I Got A New Computer!

This is the first time I've gotten a new, out of the box, just for me, new computer. :)

It cost me ... $500 from Costco. Of all places, Costco. I wonder if I could find the ad? Be Right Back....


Back. Found it. :)

I was hoping it wouldn't have the mouse and keyboard, but it turns out that I needed a new keyboard because the one I was using had the old P2 connection and this computer didn't have any of those. :)

So it was set up last night and today I've been going to my sites and getting passwords in and during the last 2 hours I've been getting software installed and getting ready to start working on photos or making fractals again. I have one of the two fractal programs downloaded, I haven't tried to use it yet or really set it up.

But I have gotten Gimp and got to use it to update my watermark and tag that I have. I seemed to have believed that I copied the newest versions to my external drive, but I was wrong. But doing the update was easy. If anything, it reminded me that I have at least two font families that I need to copy over for the moment. The other 200 can wait. :)

What? I've been collecting Fonts for years.

On another front, I've gotten a jump on my new year's resolution without thinking that I was. I started going for a morning walk. I've been at it for four days now. :)

There are a few reason why this is a big deal. One, I hate the cold. I have been hiding in my bed trying to stay warm since the temp dropped below 74 degrees. Then there was the fact that I slowly ended up being awake until sunrise so I was just too tired to do anything, never mind get up, until the girl I babysat comes home from school.

But last week, for the second time that week, I was asked to see her onto the bus because her aunt who normally does, wasn't home to do it that day. Then there was the fact that I been worried that I was stuck in bed, never mind the apartment, too much. And the slight pain in my chest that I felt the day before didn't do anything good for me mentally. So that was it.

I made up my mind. The first thing I do in the morning is get dressed in my sweats, whatever shirt I've picked to wear, my heavy winter coat, and a long scarf to go around my face and head and I walk around my block 4 times. I may walk around a fifth time to take pics of things I might have noticed during my walk.

At this point, I just want to get up and go out and a walk around my block isn't that easy. At least not for me. I live on a hill and I'm going up and down even when I'm walking across. So I'm normally good for the first two laps, then by the time I'm done with my forth, I'm trying to catch my breath and my heart is beating a mile a minute. I don't even feel the wild beating until I've slowed down or stopped this morning. Maybe I'm getting better already. I have told myself that I won't see any improvements for a week at least. So if that is true, not bad, but I won't expect anything else for a while still.

I alternate the blocks I walk around so people don't have to see me every day. I walk around the block I'm physically on, then I walk around the one across the street from me. Both are steep on the sides, but that other block has more uneven cross streets.

Now let's see if I can make it to my birthday. And to help me get to that goal, I got 'rubber chains' with metal 'spikes' for my shoes for when it's icy or snowing outside. I plan to keep going. Oh, another part of my plan is to not be up after midnight. That is actually the hardest part for me so far. I've always been a night owl. I admit that saying up until sunrise was pushing it even for me, but to get up and do the things I have to do and get my walking in before 11am I need to go to sleep before midnight. And having the sun set around 5pm is messing with my sense of time at the moment.

I have never liked how it gets so dark during winter up here.