The Home Stretch

We're into the home stretch of the school year.  We only have four weeks left, but honestly, in my mind it's as if we only have a few days.  I think part of this is due to the fact that I have come to the brutal realization that these last weeks of classes are going to be pure insanity at my school.  I don't know this for certain, but I have an inkling.

For instance, on Friday of this last week, I found out that the coming week (this week) is going to be Spirit Week.  Now, why we would have Spirit Week the fourth week before school lets out is completely beyond me.  The idea of Spirit Week, and investing our kids in getting school spirit seems like something that we should have done, oh say, back near the start of the school year.  Second, as part of Spirit Week, we're having a modified schedule all week with short classes every day so that we can be let out early to PARTY.  What the heck?!?

This is what I'm talking about.  And this is just one week - I have a feeling things like this are going to pop up every day until that last day of school.  It's like we have state testing out of the way, and so now our school can REALLY let loose.  Like we've been holding it in or something...

I realize it's been about two weeks since my last entry.  Part of that is I was without a computer for some of that time, part of it was because I was really busy with state testing, and part of it was because I am just plain tired.  Any one of those things I could probably write a good amount about, but I'm only going to choose one.

After much research and looking into the current computer market, I finally decided on a computer that I wanted to buy.  I got a Mac.

I'll give you a moment to collect your thoughts before I continue.

Those of you who know me have probably heard me express a word or two about Macs - especially those who worked with me in the IT days.  Now, at BYU, Macs were a cuss word for me.  I hated the fact that our college had to specially implement the infrastructure to support the professors who wanted to use Macs, computers that were only introduced to our department due to a fanboy supervisor.  It was frustrating.  My opinions from those days haven't changed one bit, I still think it's a waste.  But the important difference to note is that my feelings weren't towards the machines, but the institution.

My rationale for getting the Mac can be summed up in 7 distinct points.

1.  9 hours of battery life.  Do I really need to say more?  A 15 inch powerhouse that gets 9 hours of battery life is a huge motivator.  Also, this part of the Apple website was fascinating, and there's a video around there somewhere that helped influence my decision.

2.  The technical specifications of the machine are fantastic, especially since they just released the line with the Core i5/i7 processors.  320 GB hard drive, 4 GB RAM, nVidia discreet video card, slot loading DVD, etc. etc. etc.  I could have gotten a machine with similar specs for less, but that brings me to my next point.

3.  District compensation.  The district is going to assist in funding my new computer, and since it'll be getting partially subsidized, it expanded the range of my budget a bit more than I would have had otherwise.

4.  I may be teaching school right now, but I am (and will likely always be) an engineer at heart.  And to be completely honest - the Macbook Pro is an engineering work of art.  The precision manufacturing that took place to create this thing is honestly awe-inspiring, which made the computer difficult for me to ignore.

5.  Educators discount.  I was able to get an education discount from Apple in purchasing this computer.  I checked the BYU website, and I think I could have gotten it for less as a student, but the way I see it - any discount is better than retail.

6.  Technical support.  I've never been very comfortable assisting people who use Macs, and so I figure the best way for me to learn how to help others is to get as much first hand experience as I can - and this will do it.  Already since I've had it, I've learned more than I did in the entire time of working at the IT support center at BYU.  

7.  Bootcamp.  The very first thing that I did when I got home with my MacBook was boot it up, and figure out how to install Bootcamp on it.  Literally.  I started the computer up, did a spotlight search for Bootcamp, and installed Windows.  And it runs flawlessly on it, which is amazing.  I figure I get the best of both worlds here - the amazing engineering of the Apple hardware running my dear-to-the-heart Windows OS.

Overall, I've been pleased with this computer.  But that isn't to say that there aren't things that I dislike, or that don't drive me nuts - because there are.  For instance, the lack of a "Page Up/Down" and "Home/End" keys has been driving me crazy.  Also, there is a "Delete" button on the keyboard, but it doesn't work like the Delete that I'm used to, it's more like a Backspace.  Although it's growing on me, the trackpad is somewhat of an annoyance as well - not having distinct buttons to click is an adjustment, and trying to get to the right click is a matter of luck every time I click it.  They say "Once you go Mac, you don't go back."  I don't know who "they" are, but as for me, the jury is still out.