Who Let The Dawgs Out

Now that summer is officially here -- or at least it has smelled like it is in New York this past week -- there's lots of fun and frolic to be had by all. However, despite that, I'm still bouncing around like a pinball trying to handle everything on my plate work-wise while prepping for the next few weeks, which brings deadlines and some other specific things that need to get done ASAP, as well as Kaia coming in.

Among other things, I'm dealing with a few deals -- big ones -- all of which need to be finished ASAFP. And on top of that, the looming deadline of June 15th -- which also happens to be Father's Day -- is coming up quick. With all due respect to The Rolling Stones, time is anything but on my side.

We finally received the Lenovo ThinkPad. However, as I indicated at some point earlier, Microsoft's decision to phase out XP really wound up being a shitty side factor in our purchase. Assuming you've seen the recent Apple ads knocking Vista (there have been several but the best of them are the one where the actor portraying a PC says "I'm running Vista and I've been error-free for a week." And he keeps repeating it. It's funny but the thing is, my limited experience with Vista doesn't suggest it's buggy, riddled with problems or shitty; it's actually none of those things. The main problem with Vista is that a) it looks a lot cleaner and nicer than XP and that means it's slower and requires more resources to do so. It's sort of like the difference between a Toyota and a Lexus; one's nicer than the other but the nicer one, invariably, will burn more gas because it's heavier and softer around the edges. The other problem is that since I'm so used to XP's interface and comfortable with getting around the old-school way, having to re-learn everything -- and seeing how there are more layers to navigate to do so -- isn't enthralling. If I had a dummy system and could just tinker with Vista for awhile that would be fine; but these days, there's no time to waste and every moment in front of a computer has to have some intrinsic, productive value (aside from the commission of these posts).

In either case, the solution that Microsoft -- and Lenovo (and Dell, Gateway, Samsung, Sony, etc.) offer is a retrograde disc (or package thereof) which allow people who don't want (or cannot use) Vista to go retrofit their new machine(s) with Windows XP Pro. It's actually a reasonably decent solution: you get a new machine with Vista; you run a program on the computer that allows you to back everything up (and in Lenovo's case, everything is backed up and can be instantly recalled by pressing a blue button on the keyboard -- pretty sweet); and then you run the "retrograde" utility and a couple hours later you have Windows XP Pro. Done.

Problem is, because the policy is in effect for June 1, the shit's been hitting the fan and companies have been left scrambling for cover and to address and re-dress their policies and how they will sell their stuff to consumers like individuals, small business and other miscellaneous entities other companies who employ more people than China has people. Essentially, we got our machine, they gave us a credit for a price drop, everything's good and now all we need to do is prep it, get it set up on our network and go forth.

As of next week (or the week thereafter, more likely) our consultant will be coming in to get us our data. At the same time he'll likely do what he has to do to get the notebook configured for the proprietary software we use, and once that happens I'm off and running. Being that I've archived software for the last ten years, it's a pain in the ass waiting for someone else -- and, more importantly, their schedule -- to conform with mine in order to get started. At the very least, however, the old desktop is still somewhat functional and can do -- slowly and painfully -- everything I need done.

Ah, but this is boring...who cares about business data- and machine-migration? Unless you're a PC geek, I'll assume you don't. Overall, everything beyond the PC and work angles are peachy and moving forward quickly. I've spent the past few days getting the place ready for Kaia coming in, so between laundry, organizing, throwing stuff away, getting laundry and cleaning together and work, I've been pretty damn busy.

Hopefully that 'splains the absence thus far, but I'm expecting to be swinging by here sometime this coming week. Between Kaia's apartment search and getting everything done workwise, I'll be busy, but I'll be back for more juicy updates (okay, for more daily dish on the boring minutae of my life).

Until then, enjoy...