Crawling into the 21st Century

You know, I used to be a huge techno-geek. I had to have the latest and greatest of everything. But a reversal of fortune caused me to have to be satisfied with sitting on the sidelines and watching most of the "digital age" pass me by. I feel lucky to have a computer and internet access.

But once in a while I'll splurge and get myself something that I really don't need, could live without, but purchase simply because "I just want it" (I don't get many "I just want its" anymore). (And no, buying sock yarn is not an "I want"--it's a necessity!)

This week two really cool things happened. I found a wonderful little program called Lathe that formats video for viewing on a Palm. I'm now able to carry around episodes of West Wing to watch whenever I want. How feakin' cool is that?

However, the very best thing was that this week I finally came into the wireless internet age. I have been dreaming of buying an Enfora wifi case for my T3 for a while now, but I put it off because there was always something else I needed and I really didn't need it, I just wanted it, it wasn't a necessity. There was always something else that I actually needed more, plus the fact that I didn't have a wifi network at home anyway.

The other day I went to the one website I knew carried them and found that they had been--DISCONTINUED!

OH NO!!!!

How could this be? Didn't they know that I wanted this case? This was a CATASTROPHE!

So I ran over to the Enfora site, and yes, they were still selling them. HALLELUJAH! What else could I do? I whipped out the debit card and bought one immediately.

And then developed a severe case of Buyer's Remorse.

I knew I didn't NEED this, but I really WANTED it. I don't really buy very many frivolous things for myself--I'm actually a little scared to go shopping any more, which is why I don't go out very often. Most of the time I buy things from the internet. The only time I really go splurge shopping is when I go yarn store hopping with Missy (she's an enabler, I tell you). But I convinced myself that this time it was okay to buy something fun.

Then I got the case and surrendered myself to the wifi god.

Wow, this is great! I can now surf the net and send email, read my blogs, and even stream radio from several stations. I'm also able to download podcasts directly to my Palm--how freakin' cool is that? It felt so good to be a "techno-geek" again.

But there was a problem. I have wifi access at work and around town, but I don't have wifi at home, and that's where I am most of the time. It's another one of those things that I really didn't need, since I didn't have anything to wifi with. But that had changed, so didn't I need to be able to use it at home to justify the cost?

I lasted 24 hours.

The next day I was off to Radio Shack for a router, where I had to argue with a salesman (I didn't know anything about how to install the damn thing, but I knew more than he did--geez), and then I went home to install my new toy.

It was really quite simple. I bought a Linksys router, and the installation disk walks you through all the steps. In no time I was off and running my own wifi network. How cool is that?

So now I'm happy. I can be in bed and read my blogs, send e-mail, and do all kinds of stuff. I can now sit on the sofa and put my feet up instead of having to sit at the desk. There are some differences in using a PDA and a regular computer, but it works really, really well. It's just about the coolest thing ever!

Now all I need are a couple of 1gb SD cards, and I'm all set.

As for the interview, it was pushed back until next Tuesday, so I'm trying not to obsess over it. Having all this new fun stuff to play with has helped a lot. It's an "it's okay to have something new and fun because this helps you forget that you have a really sucky life and need a new job" kinda thing.

And I really need a new job.