60 GB External Hard drive

Well, I successfully registered for classes today with the new PAWS system for UW-Milwaukee. (Get it? UW-Milwaukee Panthers, panthers have paws...?? Yeah!) I was the first round of people to register, since honors college students have priority registration right up there with the atheletes here on full-ride scholarships. :)

I'm all good to go for 15 credits: Dynamics, Circuits, Thermodynamics, Engineering Statistics, and Engineering Economics. I was *thisclose* to signing up for Ballroom Dance I, but the class period got shifted back an hour on its scheduled Tuesdays/Thursdays, so I'm not sure if I'd still have ample time to get back to the apartment and shower/dress after working up a sweat in the class, before going to my Tuesdays/Thursdays night classes. I mean, it could work, I just wouldn't have much for study time. Eh well, I'll ask around with my buddies tomorrow, and if I find one that is real hard-pressed to take the course, I'll take it with them!

Besides, I've always wanted to know how to dance, even if just a smidgen, since I am about as coordinated as the late Christopher Reeve and his wheelchair. Seriously.


Mad props to my computer for holding up and helping me register! I had a big scare with it last week: it turns out that out of 33 GB hard drive space, I only had 2.98 GB of space left. Not even enough space to defragment, to create more space! Eeeek, that is barely enough to make it through next semester, I fear! Plus, my space bar is dead on the right side, the keys are hot all the time, and the fan has got to be a descendant of that found in a Boeing 747 prepping for takeoff. :)

I was actually in talks with my dad to buy a new laptop for me, while I still have my student discount, since this one here is 3 years old as it is. He agreed to get me a Mac, as long as he and I split the cost of it. I had one all priced out, a nice pearly white one. Oooooh.

However, Daddio hooked me up with a 60 GB external hard drive that County Rescue bought for him. Just like a few other prime time goodies that CRS bought for him but he doesn't use, he passed it along to yours truly! So I hooked that sucker up to my laptop last night, and I am pleased to say I am firing on all cylinders now!! My problems are solved. I have p-l-e-n-t-y of storage space for my computations, drafting, essays, and lab reports!

This means that I will be putting off buying the Mac for now, since I am so used to this here Dell and all the shortcuts I can pull off on it. (Ctrl + whatever, for example.) Although I like the Macs, I have to admit I am a little scared of how to figure one out, what with the one-button mice out there, and the "command" button. Plus all the separate instructions or difficulties that may arise from downloads online or documents my professors make, that may not be character-compatible with zee Mac, even WITH Macs running Windows now. (???) In a few months, the new Apple OS is coming out anyway. I feel I can squeeze more work out of my Dell, it has been pretty loyal to me as the primary computer and the whole family depends on it (namely: I manage the entire family's music stash and digital photos here). It's a friggin workhorse, and since I am at the peak of my work performance in my college career, I aim for efficiency...so I'm going to stick to the routines/equipment I am used to.

Besides, I am kinda sorta paying to go to the other side of the WORLD right now (yay!!!!), so if I can cut costs anywhere, I better do it.

Paying my dad $600 for my half of a laptop versus using his whopping 60 Gig-er for free......hmmm...

*weighs decisions with hands*


Sorry folks, I'm gonna have to stick to the freebie. The logic caters more to it for now.