’t have any third-party media players (VLC, Creative MediaSource Player, etc) installed because Windows Media Player does a fabulous job of cataloging my modest music collection. Enough of my rant. I just wanted to say that I am really looking forward to their next version of the Windows Operating System dubbed “Windows 7“. My plan is to put this laptop through its paces and give its dead or dying body to Matt (lol. Kidding). I definitely see myself upgrading this laptop, but not anytime soon. I need to recover from the, ahem, financial mayhem. 🙂 There are a few issues with my laptop that are mostly cosmetic. For instance, my mouse cursor is really small and Vista has made it supremely easier to personalize your PC. So, right now, I changed the color to something other than white and made the cursor larger. I would like to give my cursor a special color so I’ll root around my PC and find that option.
Enough of my mini-rant. My weekend has been relaxing and just sleeping in. I did worry a little bit about work and things I needed to do, but I intend on making this week a highly productive one. I’ve got a supportive work place so there’s nothing stopping me. With that, cheers!
Feeling more positive
It’s amazing how things seem not to be a big deal anymore once viewed or experienced through the eyes of others. Apparently, my previous posts pertaining to financial matters seemed to be all “gloom and doom” which was far from my intent. After several exchanges with my esteemed father and loving husband, I think that they are right in several respects. So, I shall be talking finances amongst others, but with a positive twist. I don’t think I should delude myself as to the real state of affairs, however as much air time as I give to talking about the bad issues, I need to devote equal time to talk about the positive side of things! Like, having a husband who understands where I’m coming from and is doing his best to contribute positively to my life. He’s suffered the (hopefully) worst of my fixation of “aggressive” debt reduction. lol. It doesn’t mean I’m not going to be on my toes though. Still, I just need to not be obsessed about it. Financial freedom is achievable.
In other news, my sister’s wedding is coming up and we’ve been thinking of ways to contribute and the easiest would be sending some funds over. Now, Western Union has always been the way to go, but they are making a shitload of money and really shorting the receiver and the sender!! Here’s what they say: the current exchange rate which is set by them is 115 naira to 1 us dollar. On the black market, I’d hazard a guess and say it’s 130 naira to 1 us dollar. Do you see the first problem on how they steal money from senders by refusing to pay at the true rate? As if that’s not bad enough, they levy some steep fees on sending money i.e. say, for $600, you’ll be charged a $58 fee. It’s not hard to see that they could make a cool $120 per transfer! I shall pick me dad’s brain about this because I really want to not put money in some strangers’ pockets.
Life at the lab is going on as usual. I’m making moves and trying to make smart ones. My loved ones are coming to find out that I can be one heck of an impetuous and impatient young lady! I will confess to these vices and hopefully, put them in check. I just need to repeat my new year’s mantra: patience. With a capital P. lol. Anyhoo, I also need to get a better work-to-life balance. That’s funny considering certain other moves I am making that can’t be mentioned since googling my name brings up my blog first. In this case, I strongly feel I have the upper hand or at least, a bargaining chip to work with.
Here’s to positivity, career advancement and patience! Salut.