Monday, January 25, 2021

Computers, Football and Remembrance - All Good

On Sunday I bit the bullet and ordered a new laptop. I'd been researching it for almost a month, as "Franken-Smaug" started getting harder and harder to turn on. My old Toshiba has served me well over several years, but my dragon is losing his fire. Before he totally died and turned to stone, I want to get the data moved to a new piece of equipment, so I had to get something in-hand. It came down to a choice between Lenovo and Dell, and I had two different windows open with a fully configured system ready to buy, and it came down to one thing. Which one could I get into my hands faster. Lenovo won. Dell, to do the machine I wanted, would have been up to seven weeks before I would have the computer. Lenovo will be able to ship MUCH faster than that. 




The Lenovo isn't 100% what I wanted, but it came 
in at less than $1500 once they applied various 
savings for me. I'm not fond of the Intel, but it's 
actually a version that tested very well. It's got 
the hard drive capacity I required, and a great 
processor. They can ship it later this week, so 
it's a total win/win. 



So, I ended up with a Lenovo Yoga 9i (14") in Shadow Black with a docking station (which might make transferring programs and data from "Franken-Smaug" to the new kid on the block much easier) and an aluminum laptop stand because I wanted it - LOL. I got a one-year family subscription to Microsoft, a two-year extended warranty, and Adobe Photoshop Elements which will eventually replace the old Adobe Photoshop that I run on my desktop computer. It was expensive, but it came in within budget, actually $500 below the top limit I had been willing to spend. I've already transferred the funds to my account, so I'm ready to pay the bill when it comes due. 




Superbowl 55 will feature Brady vs Mahomes and should be 
a good show. DH and I purchased ribs (already in the freezer) 
to make for Game Day, and I'm quite sure we'll have way 
too much to eat during the day. But, I'm really hoping it'll 
be a good game. All too often Super Bowl games are a 
disappointment. 



We spent the day watching football - the Tampa Bay/Green Bay game was excellent fun, the Kansas City/Buffalo game was a bit boring. Of course once the Wild ice hockey game started, we switched off from football and watched hockey until period breaks. DH does have his priorities - LOL. He was an EVIL person (in a very GOOD way) and wanted to clear the pantry from a lot of leftover baking materials from the holiday season. So he made me a 2/3 batch of Chex Mix which was my primary food yesterday (I'm so addicted to the stuff), and a big batch of "Everything Bars". My holiday weight will come right back on again - *sigh*. 




I absolutely LOVE Chex Mix. Maybe because I adore 
salty snacks. DH makes a killer version of the traditional 
snack, and he had cereal and stuff to use up from the 
Christmas batch. He was going to save it for Super Bowl, 
but figured we'd have enough stuff to eat for the game, 
so he made it on Saturday. I'll have it totally eaten by 
mid-week. 



Today we both have our semi-annual dental checkup appointments, mime as soon as they open the clinic, DH about two hours later. I'm knocking on fake wood, hoping that once again I get a clean bill of health from my dentist. I'm totally petrified of dental work, although clean-and-check has never been a problem for me. If I have to have Novocaine and actual work done, however, I'm petrified. My dentist can always tell if I haven't had all of the proper prep work done because I look like a rabbit frozen in the headlights. I'd rather avoid that if at all possible - LOL. \




The Egyptians believed that as long as a name was remembered, 
that person was never truly dead. Today I remember Helen 
and Arthur (Fiondil) and keep them alive in my thoughts. I 
miss them both. 



I'm also thinking about two people I never met in person, but whose friendship I cherished. Helen was a person I met in the beading boards on early AOL and Yahoo. She was a bright light person - kind, loving, talented and filled with joy. She passed many years ago, and I remember her with a piece of chocolate cake. Today, in 2015, a great friend in the Tolkien community passed - Arthur Boccaccio, aka Fiondil. We were in touch for several years and he gave me my name, Erulisse, a word appearing in his wonderful "War of the Valar" work. Many times I would text him with a quick question or a request and he was always helpful, kind and giving. I miss him and his words. 


On that note, I'm SO out of here. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. And please, remember to be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. The life you save may be your own! 




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