Here come the hurricane –

 As I was writing that title, some metal something went crashing across the deck. Yes, the wind is starting to howl. We are on the edge of the Disaster Map- our forecast is for high winds (60 mph and up) and anywhere from a dusting to a foot and a half of snow. Who knows! It sounds a whole lot worse for everyone farther north. Even if we get a foot and a half of snow, it will melt fast- it’s been very warm up until today. The ground is not frozen and the roads aren’t cold. It won’t last. We could lose power, but unlike losing power in a mid-winter blizzard, if it stays off very long we will probably be able to escape to somewhere with running water (we’re on a well so when we lose power, we lose water. That is worse than no electricity to me.)  It’s very strange weather for this time of the year. Not a good sign for the rest of the (very looong) winter, I’m afraid. And certainly not good for everyone in the storm surge path and farther north where it’s hitting directly. 

Of course last week I asked for tomorrow and Tuesday off. Thinking I’d get to go do some hiking, perhaps! Get out and about! Do fun stuff! We’ll be slowed down at work for a few weeks — a good time to have some vacation. Now it looks like I will be doing a Staycation- it certainly won’t be hiking weather. I’d thought about a little road trip to Charlotte or Winston Salem, but really don’t want to battle nasty weather. So I’ll just hang out at home. I have plenty to do — and I can do fun stuff, not just the unending work that stares me in the face if I hang around the house too long! And doing some actual work would not be a bad thing. So I’m okay with my Staycation. I could change my days but I want a long weekend and I have a meeting Friday so wouldn’t be able to take off again till next Monday and who knows what the hell the crazy weather will be doing by then. 

On the plus side, I won’t have to get up and go to work tomorrow in the middle of a blizzard. Yippie!

I did something very very exciting tonight. Very VERY exciting… I made a Major Purchase. And hopefully by Friday I will receive….

An. iPad. Mini.

OMG. I have never EVER been one to order the Next Big Thing, especially sight unseen … and I DID try to see one first. I was in Asheville this weekend visiting my dad, and went by Best Buy thinking that since they had iPad Minis on their website, they would also have a demo in the store… but no. Nothing. That’s actually why I was considering going to Charlotte tomorrow – they have a real live Apple store. But I have done my research. I decided months ago that I wanted an iPad. Well, I decided that I would get a tablet of some sort. I want a tablet I can actually write on. Part of my rationale for getting one is that I will get more writing done because I can carry it around with me. And if it’s a bitch to write on the touchscreen, I’ll get a keyboard for it. So I considered several things. Like the Kindle Fire. The iPad seemed the most writing-friendly. And it has a gazllion and one apps! A whole bunch of which will be very very helpful in planning The Next England Trip, as well as in DOING the Next England Trip, since I need something I can get online with and email with. The netbook got us through the last trip but the keyboard/touchpad is a pain in the ass and it will be over four years old by the next trip, which is like ten thousand years old in Tech Years. 

We can check iPads out through the university library, so I checked one out last summer. And I loved it. I loved everything about it… except that it was shockingly heavy.  It was way heavier than my netbook. But I decided that’s what I needed. At least it was thinner and would take up less space than the netbook, and of course you can do WAY more stuff with it. Then I heard rumors of a new iPad, that would be smaller and cheaper! So I decided to hold off on buying one until the new one came out. It is very unlike me to exercise such restraint once I’ve decided on something, so I am giving myself a gold star for being patient. The iPad Mini is the perfect size – Kindle-size, and weighing a tad more than half a pound – so I can stick it in pretty much any bag I have. I’ve resisted getting a smart phone because I don’t want to pay for a data plan, and this will be like having a data-planless smart phone! Which I can only use at wifi spots, but there are wifi spots EVERYWHERE and I honestly do not want to be connected to the internet every waking moment. When we were in England we had no problem finding hot spots, and now our lovely London host is offering wifi in her lodgings so we are set. And Kim has bought herself a Kindle Fire so will be able to check her own email without having to depend on me like last time. 

I am really excited about this, and am pretty certain I am not making a HUGE MISTAKE. It is a little nerve-wracking since I don’t EVER buy things before they have even been released. I didn’t get an iPod for YEARS after the first one. And my current iPod is five years old. I love it and am not the slightest bit interested in replacing it. I only replaced its predecessor because it ran out of space. This one is only half full, despite way over 2000 songs and a whole bunch of movies and TV shows. That I watch on its teeny little screen. Generally I jump on the New Thing bandwagon right before the NEXT big thing comes out. The Kindle Fire was announced like a WEEK after I bought my plain old non-fancy Kindle. Which was fine- I just wanted something to read on, not something to get distracted by the endless Interwebs on. 

So. That’s my current big thrill. I’ll keep you posted. Hopefully from the iPad Mini!