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I think I frustrate my chairman.
Let me back up. Every year, the department gets a certain amount of money for equipment. Most years, there's a little bit left over at the end of the fiscal year - e.g., right about now.
I'm not really a gadgets person. More specifically, computer hardware as such doesn't much interest me. Software, now, that's a different story; but all I really ask of my hardware is that it be capable of running my software reasonably well. At the office, I have three pieces of software that really matter: Mathematica, to help me with my research; Scientific Workplace, for writing papers, tests, and what have you; and Excel, to calculate and record my students' grades. (Actually, I'm kind of hankering after one of the specialized programs for geometers - Sketchpad, or Cabri, or one of the others - but let that pass. That's a different budget, I think.) My current rig runs that software satisfactorily, and I don't really care for more.
Earlier in the week, the chairman came by my office and asked if there was any hardware I wanted. I thought for a moment, then shook my head, and he went away.
Today, I was in the middle of a grading marathon when he stopped by again. Are you sure? Wouldn't you like a flat-screen monitor? :sigh: I suppose I could use a zip drive, so I could back up some of my research files. A zip drive? We can do better than that. You can have an external hard drive, or a thumb drive, or... All right. I could probably find use for a thumb drive. Tcha. They're cheap. I'll get you two of them. I have a spare in the office, and I'll order another for you. Okay. Thank you...
About five minutes passed before he came back with the thumb drive. Are you sure you don't want a flat-screen? You'll have more room on your desk! (At this point he gestured at the foot-and-a-half piles of papers and books that cover every square inch of my desk, my table, and the shelving along the window.) :sigh: All right, if you insist. :grumble: Twist my arm...
He left happy.
Let me back up. Every year, the department gets a certain amount of money for equipment. Most years, there's a little bit left over at the end of the fiscal year - e.g., right about now.
I'm not really a gadgets person. More specifically, computer hardware as such doesn't much interest me. Software, now, that's a different story; but all I really ask of my hardware is that it be capable of running my software reasonably well. At the office, I have three pieces of software that really matter: Mathematica, to help me with my research; Scientific Workplace, for writing papers, tests, and what have you; and Excel, to calculate and record my students' grades. (Actually, I'm kind of hankering after one of the specialized programs for geometers - Sketchpad, or Cabri, or one of the others - but let that pass. That's a different budget, I think.) My current rig runs that software satisfactorily, and I don't really care for more.
Earlier in the week, the chairman came by my office and asked if there was any hardware I wanted. I thought for a moment, then shook my head, and he went away.
Today, I was in the middle of a grading marathon when he stopped by again. Are you sure? Wouldn't you like a flat-screen monitor? :sigh: I suppose I could use a zip drive, so I could back up some of my research files. A zip drive? We can do better than that. You can have an external hard drive, or a thumb drive, or... All right. I could probably find use for a thumb drive. Tcha. They're cheap. I'll get you two of them. I have a spare in the office, and I'll order another for you. Okay. Thank you...
About five minutes passed before he came back with the thumb drive. Are you sure you don't want a flat-screen? You'll have more room on your desk! (At this point he gestured at the foot-and-a-half piles of papers and books that cover every square inch of my desk, my table, and the shelving along the window.) :sigh: All right, if you insist. :grumble: Twist my arm...
He left happy.
