Why Stop at 8-core??

With Apple's Tuesday announcement of the updated Macbook Pro laptops, it got me thinking about the Macbook Pro in our department. The one I setup last month and never got to see again.

Yes, in the midst of this crappy economy and job cuts, the Major, in her neverending quest to own everything shiny and expensive... your taxpayer dollars recently netted her a $2700 top-of-the-line 15" Unibody Macbook Pro. I tell you, the insanity never stops here.

The IT department, understandably balked at the idea of getting her another machine because they just spent $4500 on her 8-Core Power Mac in February. So instead the Major, being equipped with a company credit card and a lifetime of unabashed spending habits, paid for it from our individual department budget (more on that later).


Her reasoning for needing a laptop is so that she can work from home in the evenings and weekends. On the surface this sounds reasonable, but I don't buy it. That's just her misleading, feel-good illusion of justified spending. Fact is, if she spent less of her day doing tea time and visiting others, she should be able to complete all her work during business hours – That's what I think.

But what do I really really think?? I think having a laptop gives her more freedom to leave work early. She already sneaks out early every Monday to get her hair and nails done (among other 'tune-ups' I won't mention). Now she can leave while prominently toting her shiny Macbook Pro claiming to beat traffic and work from home when she's really sitting at the salon. Hmm, can you still type while getting a silk wrap?

I even suggested to her to save money and just get a $1300 unibody 13" Macbook. She complained that the screen was too small and preferred the 15". Now on the surface, this sounds reasonable, but in reality when she uses it at home, it's plugged into a 20" monitor! She's obviously never satisfied owning something if there is something better out there. Because fact is, she demands the best. And money is clearly no object.

And get this. She asks me to find her a portable 2.5" external hard drive. I find a stylish black 500gb Western Digital Passport for $99. But instead she prefers the orange 320gb version for $117. Who cares if it holds less and costs more?? The important thing is that "it matches my wallet!" (I'll try to get a picture of her wallet next time). Can you scream "High Maintenance" any louder?

So why does this bother me so much? Shouldn't I just be happy she leaves early?? Well it bothers me because our fiscal year ends in 2 weeks and that's when I get to spend leftover money on other essential items. We were planning all along to get two Nikon D90's since our D70's are approaching five years old. But since the laptop dipped into our budget (rather than IT's), we're now short $2000 to get the two cameras. Grrrrrr. So now I'll have to wait another year.

If all I blogged about was my job, I would have to rename my blog. How about "Finding the Cheese from my Cracker"? or "The Wheels are Spinning (but the Hamster is Dead)"? or "Toys in the Attic"?? In the meantime, to keep my sanity, I'll just focus on happy thoughts. I'm happy I still have a job. I'm happy I have this blog. And I'm happy I have all of you. Thank you.

Notice the bag of pretzels.