Summer Travel Map

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Christmas in March?

March 28, 2009
Peoria, AZ

This is the time of year that we end up buying all the stuff we've had "on the list" for the last year. Since one of my pensions is paid in annual installments through 2010, it ends up being easier to accumulate the list of "nice to have" and "need to do sometime soon" items and make sure we get everything we need all at once. This is especially important this year, as we don't want to be out in the Alaskan wilderness and have something go bad on us. That's the rationale anyway, and it's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So, we've upgraded our laptops and cell phones, my iPod, and the DVD player for the coach. Interestingly enough, all that cost just about as much as my "old" laptop alone did in mid-2005. Both of our computers were from 2005, as was my phone. The iPod was even older. These will last us until 2012 or beyond, and much of the old stuff won't be completely retired or disposed of. My old laptop will have a new home on the dash of the coach as a navigation aid and engine monitor, and we'll bring the old phones and Geri's PC tucked away in storage "just in case". My old iPod will continue to live on in the Bose dock in the living room.

Of course, upgrading is always a pain. Simply installing all the software is bad enough, then you get to deal with all the updates that have been done online, and then there's the stuff that is too old to run on the new hardware/Vista. And there's the issue of learning to use the new touch-screen phones. We never realized we had such fat fingers!

Anyway, we've pretty much gotten everything we need, although we're still waiting for some things that are coming UPS (plus some weather gear we'll need for our summer trip). Now, all I need to do it get everything installed and copied, and backed up!

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