So Much for Vacation

Ok, that big trip to Hilton head that I was so excited about turned out to be real disappointment. It is hard to do long car trips with young children, but we knew this going in. What we didn't expect is that we wouldn't have any time to ourselves down there to swim in the ocean, sip foofy drinks by the pool, or take long walks on the beach. Uh uh. No way. Our kids weren't going to allow it and out relatives had too much on their plates to give us a break. As it turned out, we spent most of the trip cooped up inside watching the toddler watch TV. We did make to the pool a few times, but our one attempt to hang out at the beach was an absolute disaster. I was totally afraid that someone would call child services due to one of the most inconvenient toddler tantrums that we have yet experienced.

Fortunately, we managed to spend some quality time with Professor Pope and his family on the way back. Unfortunately, my wife, oldest son, and myself all came down with seriously nasty colds on the final leg of the drive. We're still recovering right now. Thank goodness that the infant was spared.

So here I am trying to adjust to going back to work after not really having much of a vacation. And instead of focusing on work, I'm thinking about what computer to buy after events have forced me into purchasing a new one about 3 months earlier than I anticipated. I had previously stated that I had had it with Dells. My current Inspiron laptop has been nothing but problems. But the more I price out options, the more I am leaning towards a new Inspiron model. They are highly rated, they are the right price, and they have all the specs that I need. I had considered switching teams to buy a Mac, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself that the added expense and hassle of installing Boot Camp will be worth it. I haven't ruled it out yet, but it's looking less and less likely.

Update: friends have been giving me more reasons to select a Mac (the fact that I already own a license of Windows XP is one). We'll see...

I know it's probably stupid, but the proposed D&D 4e Game Table is kind of driving my decision. The few games that I want to play are generally available on the Mac. I wouldn't have to retain my ties to the PC world if it weren't for the fact that I think that Game Table has the potential to be a sweet tool. Of course, it could easily blow chunks and leave me afflicted with bad case of buyers remorse (the most likely scenario).