Triumph.

So, in a fit of phone calls and activating little plastic objects and walking with the utmost in purpose, I hoped on the metro this morning and took the orange line to Clarendon. What's so special about Clarendon? The Apple Store. That's what!

After walking around like a fat kid in amazement in a candy store, I told one of the Apple folks that I wanted an iBook. I was trying my hardest to supress a smile of the brightest kind, but it just wasn't working. After five minutes or so, the man at the register came back with a big white box and a grey handle with this nice little face posted on the outside of it...the face of the iBook. I pulled out all the plastic I had to identify myself, and quickly made the purchase!

Folks, I have an iBook!

Okay, so the activity that's been occupying most of my time since getting it back to my dorm has been transferring all my files from my Thinkpad. That mostly consists of music. I set up file sharing with a Windows PC on the Mac and then started posting all the music from the Thinkpad to the Mac via the Thinkpad. So, actually, anybody on the school's network can have access to this computer. I'm almost done transferring everything.

The only thing left to do is install a few more applications like all the Microsoft Office 2003 stuff, and I have to find a Fortran compiler for the Mac. I know they're out there...just gotta find 'em!

But, I finally got the Mac. Now, I have to deal with the credit card bill. lol. Yeah, I made a pact with myself that a computer would be the other thing to go on that credit card and anything else would be paid for in cash. Charging little things like clothes, etc. is just so pointless--although I suspect I might be doing that a small period of time from now so that I can have some decent clothing for IBM. But, even then, there's a better way...just save money that isn't used for food and bills to buy clothes. With that in mind, that's a plan.

But, hoo-hooo! I got a Mac. And oh, the Apple Store was so fascinating. I felt like I had stepped over to California, you know, somewhere outside of Stanford. I was uber-laidback, but at the same time giddy with excitement over all the crap that was in there. It was a Macgeek's paradise. Powerbooks everywhere, iBooks everywhere, enough iPods to fuel one helluva party...and OH! I saw the 30" screen with the DVI hookup. That thing was so fcuking huge. It was clearly not for somebody that does random stuff like typing papers and writing programs, i.e. not me. I don't need a screen that damn big--I promise I don't. I know of some folks that might (no, not personally), but I'm sure they exist. Hell, one of these days, I'm going to really get a deeply expensive Mac setup. For right now, I'll start slow, however.

Comments?

I really like the feel of this keyboard. It reminds me of the Thinkpad's keyboard, but it's not exactly so slippery like that one. The keys are very responsive. The only thing I'm slightly annoyed with, however, is how loud the clicking sound on the touchpad is. I'll get over it, but Apple can stand to smooth that out. Battery life? Long. Nearly six hours. That's a car ride home from DC to NC if I don't blast music the entire way.

There's still a few features I haven't really made use of just yet. I haven't burned a CD yet, haven't checked out the Firewire and USB ports, haven't tried to hook it up to an external display, and haven't used it in complete darkness. I've been focusing more on the software side of it.

Hahaha, ooooh. Speaking of software, I wrote some on this thing in Apple's Xcode. Xcode is absolutely the best developer suite out there. I'll be using a lot more of it in years to come. I'm so happy. I can't wait to go sit somewhere in public with this. lol.

I wonder what my mom is gonna say. Hopefully nothing at all. It's my computer! I'm gonna make the payments! I promise! lol. I'm calculating that for the price I paid for this, the payments shouldn't be anything more than $50 or so a month. If they're even that much, I'm going to pay more. I said I was going to work toward actively paying down this balance. So, I'll commit at least $75 toward each month on what I'm making right now as a TA.

lol. Being a TA is one of the most hilarious jobs you can have on a university campus. I take it seriously, but you can't take it too seriously or else you won't have fun and may not be able to inspire folks who...need it. I try to be light-hearted about everything that's going on in the class--everything from the scary test scores from half the class to the folks that have only turned in one assignment the entire semester to people that I've never even seen before who somehow know exactly when to show up for tests. It's all just a huge game to some folks. I started letting folks do things over again when I realized the problem with a few of them is that they were just afraid to ask for help.

It's pretty obvious that a few people will get A's if they keep up with their current work trend and don't crap out when they come back from Spring Break. Other folks...ahh.

Speaking of Spring Break, I'm looking forward to sitting around the house, relaxing, and hopefully going to Georgia. After the Christmas Break visit down there, I'm convinced I might still need to consider going to Georgia Tech or something. lol. The hilarity of smelling weed on your aunt and uncle while the whole family bops their head to "Let's get blown" is just too much for me.

Alas, I still have class and things to do for today. With any amount of luck, some professors won't show up. Let's hope Coulomb is one of them. ;) Don't need that kind of send-off. lol.