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Monday, March 10, 2008

DST Blues

I have a love/hate relationship with Daylight Savings Time. On the one hand, I love having that extra sunlight in the evening. It's especially nice in Minnesota when it's cold and snow is on the ground because it makes if feel as if summer is right around the corner.

On the other hand, my body is not adjusted and that hour makes a big difference. 9:30 the clock says, time to go to bed. 8:30 my body says, we're not sleepy yet. And then there's the morning. 4:30 the alarm clocks says. 3:30 my body disagrees, and tries to go back to sleep. It will take me a good two weeks to acclimate to this change and my body will be protesting every single day until it does.

My wish is that we pick one time--either DST or regular time--and stick with it year round. This bouncing back and forth is what's hard. Not to mention adjusting all the darn clocks. I only have two that set themselves, and the older DVD player is still insisting that it's regular time.
It doesn't help that I have an insanely huge number of things to do right now for the June release of In Twilight's Shadow. I seriously need a clone. Now. :-)

During a Woot-off a couple of weeks ago, I ordered a set of speakers that can be used with MP3 players, computers, cell phones, and other things with headset plugs. I received two for less than half the cost of one out on the web. The sound is a little tinny on the MP3 player, but it's really helping me on the laptop. I wanted to watch a You Tube preview for the Dead Like Me movie, but the sound was so soft, I couldn't hear it on the laptop's speakers. I could hear it, though, with the new speakers plugged in. It's still low, but audible.

And speaking of computers, the desktop is nearly unusable. This is a huge problem since my printer is hooked up to it, so after putting it off for several years, I'm left with no choice. The problem is that I still can't decide between Mac and PC.

Normally, I'm good at making decisions, but I keep waffling on this one. I spent some time this weekend going through the customization screens for PC and by the time I got finished, the price was in Mac territory. I also saw that PC is going to all in one like the Mac. That's all that was available at Sony and HP and Dell both had them as well. I also do not want to deal with the issues I'm hearing about Vista. The logical course of action seems to be to switch back to the Mac (This was my first computer).

What has me hesitating is all the peripherals I own. Will I have issues with them? Mac claims I shouldn't, even if they're labeled PC Only, but I'm still concerned. I know I'll have to get Parallels software to run WordPerfect--which I will never give up--but can I still buy XP to go with Parallels? Or am I stuck with Vista even here?

Upgrading isn't an issue because I've never upgraded my desktop PCs. I just keep buying new ones. ;-) And the big question: Will Mac play nice with my PC laptop? Even networking?

I think my problem might be an inability to make a commitment. LOL! This is a 6-8 year deal here (that's how often I buy new desktops). What if I make the wrong choice?