I bought a new computer yesterday. It shipped last night. Now, to prevent myself from becoming smug and annoying, I’m not going to tell you what it is. (But if you want a hint, I got scores of advice from Quinn.) However, in line with my standard computer naming convention*, it will be called Octopus’s Garden.
My current laptop is four years old, no longer recognizes a battery (any battery — so I have no idea whether my current battery is dead, though it functions nicely as a paperweight), and has a fan louder than a jackhammer. Seriously — people have requested that I turn it off because of the noise. Others have just mocked me for the sheer size of the thing. Six months ago I decided it was time to replace it.
After much hemming and hawing and weighing of options (and letting price and the fact that I own a free Zune lead the charge), I actually placed an order for a ThinkPad in October. But thanks to Lenovo’s inability to ship it to me in a timely fashion, I got buyer’s remorse and canceled the order a week later. This led to six more months of hemming and hawing and weighing the options, this time discounting the ThinkPad due to a severe lack of customer service.
In the meantime, my eight pound laptop kept me chained to the wall, my savings account grew a little, and a housemate told me about boot camp, the $15 copy of Windows XP available to all Michigan students, and the words “educational discount” and “refurbished.” Suddenly price and the Zune weren’t issues anymore. And yet, I still hemmed and hawed for another week because I really don’t like spending money. But yesterday, I did it. I gave away my credit card information and hit send. I figured that, like in October, if I wanted to change my mind I could do so. Eight hours later, I got an e-mail saying they had shipped it. There’s no going back now.
But for the love of Pete, don’t call me a “switcher.” I hate that term.

* – My desktop is Strawberry Fields, my current laptop is Abbey Road, my printers have both been called Penny Lane, the two wireless networks in my house are Pepperland and Across the Universe, my now-belongs-to-my-sister iPod was Yellow Submarine, and the Zune is Glass Onion. Various hard drives have been Polythene Pam, Mean Mr. Mustard, Dear Prudence, Lovely Rita, and Nowhere Man.