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Spreading the Internet love

Jenni posted at May 19, 2010 @ 8:56 pm 11 Comments

My dad turns 60 tomorrow, and as I’m at a wedding this weekend, we celebrated his birthday last weekend. He asked me if I could buy him a laptop, and since he’s never asked for anything before and it was a landmark birthday, I decided to get him something good. Initially I was thinking about a Mac, but his favourite colour is black and I also couldn’t really stretch my budget that far.

I ended up getting him this Acer Aspire, which is great value for money and, as I put it, ‘should last until he dies if he takes care of it’. (I’m such a good daughter, heh. He thought it was funny anyway). It’s not everyone’s ideal laptop, but it’s pretty up to date and lightweight, slim and has an optical drive, which were his main requirements. Since this was really his first computer use since the late 1960s and early 1970s when they were the size of rooms and had cards to punch, I was impressed by how fast he picked everything up.

Within a day he was asking me how to make websites – like daughter like father eh? – and I did a really bad job of explaining. Whilst I’ve taught eight year olds, sixty five year olds and a variety of ages in between, I haven’t actually tried to explain any concept of web design to someone who doesn’t even know that copy/paste exists. But he’s quick, and he was playing chess, using Google to look for commercial equipment and watching videos on YouTube without a second thought just a few hours after getting ‘Charlie the Second’ (Charlie the First is actually an electronic chess set, go figure). I’ve also had several very random emails, and missed several non-emails owing to the fact that apparently neither of my parents can write my email address correctly. My dad also has a habit of deleting every email he receives after he’s read it, which makes my inner hoarder cry. Luckily he wasn’t paying attention when I told him how to ‘purge’ emails, so they’re all still recoverable.

I also bought him a mouse in case he wasn’t comfortable using the (multi-gesture) touchpad, but he’s mainly using the touchpad. The only real disadvantage for him is that the laptop doesn’t have integrated Bluetooth, but then there are tons of extras we can buy for him in the future. We always have a lot of difficulty buying him presents he actually likes because he tends to just buy what he wants, and anything beyond that is way out of our price range (Aston Martin anyone?). Initially my mum was concerned that he wouldn’t use the laptop and it’d be a waste of money, but I reasoned that she and my sister would use it, or I’d steal it so it would be ok – except on the whole ‘birthday present’ concept of course. Actually, the opposite has happened and he keeps whining about how addicted he is and how it’s taking over his life. But that’s good, because now he understands why all the other family members spend so much time on the Internet. Mmm, lovely shiny Internet.

So, what are your experiences with matching technology and people? Are your parents avid computer users or have they never been near one? What cute or silly things do they do?

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2009

Jenni posted at December 28, 2009 @ 7:23 pm 1 Comment

The last couple of days I’ve been trying to relax, and not sleeping too well either, which means it’s going to be really difficult to get up for work on Wednesday…but on the plus side, I’ve had fun playing Wii and watching TV and reading.

Today I sorted out my room, and came across tons of stuff from years back, provoking a lot of memories, both good and bad. I was happy to throw things out and any potential negativity just passed me by really. I’m so happy with my life right now, but the pessimist in me is saying that sometime I’ll look back and cry, purely because of the good memories and how things are, and one day I’ll miss them. Stupid, but true.

I can look back on some of the bad things that happened in the past few years with the knowledge that other people have made me unhappy, and it’s taking things into my own hands and having the control that makes things go right for me. I could have made a lot of decisions that I didn’t, but I’m happy with the ones that I did make. The proof is that 2009 was a great year for me, maybe frustrating job-wise until July, but overall I’m happy with it. I could have achieved more, and sometimes that frustrates me, but then there are a lot of people out there who haven’t achieved as much, so I’m not doing too badly.

I’m normally a real hoarder, but there are rubbish bags and charity bags filled now that I’ve had my clearout. I’ve been ruthless. I guess because it’s not ‘my’ room any more, it’s a spare room that I sleep in, and I really don’t need so much stuff. Still need to do the wardrobes and tops of the bookcases, but there’s no rush. I’ve taken Pom for his walk, so all that’s left to do really is finish up in my room, tidy/sort the stuff in the bathroom, and help my sister decide on some Canterbury Tales for her essay.

I came across quite a few great photos when I was sorting too, and I’m going to buy some really nice photo frames (hopefully in the sales!) to put them up in the study. My family has never really been into photos, so the few albums and photo pockets are scattered randomly around, but some nice big picture frames are just what the study needs.

Tomorrow I’m going food shopping and then my dad’s giving me a lift back to Nottingham. I need it, since I have so much stuff to take back with me, and it’ll be good to stock up on healthy food without having to think about getting it home etc. The ice is clearing; don’t know how bad the hill to work will be, which is what I’m dreading most. I’m only there for a day/half day though, and then I’m off to Sussex for New Year, so hopefully there won’t be any more bad weather and it’ll be all clear by the 4th, which is when I’m back in work properly.

So, let’s hope 2010 is even better than 2009!

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Girly vs Geeky

Jenni posted at December 26, 2009 @ 5:38 pm 2 Comments

I was getting ready for the work Christmas party last week and shifting some things around in my room when it suddenly struck me just how weird it would seem to an outsider. Everyday things in my room are an odd Jekyll-and-Hyde style blend of geeky and girly. Glamour magazine partially obscures Nintendo magazine, there’s silvery glittery eyeshadow next to my copy of Wikinomics, and mini Chibithulhu sits with a small blue reindeer. Hair straighteners sit next to a USB hub. A book on the history of Apple is joined by standard chick lit. Across the room, a Jane Norman dress and an array of dice – ranging from twenty sided to three sided – are both in view.

It was kind of interesting looking at my room through a stranger’s eyes. The more I looked around, the more I got ‘used’ to it. Eventually I began thinking that maybe it wasn’t so weird as I first thought. It’s nearly 2010 after all, not 1950. I guess it’s good in a way, because at least I’m not an extreme of one or the other (the reality show ‘Beauty and the Geek’ comes to mind).

When I got to my parents’ for Christmas this year I painted the study. It has a lot of memories for me since I used to spend all my time webdesigning and doing schoolwork until I moved out. They moved the computer to the landing to make space for a bed. Then fairly recently, my dad decided to make it into an office again and I painted all the walls and moved the computer back in. It’s actually not been decorated since we moved in about eight years ago, and the walls were a bit weird (two were ‘feature’ yellow wallpaper with bluey/green checks, and two were plain yellow). Now they’re a soft creamy colour and look a lot more clean. I’ve also had a clear out of junk, and other than the addition of a filing cabinet and the removal of some drawers, it’s almost exactly the same as it used to be. It’s a nice place to spend time again now, and my back is much less cramped. I’m going to start on my old bedroom next, because it’s full of rubbish from the past few years, including uni stuff, kitchen stuff, stuff from my job down south, and stuff I don’t need any more. Plus all the stuff other people have dumped in there, and at least a thousand books. Most of it will go to charity I think (with the exception of the books), along with old clothes. It’ll be nice to visit again and actually have room to find my books and get into my bed.

I was thinking about my new year’s resolutions recently. Normally I’m very vague or not really that interested, but this time I think a fresh start is good. Along with driving lessons and laser eye surgery in a few months’ time, I also want to be much more healthy and fitter. I know what to eat, and I know what my body needs nutritionally, it’s just that I’m way easily tempted and have fallen into a lot of old bad habits. From new year’s onwards, I want to be getting up earlier and having a healthy breakfast and getting ready for the day. No more drifting off around 1am and dashing off late after spending ten minutes getting dressed etc. I also want to prioritise blogging, making it an every other day thing like it used to be. I just want to use my time much better – I’m determined to fit in everything I enjoy, and I know I have time to do it if I’m organised :mrgreen:

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