Taking the Leap

I have finally done it!  After listening for years from friends about the virtues of changing, I have been resistant until today when I took the plunge.  I bought my first Mac!  This afternoon I went to the Stanford bookstore and bought a MacBook.  I was supported in crossing over by IAC and our Mac-loving friend D and not supported by the person selling me the laptop. Seriously, I had to help him do his job (read the numbers on the back of the card) and my three attempts to correct his typo entering in our information ended in futility.  I also got the wrong Apple Care, does anyone know if it makes a difference?

I was spurred on by the realization that our educational discount (as well as the discount of purchasing in the US) will soon be ending.  It also didn’t hurt that Apple Care was discounted and a free-after-rebate iTouch accompanied purchase.  I should be all set for surfing the internet on my upcoming road trip and beyond.  That is, until I get over to Wales and have to get a plug adapter.

Last Day of Work

Last Thursday marked my last day of work in the US.  Well, at least until we come back State-side (that’s what they call it right?).  My co-workers were great and took me out to both lunch and drinks after work.  Thanks s, N, T, K, R, A, and everyone else in the alphabet that planned the festivities and joined me.  All in all, I am really going to miss my job and all the people that I met.  I know that I will never find a job that even remotely offers what this job did.  It had a little bit of everything, flexibility, working with students, staff, faculty, researchers.  Most importantly, this job allowed me an opportunity to put some of my graduate school experiences behind me and build my confidence back to a point where I feel I can be a productive member of society.  OK, that is a little melodramatic, but hey, the last thirteen months of work has helped me get squared away again.  And, yes, I am a little sad about leaving the job (and paycheck!) behind, but I know that I am leaving for the best reason in that I am moving on to new experiences and opportunities to make myself a better person.

By quitting my job I have cut one of the last ties to the US before we leave for Wales.  Now IAC and I have the rest of August to finish up everything that needs to be done before we leave.  That means all of the selling of things, packing, sorting, saying goodbye to friends and places, eating all the Mexican/Mexican-American food we can eat (hard to get in Mid-Wales), and all the other things that need to wrap up in the next 26 days.  Hopefully we can get it all done.