FMBP - PBtS edition

As Sheepie said the other day, August means it is time to begin to consider that the new school year is just around the corner. I suppose we could call this a Pre-Back-to-School Friday Morning Bullet Post...

• In light of the impending zombie invasion the return of students to school, I've been busier this summer than in the past couple of years. We have revamped the curriculum and at the same time have upgraded from Windows Vistato Windows 7and from Office 2007to Office 2010.


• I placed an order for a new laptoplast week.



• There isn't anything "wrong" with my old computer except that it is a little old.



• Which means that all the latest and greatest software which I need for work slogs right along with the same alacrity as the government budget approval process.



• It's no wonder I needed a new computer: the new software packages are resource pigs and my old computer had only 4GB of RAM.



• The new unit came yesterday and I am currently burning a set of initial recovery disks.



• Hence all the time on my hands for blog posting.



• Forty-one minutes into the process and still working on disk #1.



• This may be a long bullet post...



• After I get the new unit configured properly, I will refurbish the old one for the Neatnik.



• Early birthday/Christmas present.



• We had thought about buying a brand-new, low-end model for her but with the slowness I was enduring it just made more sense to upgrade/refurb.



• Neatnik doesn't need all the bells and whistles nor will she be running the kind of software I am.



• Plus, she gets a 17" monitor instead of one in the 15" range - which is what the low-end units all feature.



• Oh, look, disk #1 just popped out. Hang on a second, need to insert disk #2.



• Back to school also means going through the old equipment and clothing to see what needs replacing and what just needs a good and thorough cleaning.



• Neatnik used the same backpack for kindergarten through the second grade. It was a smaller sized one so it fit her well and held everything she needed. Third graders at her school have a bit of a jump up in terms of backpack needs. They get more homework so they carry home more books and workbooks. I bought her a roller bag styled backpack thinking that this would be better for her back.



• Wrong!



• While she could roll the bag down the driveway and across the school parking lot, she still had to carry it in the hallways and the rolling frame is heavy and there's less storage capacity because of the frame.



• This year we invested in a cute backpack I picked up at the Warehouse Club Store.



• This thing can probably hold everything in her desk plus a full wardrobe and survival gear for a zombie apocalypse.



• There's even a little mesh compartment on the shoulder strap for extra shotgun shells.



• Oh, wait, they say that that's an "integrated cell phone pocket". Do they really think that a cell phone is going to be of any use when the undead overrun humanity?



• The pack is very light, too. That will come in very handy for both school and when we need to beat a hasty retreat from the shambling horde.



• Be right back, disk #2 is calling and disk #3 wants its turn.



• I love the smell of black Sharpie.



• The zipper on last year's lunch bag wasn't behaving well by the end of term so I bought a new one and then I realized that this new one is rather smaller than the old one. With nothing to lose, I popped the old lunch bag into the washing machine and do you know what? It came out great.



• Now we have lunch bag options and Neatnik can bring the smaller one on half days or days when they have some treat planned at lunch.



• Speaking of lunch bags, what does one send in them? Neatnik loves her Greek yogurt but I prefer buying it in the big containers.



• Yesterday while I was at the grocery store, I saw these very cool one cup freezer containers.Ball calls them freezer containers and includes a recipe for making jam in the label but they are onto the whole portion management thing: the label mentions how these containers are great for leftovers, cereal, trail mix, etc.



• And I only shelled out $3.69 for my set of five.



• I've been clipping Box Tops but have only accumulated about 19 since the end of the school year.



• The twenty boxes of KleenexI got on sale at the Warehouse Club Store will help.



• Not only do we go through a lot of tissues at home, Neatnik's class seems to think that they grow on trees.



• Which one could argue that they do, after a fashion - but they still ain't free, kids!

So, I suppose we are mostly ready for the new school year in terms of gear but that still leaves uniforms and the various bits and bobs that seem to be mandatory equipment for the fourth grade set. I think I'll go have a lie down to contemplate the money sink all of that while disk #4 burns...