When One Computer is Not Enough.

 I have a job, really I have two. If I were being honest with myself, I would say I have three jobs.  First, I am an author. I write. I am a professor, and I teach. I am also a claims adjuster and/or service rep. I work full-time during the day for an insurance company. I answer phones, adjust things, do quotes, etc. You may ask, "How do you find time to do all those things?"  Well, we are all given the same 24 hours each and every day. I am not actually teaching this semester because I was actively writing a book. If I do teach I teach online, and I tend to get all the lessons prepared for the week, even for a few weeks in advance so that I'm not fumbling around looking for the next series of assignments. If I teach the same class as I have taught in the past, it's a no-brainer. I just plug in the syllabus, wait for the students to do their work, and I grade it. We have discussions and Zoom meetings from time to time too. We just don't do them Monday-Friday during work hours.  I write when I write, I don't limit or stop that energy.

    This week my computer, an HP EliteDesk Desktop, which is probably three or four years old, decided to gum up and run slowly. I have to do a bit of recon to find out what the problem is, but when I'm running quotes or looking up someone's policies online I can't have a slower computer. I decided to bite the bullet and get a new machine. I'm going to do two things: First, I bought a new HP all-in-one to work with, and I won't put anything else on the computer other than work-related items. It will be very specific to my workload.  Secondly, I'm going to take my older machine in and have an SSD put into it to make it run faster and smoother; that should free up space as well as help the overall workability of it. It will be used for writing and if I teach, as the lessons and presentations won't take up much space.

    I will likely end up putting more RAM into the all-in-one to do more with it in a few months when I start launching my FOREX open trading. Right now I'm more or less practicing and just doing easy things without spending real money. I wanted to; I wanted to start using real money this last winter, but I wasn't really prepared and I didn't want to lose money. I only want to use real money when I know I'll earn, not lose. I can stand to lose a little.  I know I'll learn to use my Stop Loss like it was my lifeline because it may be.  I just don't want to force myself to pull up the big girl panties too soon on that one. I'll learn a bit more first.

    Since I'm not a guru of anything tech, I have to rely on friends and others to do the heavy lifting. I bought an HP because I trust the name. I bought an all-in-one for convenience as well as style. I like it. It's a 24" screen, it's pretty, it's sleek, and it's going to do what I need it to do.  This time next week when it comes in, I'll have cleared off the other side of my two-desk setup and have two computers spread out with four monitors. I can swing my chair from one to the other, and be so very proficient. I'll mostly stay on the work computer of course, but I'll write from time to time as well. Over the summer I'll apply to various universities to teach English, Ethics, Logic, or Philosophy. I prefer teaching Philosophy if I'm honest. 

    I wait.  I work. I wait. I wait. I work. It's like that. I write. I quote. I work. I wait. I think. I teach. I think some more. Life is good.  It deserves two computers to keep it all in check and running smoothly. 

Photo Credit: HP.com