Sassy Black Friend

Two computers does not make a geek*

Yes, I have two computers. A friend I just had coffee with was horrified to learn this. But, I spend all day working on a computer, so it makes sense. Before I left my conventional job for the wild world of freelancing, I did a ton of traveling. I’d be out of town at least 10 days a month. And the company I worked for only had these huge IBM Thinkpads that weighed more than my luggage. After a few months of lugging one through airports and train stations, I had to get my own. It was ridiculous. So, I took advantage of their group purchasing program and got myself a laptop. I figured when my desktop died, I just wouldn’t replace it. But that thing is tough and has hung in there much longer than I expected. Thus, two computers.

So this friend of mine was really weirded out by this. She said she thought only computer geeks have multiple machines. Well, I guess by some definitions I am a computer geek, but not really. I’m just chained to these things, and I love gadgets, so I have a lot of stuff. If I had more space in my kitchen I’d have a hundred appliances there too.

I think there are just certain necessities to be able to do my work. I have an external hard drive to keep important things backed up, a printer of course, a compact flash drive – 3 actually – I have a few clients that don’t want me to deliver things by email (annoying), a microphone and web cam for Skype meetings, and probably some other stuff I’m not thinking of.

The great thing about computers now is you can do a lot of sophisticated things without having to have a lot of knowledge. As long as you know the basics of how they work, and what to do when they don’t, you’re golden, and a home office can be almost as good as a regular one, but I don’t have to wear shoes. Not geeky, just lazy.

* Not that there’s anything wrong with being a computer geek. If I’d been smarter (and less drunk) in school, I’d probably have a lot more money and marketable skills.