Bag peace

My birthday was nice. As I mentioned, my twin sister and I did different things this year -- a first. While she took her friends for fondue at The Melting Pot, I met with my friends at Roadhouse Grill. Of the twelve people I invited, five said that they would probably be able to go, and of those, three showed up. The other two had good excuses, though, but I was more upset about the people who either said they wouldn't be able to go or those who didn't respond to my invitation at all. I understand it's inconvenient to have a birthday party in the summer, though, so the next time I'm born I'll make sure it's some other time of year.

Justin, Mark, and Andrew showed up, and that seemed to be about the right number of people to have a nice dinner conversation at a restaurant. (At previous birthday dinner outings, it was impossible to talk to everyone at the table, which kind of defeated the purpose of inviting everyone.) It was really nice, and nobody sang "Happy Birthday" to me, which was fine with me. When we were done with dinner, Mark got picked up, and Andrew, Justin, and I went back to my house for a little while and hung out. Then it got to be late, and they went home. It might not have been enough for some people, but it was enough for me to enjoy my birthday, and that's all that counts. Aww. Saturday night was the family party, when we had relatives over for dinner (and cake).

Yesterday, I finally got a bag for my new laptop. The decision was a tough one. I went into Office Depot thinking that I should get a laptop bag with a handle and pockets so it would basically be like a miniature briefcase. Then my dad brought up the point that I'd probably often be carrying around both that and a backpack, and that would probably make traveling by bike difficult. Then I took note of the combination backpack/laptop bags, but those were pretty small, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fit all my stuff in them. There's nothing wrong with my old backpack; it's not falling apart, even after five years, and it has a lot more capacity than any backpack/laptop bag I saw. So ultimately I settled on a small, soft bag that's just big enough for my laptop and a few small accessories. It'll fit into my backpack (at least, I hope it will) so I can carry my books and my computer around with me wherever I go.

Actually, I just tried to fit the case into my backpack and it needed a little coaxing. Now I'm a little worried. I'm thinking about putting the laptop in its bag and then putting the bag in the backpack, but I can't do that right now since, well, I'm using the laptop. What if it doesn't fit? Should I have just gotten a new backpack with a special pocket for my laptop? I guess I can always get a refund. Well, I'm not sure if I can now since I took the tags off the bag. I worry about things a lot, if you couldn't already tell. I guess I shouldn't, but having a computer is important in college, and so is being able to carry around your books and stuff. I think I'll try not to worry about it. Because if I can't refund it, it was only $20 anyway.

Ah, software licensing. Here are some details about Microsoft's licensing mess.

I'm glad I don't work or make expensive purchases at Circuit City: 27 Confessions of a Former Circuit City Worker.