Black Friday Blues
November 27, 2010
In another twist of the unusual, I spent a few hours cruising through the Black Friday crowds on a few missions with D yesterday. I typically don’t Black Friday but as he’s guesting with us, I would have gone with him even if I didn’t have to buy anything and that would have been a lot less stressful. Instead, I was spending an obscene amount of money on a highly consumeristic day and not even getting any bargains out of it.
PiC had tried to purchase a netbook for me as a birthday gift a while back but I balked because I wanted something so lightweight that the price points were far too high. Rejecting the reality that I’d need a netbook for travel and especially for business travel when he’d not be around to help with my bags, I insisted that I could wait. After hauling my beloved mainstay Vaio to and from work for one day, getting left by five buses in the dark, cold and wet, and nearly having to walk 2.5 miles lugging the 7 pounds of computer in addition to the usual work stuff, though, I realized: I’m not that tough.
Pretend as I might that I can soldier on through anything, I had a highly unusual meltdown that night and boy oh boy, that was a wake up call. Meeting challenges is fine, but why on earth create more for yourself?
Unfortunately, I woke up very late in the game which left me scrambling. With a lot of browsing and some help from online friends (thanks @brokeinthecity!!) and having spent a mint on the computer itself, I still needed software.
I’m looking at the poor and poorer choices of buying Microsoft Office for Home and Business for at least $200, or going without on a business trip and hoping that I can get by using the free trial (opening it 25 times total in two weeks) will do.
I ended up forking over $250 for a family pack of 3 Home and Business key cards because that was the only package available at Costco – I was expecting to pay $170 for a single use license.
Today’s D-Day: do I open it up and install, hoping PiC can Craigslist the other two license keys? Or do I leave it pristine and hope I can get through the trip without actually needing it?
And do I spend time today searching for a lightweight waterproof tote because the one I ordered two weeks ago never showed up? Because I would really love to stop shopping, but letting my new computer possibly get drenched in the sudden downpours I’ve been warned about is beyond stupid.
Shopping meltdowns–ugh. I always carry something to eat. Also, I think they’re a sign that you need to get some rest! Don’t be so hard on yourself.
Pristine but take it with you, just in case.
So what did you do? You keeping it?
Try Open Office instead of Microsoft one. It is free (started as Office for Linux), does everything MS does (including saving files as .doc(x) or .xls and so on) – I HIGHLY recommend it!!!! I am not sure if I can include a link, but a quick search will get it to it.
I second the recommendation for OpenOffice!
http://download.openoffice.org/other.html
DH uses only unix software with his netbook, even though it came with microsoft software. The MS stuff is so SLOW on the netbook.
Ohh man that sounds rough! I would go with getting another tote now and then return the one you ordered if it ever gets to you. Even the cost of the new tote has to be smaller than the cost of replacing your machine if you get caught in the rain. As far as the lisc. stuff goes I would try to go without it. Bring it with you just incase but try not to open it and if you have to then Craigslist usually comes through 🙂 This is def a case of weighing opportunity costs and finding out where your competitive advantages lie. Good Luck!!