It's like Christmas, but none of the presents are for you

It's that time of year when lots of people order new IT stuff in work, and it's a lot of hassle getting all the equipment in, setting it up and installing it. Like the title says, it's like Christmas, but none of the presents are for you. Today it was laptops, CAD workstations and lots of TFT monitors. Oh, how the users cooed in delight as the shiny toy was unpacked and set up on their desk. And how quickly they'll get bored and say it's too slow. Or break it. Meanwhile the old, shabby machines were piled up on one side, their fate uncertain.

It's new computer time at home too, my 600mhz Apple iBook is nearly five years old, and apart from a hard drive failure (fixed under warranty) it has been rock solid. It's duties have been mostly taken over by a cheap and nasty Toshiba laptop running XP Home.

But I'm now torn. I really would like a new Intel Mac, but they are expensive, and for the price of a Mac Mini (£400) I could get a PC which would be faster and more expandable. But it wouldn't run OS X. Linux is nice, especially Ubuntu, but I really get tired of it sometimes. Windows is...well, it's Windows. I'll use it, but I won't enjoy it. So I'm slightly torn between getting an old Dell Precision Xeon workstation off Ebay and upgrading it, which appeals to the tinkerer inside me, or just getting a Mac Mini. Either way I need to get a monitor too. Oh well, we'll see.

Walking the dog this evening and I was asked where a house was by a lost guy in his car. Having lived in this small rural village for 25 years, you'd have though I'd know where it is. Nope. Not a clue. Embarassing really. I knew the name but my guess was totally wrong as another guy stopped and gave him directions. Oh well. I hate giving directions anyway, I'm always paranoid I'll send the person the wrong way and they'll get lost and eaten by leopards or something.