Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Behind the Display

Well, long-time readers, it’s finally happened: I got a new computer! After years of agonizing over which would be best while waiting for it to finally become necessary, I settled on a solution: get a cheap Mac mini to use as a server, plus a MacBook Pro to use as my main machine. Along with the MacBook Pro, I plan to get two 27″ Thunderbolt Displays.

Those grandiose plans aside, though, we’ve only received a small portion of our tax refund due to some government red tape. My new client, however, has specific needs that require me to have something newer than my 8½-year-old Power Macintosh G5. As such, I took the plunge: I picked up a cheap Mac mini—as planned—and a single Thunderbolt Display. (It’s actually pretty neat, going from a 20″ and 17″ to a single 27″ display, but to be honest, the biggest difference is Mac OS X v.10.7 Lion and the things it does differently. Not badly, just differently. I’ll adjust.) :-)

Of course, amidst all this, I had to retire my old displays to make room for the new. (In fact, once I get the second display, I’ll also need a new desk to handle the increased weight.) So in the interests of levity, I will point out that I have rarely, if ever, had the need to clean behind my displays, since they both came so close to the desk as to render the behind section nigh invisible. As such, I was rather surprised by what I found behind them. Let’s see what you think:
  • unopened box of Cracker Barrel crayons
  • Mickey Mouse I made in Mr. Sayer’s eighth-grade metal shop
  • battery tester (been looking for that for months, already bought another)
  • seven standard AA batteries, three of them dead
  • eight rechargeable AA batteries, status unknown
  • Canon Li-ion Battery Pack
  • two dead light bulbs
  • one blue bottlecap
  • one strip of negatives from our wedding day
  • five-years–out-of-date business cards
  • random screw
  • tag from an Official Major League Baseball
  • unopened package of adoption Pass-along Cards
  • several twist-ties
  • one auger anchor, seemingly unused
  • health insurance card (expired 2005)
  • plastic wrap that seems to have once contained something chocolatey
  • orange highlighter
  • two tags from winter boots purchased at Walmart
  • SquareTrade Warranty magnet
  • 8GB PC2-5300 RAM
  • Ziploc bagful of bubble gum
  • three Toys “Я” Us Rewards cards
  • receipt from parking garage near Manhattan Temple
  • $100 gift card from Google AdWords
  • three tickets from Monkey Joe’s
  • 30% of three unseparated paper towels
  • piece of paper on which Leah practiced writing her name
  • tiny tiara, presumably from a Barbie or similar doll
  • external hard drive sled
  • two picture hangers
  • outlet cover
  • cork
  • ½-cup Gladware™ container
  • lid to a 46-oz. can of V8
  • How to Train Your Dragon plush toy
  • Goofy Pez dispenser
  • large, purple, magnetic bag clip
  • orange toothbrush (seemingly unused, but I’m not risking it)
  • Philips CD- & DVD-cleaning fluid
  • six-pack of cable holders
  • key to a padlock I haven’t seen in probably a decade
  • business checking deposit slip with a phone number scribbled on it, presumably belonging to either Lou Ann Wagner, Len Ann Magner, or some combination of the two
  • still-wrapped Butterfinger heart from Valentine’s Day, year unknown
Suffice to say: my desk is much cleaner now. The office as a whole, on the other hand….

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