Executor was my laptop, named after the SSD that Vader used as his flagship. How's that for geekitude? Only it took a header into the second Death Star on Monday morning and won't be coming back for the sequel (if there is, in fact, a sequel to be had). Luckily, the hard drive was fine and I was able to salvage my data. The data is more important to me than the laptop itself.
I was initially quite depressed, prior to learning that none of my work had been lost. With the knowledge that I don't have to rewrite anything (or re-rip my CD collection, for that matter), a weight was lifted from my heart. Except now, being without my laptop, I find myself at odds. No more can I constantly monitor Facebook, check my email every five minutes, or play WoW from the kitchen table. It is to this sorry state that I have been reduced.
The solution, potentially, lies in our old desktop computer. It's a Dell that we picked up shortly before our move to Virginia in 2007, so it's not exactly new. It'll likely do everything I was doing on my laptop, though, so long as it still works. We haven't plugged it in or booted it up since before we moved to Massachusetts in January. If it does work (and, really, I have no reason to believe it won't), I'll likely adopt it and start shopping for video cards.
I'll miss the portability of my laptop, no doubt. Being able to take it anywhere was a real treat. As I'm not freelancing any longer, that benefit isn't as important to me as it used to be. This brings with it a certain amount of sadness, too... I do miss the freelance work. After all, freelance checks often paid for my laptop upgrades.
Listen to me whine! Gods, I'm such a baby. I know everything is going to be fine, and I know that it's not the end of the world. I just expected my Super Star Destroyer to last more than a year and a half.
So, aside from the death of my laptop, what has been happening?
Stephen is in Kindergarten now. He's loving school. Loves his teacher, loves making crafts. He has a new best friend, which is awesome.
Maddy is getting bigger, and will eventually rival her brother in size. She has trouble finding things to do when he's at school, which leads to her getting into all sorts of trouble.
The new cat, Felix, has been fixed and is turning into a pretty good pet. I like kittens in theory, but I think that (in my middle age) I prefer mature cats more. They're less obnoxious and rowdy.
We've all been sick, incidentally. I firmly believe that we've been infected by a plague that Stephen acquired at school. Amy's had the worst of it, though I've been similarly stricken (though not to the extent that she has).
Thanksgiving is coming, and my mom will be here to celebrate with us. It's tough being so far from home around the holidays. The kids are pleased that they will be seeing Grandma very soon.
On the gaming front, I've retired Star Wars for a little while. The group was digging it, but I needed to take a break from blasters and lightsabers for a while. We rolled up some Warhammer Fantasy characters this past weekend. The current group includes an elf vagabond, a human performer (juggler/knife thrower), a human apprentice wizard, a human fisherman, and a human protagonist.
Up until Executor took an A-Wing to the bridge, I was playing a lot of Warcraft. The pre-Cataclysm event isn't all that impressive to me, but mostly I was working on leveling up a new character to play with folks I know at work. Now that the laptop is little better than a pile of refuse with a keyboard, I find that I miss WoW less than I expected to.
Work is awesome. Busy, but awesome. I am truly blessed with my job and my co-workers.
