Monday, November 10, 2008

This just goes to show something...perhaps that I'm just stupid?

My co-worker's head popped up over my wall, and she said in a stealthy whisper, "Read your e-mail..." before walking away.

I was stuck in another email box, so I had to wait to get back into mine before I could figure out what she was being so sly about.

When she walked back over, she asked if I had read my e-mail yet.

"No. I'm still in the other inbox. I'm switching in a few minutes," I told her.

"Oh..."

"You might as well tell me what was in the email you sent me," I said.

"Supposedly we can buy Microsoft office software for 20 bucks!" she said.

"Noooo....," I said.

"Yes! I haven't checked it out yet, but it's because we work for the XYZ company," she told me.

Well of course I hightailed it out of the inbox I was in and moved into my own.

And there she was. The cloudy skies opened up to let a bright burst of sunshine through. Angels began to sing. I swear I heard Hallelujah! being chanted. Really.

Technically I can get a student discount on software because I'm taking that one grammar refresher course and it qualifies me as a student who deserves discounts on software among other things, but that discount would get me Microsoft office at the still high price of $120.00. So $20 bucks? Now that's what I call a discount. Okay, where do I sign up? I'm currently using Microsoft 2003. And last time I checked, it's 2008, so it's high time I moved on up in the software hierarchy.

I did everything that was required, and I bought myself that $20 Microsoft office software, all the while congratulating myself at having the best luck for working for a company where I can do these types of things, get my cheeks pinched by older project manager ladies who think I'm a doll (and really, aren't I?), and eat leftover business lunches.

I also realized I can get discounts on other Microsoft products, including the Xbox 360 (not that we need that, but I was on a discount high and almost, almost bought it even though I barely have time to watch a 30-minute TV show let alone play video games, and I really don't like the idea of Mateo starting in on video games at an early age). And this, I believe, will come in handy later on. For what, I don't know, but you never know, and that's all I'm saying.

And then. And then the stupidity kicked in. My husband got a new hard drive last winter because his old one got infected and instead of letting me try to rid the virus from his old hard drive but also because I was tired of hearing him berate his computer because of its slowness issues and slow internet connection (really, there is only so many times you can hear "you bastard computer" before you want to just hide in the closet), we bought him a refurbished Dell hard drive that has worked like a peach since the day it was unpacked and plugged in. And with that purchase I decided to go ahead and buy Microsoft office. And as with most software nowadays, you're allowed two downloads before they put a lock on the software.

And guess what I've never done? I've never upgraded my MS Office 2003 software to MS Office 2007, even though every time I walk by the software clam shell, I think, "I really should upgrade my software - it's a good thing we have that - I should do that some day."

So I spent $20 bucks I didn't really have to spend on something I didn't really need. And I wish I could offer it up in my very first contest to blog readers, but I can't because of licensing reasons, and I really like my job, and I really need the paycheck, and being called a doll every so often can be life affirming.

2 comments:

Heather said...

Brain farts. What do you do? We all have them.

Kmommy said...

LOL!!! That sucks!