Tuesday
Adam, my brother, called me this morning. He’s leaving in a few days to start his freshman year at Oklahoma State. He’s been talking about wanting a laptop for about a year; they are getting one tomorrow or Thursday. What I got, after “Hello,” was basically: “I need to know what laptop to get.”

::: braincramp :::

I love my family, both sides (Mom’s and Dad’s). But, I am the only technomancer in the bunch. Thus, I get questions like this quite a bit. This also makes trips home ‘fun,’ because I get to:

  • Answer all tech questions,
  • Fix (or try to) the computers,
  • Recommend upgrades,
  • Install said upgrades (IF they take my advice and buy them),
  • Try to convince them of the benefits of buying Item X,
  • And so on… and so on… and so on.

So…. I got to explain to Adam (and Dad) why I can’t just spit out a name “just like that.” I told them that I’d look into it and get back to them after I got in from work. They said that would be fine… of course, there weren’t many options to the contrary if they wanted my input. *shrug* Dad also asked about purchasing tickets for their trip online. I gave him my 2¢ worth and suggested a few sites for him to check for the best fares.

Work. Typical day. Not much to report there.

Came home. Dad called both about the laptop and their travel arrangements to OSU. There was ‘something’ about the site that Adam didn’t grok, so they decided to wait until I got home and then ask me to do it. I did. Then I told Dad the quoted fare. (Note: I also did this a few weeks ago, but they didn’t get them then. Unless you’re a semi-regular traveller, you’d be surprised by the differences in price. I wasn’t. Dad was.) I found him a better fare on another site. Much better.

I also gave them the laptop info. Adam had looked at one today; he wrote down the basic specs, but didn’t get the model number.

::: braincramp :::

It turns out that one of the systems that I looked at was the same one that he had seen. Then I had to explain why they are more expensive than desktops and the reasons not to try and go for the most inexpensive one that you could find. And again, they said that it would be fine.

I [heart] my family. I do; but that doesn’t stop me from finding them amusing at times… and they find some of my antics questionable/amusing, too. So, it all balances out in the end.

NPR/PRI
Talk of the Nation: Women’s Health Series (Part III): Auto-immune Diseases
All Things Considered: Korean Airliner That Was Almost Shot Down on 11 Sept
All Things Considered: Turkmenistan’s President (You’ve GOT to hear this.)
All Things Considered: Housing First: ‘For Teen Moms, Just a Start’
All Things Considered: ‘Drought Patrol’ in Denver, CO
All Things Considered: Dog Ranch
The World: Steve Coogan and 24 Hour Party People

Oh, yeah…
I played EverCrack EverQuest tonight. And I didn’t die!

The End.

Peace.