Power Shopping

Date: Friday November 21, 2003
      I set off the fraud department at Morgan Stanley Wednesday - home of one of my credit cards.
      Hilarious! Normally I just drive Wells Fargo nuts - I power-shop!!!!!!
      Well - it was just under $7,000 at the Apple Store last Tuesday night.
      ---- G5 tower - dual 2Gig processor - 1 Gig Ram with flat screen and lots of updates to my software base - except Fireworks (I never use it) and Quark (I have to call them separately).
      --- G4 tower I already have (and now a battered 4 years of age) firewires to the G5 and will act as an external drive!!!!! Once they work out that bug (a drive firewired to the G5 it turns out, will be eaten by said G5 unless the right firmware is installed. They forgot to tell me that----)
      And Wednesday night it was just under $5,000 at Fry's
      --- 17" Toshiba PC laptop and its software (FrameMaker alone was $800)
      --- BEAUTIFUL SYSTEM!!!! Built in speakers --- 1 Gig Ram 2.4 GHz processor XP Pro Office Acrobat Visio (noisy as hell when loading a CD) (And when the fan comes on).
      --- I still need two new ergo keyboards and a table.
      Signed a contract at work Monday (actually last Friday) - same rate as before - PLX Technology in Sunnyvale - started Nov 17.
      PLX is about 2 blocks from Synopsys - so I went over today and had lunch with some people I know. PLX has a whole bunch of AMCC people at it.
      Never say that the high-tech industry is not incestuous.
      It also seems that Synopsys is still bleeding from the hip - another layoff had just occured.
      All this mad shopping is a tax write-off - the Job REQUIRED a PC!!! Seems PLX was audited - and the new government rules are the consultant wheels in their own PC daily. (Leaving it there could be a problem since it might develop "legs".)
      OK - I have one --- Almost as pretty as the G4 tower --- almost. (It IS pretty.)
      Along with what looks to be just under $10,000 or maybe just above it for the house down South - fire damage to the fences some repairs covered - some not. I had thought $20-30,000. Sigh! I escaped!
      I called the credit card people (who appeared to be hysterical) and laughed!!! Yep - it was me!!!!! Giggle giggle.
      Merry Christmas to me -------
      That should insure a nice tax refund!!!!!!!
      The refund will cover the systems I will bet --- we shall see. I've been out of work for nearly four months while I had been paying taxes at the same rate as if I would work the whole year. Yikes. Way too much money to Uncle Sam!
      I told my son - spent my first 6 weeks salary!
      Must submit story. Must write another one. Must learn PCI Express.
      Must behave.
      Who?
      Moi?
      Oh, OK, OK - Now I will be good.
      Ha!