I set out to get a new CPU, as the instability of my prior CPU finally became more bother than the bother of replacing it. My brother and my brother-in-law armed me with useful facts for my shopping, while my sister graciously loaded one of my older softsynths onto her computer so that we could ensure that it worked on a newer system.
The fellow at Microcenter helped me choose a unit both capable of meeting my heightened needs (my hobby consumes a lot of CPU space) and quite affordable.
The only obstacle I had was getting waited upon. I noticed that the number of potential buyers exceeded the number of staff members. A lovely young woman waited by a laptop with a concentrated look on her face, prior to walking off. Although I certainly believe that every customer, regardless of age or appearance, should be waited on promptly, I must say admit that the thought crossed my mind that if I were choosing a customer to ignore, I would certainly choose someone other than this particular vision in white.
I got home, box in hand, in time to see my sister had returned from shopping with my wife. We saw she and her husband off--we enjoyed having them visit. My sister has been coming to Texas to see me since the middle 1980s, when she, newly single, actually moved here to teach in inner city schools for a time in her early twenties. Her life has changed a lot in that time, and it was good to know her then and it is equally good to know her now.
I went a grabbed a couple of slices of pizza and a little wild bird seed. At Allen Station Park, I watched the water fall on the little railroad dam, and watched robins in my binoculars.
The set-up of the computer took place in record time. It proved so plug-and-play that directions were nearly unnecessary. So far I've installed my music studio software, my software synthesizer, the indispensable sample slicer the IxI Software Slicer, an anti-virus program, and a scrobbler for last.fm. I plan to
have fewer programs on this CPU than the last, but I plan for one of those programs to be a larger synthesizer, as I must ensure that I am not left in the cold if my current synth doesn't get updated as technology for operating systems changes.
We walked our dogs by the pond, where a little blue heron made a growling sound which seemed to say "bobcat", which was uncanny and fun.