Operation: Laptop.

Girl of the Day

Sano Natsume

It’s been a crazy two weeks, and I’m not talking about work. I’ve had a chance to revitalize the otaku spirit I lost for a while now. In the past two weeks, I completed watching all of Genshiken, AIR TV, the two AIR in Summer OVAs, the AIR movie, and Densha Otoko. I even watched that Kujibiki UNBALANCE OVA that was made for Genshiken. After watching shows like Genshiken and Densha Otoko, it made me realize that although these otaku are pathetic losers, I could have ended up like them if I was born and raised in Japan, loving manga like they do. In a way, because I had a chance to live far away from Japan, I also admired it from afar and came to appreciate many facets. On one hand, I’m an otaku that loves anime and manga, so of course I love collecting memorabilia of my favorite characters and various related merchandise. On the other hand, I also collect things like shashinshuu and related idol and AV materials. I also can’t discount my J-Pop collection, which ranges from the mainstream (Hamasaki Ayumi) to the anime-related (KOTOKO) to enka (Hibari Misora). Don’t forget the huge amounts of anime, J-Pop videos, CMs, and JDrama I have floating around on DVD+Rs and my hard drives. I enjoy eating at Japanese restaurants, and I even buy Japanese groceries whenever I get the chance, and I’ve even started to follow a few Japanese customs. I’m currently learning the language as well, and whenever anything with the words nihon, nippon, or Japan pop up in any situation, I’m instantly interested. There are many otaku classifications out there, but I guess I would be a Nihon otaku. Moving to Japan would be like an anime otaku living in a 24/7 anicon. I’d be on a permanent high. Hehehe.

Unfortunately, due to my strange working conditions over the years, I’ve become quite adept at socializing with the masses. Is that downright strange or what? Mind you, you can’t take the otaku-ness out of the otaku, so I’m introverted when I get home and love immersing myself in my hobbies rather than going out with friends.

Okay, off on a rant I never intended to go into when I started this entry. I’m looking at changing laptops. I’ll probably sell this laptop I have now and buy another one to replace it. I was originally looking at that insane Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2, but that’s just insane, and I don’t need such graphic power for the things I’m doing, and gaming is not one of them. I do need power to run demanding applications, since the laptop would be my main persocon. So, in lieu of power, I decided to go straight for large memory, good caching abilities, and hard drive space, and I’ve found those in the HP Pavilion DV4170CA. I also plan to pick up an extra battery and a port replicator, but I’ll be buying those separately to save money, because those parts come cheap on eBay.

Stan’s visit went relatively well. He was only visiting us to review our performance and go over some areas where we needed improvement, so that was good. In some ways, it really hyped me up and I started working harder these pst few days, even going so far as to call HQ so I can make sure I was doing all the paperwork and procedures properly. I also had an interview at MTS yesterday, and that also went well, but I’m still up in the air about it. I have the choice to accept the job or decline. Some people are saying I should decline it, while others are saying I should accept it. I don’t know. I don’t want to listen to anybody, but I would have liked to have a professional opinion rather than a personal opinion from both ends of the spectrum, but I guess that’s not happening. I’m going to have to sit down and think this through properly, weighing all the options on both sides. On one hand, I’ve spent a year at Nexi and I’m very familiar with the job. I’ve started to enjoy working on the printers and laptops more than desktops. I’ve found ways to be efficient and effective at my job while also being a slacker. There are times when things are easy and times when things are hard, but that’s life for you. Also, I have the opportunity to get free certifications that I can take anywhere in the world with me, and I can fulfill my own vendor warranty with my company, all the while making them money, giving me work to do, and fixing my personal hardware on company time.

On the other hand, MTS is a higher paying job, with guaranteed pay increases every year with lots of benefits and bonuses for working in the north. I get to travel to many places using company vehicles rather than my own, and I no longer have to put up with computers 24/7. I have a chance to get out of this town after three or four years of work, and Jerry tells me that the job is mostly slack, which leaves me time to do slacking things. Honestly, even after weighing my options, I don’t know what to do. The money is nice, but I also like familiarity, stability, and the confidence that I can do the job even though I’ve never touched hardware like it before. With MTS, I’ll have to learn everything from scratch because I’m not overly familiar with phone systems and switching technologies, let alone telecommunications on a technical level. I also have a height problem, and staying overnight in several outlying communities has me worried sometimes (especially if I’ll have no internet). If anything, I hate being away from my hobbies. I can always load up on anime and JDrama, and bring my laptop, but… well, that’s just it. MTS is a big unknown to me. However, taking risks and being spontaneous is something I’ve always wanted to do, and if I can’t do this thing, then how will I be able to go to Japan on a whim?

Well, I have until Monday to make my decision. We’ll see what happens.

Current Music: Densha Otoko OST