Saturday night personal

Had an early dinner at E.'s restaurant. E. was there - I hadn't been sure he would be, since today was supposed to be moving day, alas. (I didn't call first before I walked up there. Was relieved to see his car there.)

He showed me some print-outs of rentals that the BF had found online. I asked him whether he'd called the lady I had talked to at Renter's Paradise - he hadn't, but there was only one other customer (besides me) in the restaurant at that time, so he called her right there and made an appointment for Monday morning at 11:00. The office is just up the street.

I was there for about an hour and a half. Had the chicken wings, something new on the menu. Very good. Served with Crystal hot sauce - my favorite. E. comped a fresh fruit tart for dessert - a specialty which they make there - and I gave him a fat tip.

Did a lot of talking. His fellow staff are being very supportive and helpful in E.'s getting his own place. (One of them had helped him find the previous place.)

At 1:15 this a.m. I'd gotten an email from Best Buy, notifying me that the laptop I'd ordered for E.'s housewarming present was ready for pick-up at the store. I decided to wait till the traffic thinned out before driving up there (it's in Aventura). (I got the laptop for $379.99 + tax.) (PC Magazine review is here ("very good").) ("Cons: Unexciting design." Come on - it's silver.) More user reviews here.

So I left here as the sun was about to set and first stopped off at E.'s restaurant to take him a printout of rentals in the the area from the Renter's Paradise website. After I picked up the laptop, I stopped back at E.'s place to show it to him. (One of his co-workers told me not to give it to him till he moved, which was the plan anyway - she said the BF would steal it.) (She also said he really needed to have a computer.) Needless to say, he was very pleased and insisted on hugging me before I left.

The computer didn't come with an owner's manual, but I located one from Samsung here and will print it out for E. I looked through it and it's quite thorough and readable (unlike some instructions for Oriental products that are translated weirdly). Some of the user-reviewers said the touch pad is too sensitive, but the sensitivity can be adjusted (as per the manual). I'd thought about buying E. a wireless optical mouse, which is what I have for my netbook, but I think he should learn to use the touch pad. That technology is very fancy these days and state-of-the-art (and let's face it, mice are old-fashioned). E. knows absolutely nothing about computers, so I'll help him out.

Below is one recently offered on eBay for $639.00 (with $27.02 shipping). [Click on image to enlarge it.] I love a bargain!