Not a great tech year for me

This year isn't a great tech year for me.


First of all, my old trusty desktop broke down on me and I couldn't get it to start at all. I ended up spending about $800 upgrading the entire things. Thankfully my graphic card did work out in the end, and I probably deferred about another $200 to $300.


Then, I dropped my handphone and the screen cracked into pieces. I'm usually very careful, and the height that I dropped from isn't even high, but shit happens and I ended up having to buy another replacement. Actually I was using it all along, but then I got cut on my fingers and my wife insisted that I get a new one. Quite true, why face a broken 'mirror' everyday and be unlucky? LOL

Then this week, my trusty old thumbdrive broke down on me. I couldn't get it to work on my desktop pc, and from experience, I know that it'll get spoilt pretty soon. There's no important data inside (thankfully), and I can get it out using another computer anyway. I also have to get it sorted out and bought another one.


I could imagine in the distant past, I'll get all riled up, especially when my phone breaks down. But I was strangely calm about it this time. Is it because I saw broken red dust? I was surprised that this kind of issues didn't hit me as bad as it did in the past. Maybe that's a sign of maturity in itself.


There's always good things even in the bad, and as I reflect upon them, these are my thoughts:


1. Though my old PC cannot be restarted, I eventually get a new one without any loss in data. That, I would have to be thankful for. I was extremely pleased after spending the money on my upgraded PC because now things are so much smoother and faster. Sometimes, things would have to break down to make room for the new.


2. I've to get a new phone and since my contract is coming to an end soon, I signed up for a new plan. It came in a time where I was trying to reduce the junk and clutter in my life, so I refused to buy a fancy (and expensive) branded phone and instead went for mi 4i. It's great, cost me $49 (with the plan) and am very pleased with it. I also 'downgraded' my data plan to 1.3 Gb/month and hope to stick within that limit. I think it's important not to keep upgrading the data usage. What's in it for me? Less facebook, less surfing and absolutely no watching of video streaming when I'm not in an area with wifi. That would keep me focused on what's important in my life. I guess if it takes a broken handphone to remind me of this, so be it.


3. I'm also very grateful that I had set aside a 'play fund' for such purpose. I already knew my desktop pc is coming to an end about 2 year ago. And I planned for it, stashing some savings into it so that the spending wouldn't come as a surprise to me. It's a good idea to stash aside these kind of money and these are not even part of my emergency cash. As mentioned before, the more you know about your life, the less emergencies you have and you can actually allocate your money more efficiently these way.


PS: Wouldn't be blogging so much in the month of June. The change in schedule due to the holiday makes me extremely lethargic and sleepy. I blog often in the morning and I'm so drained at night that I don't feel like doing anything except to relax. I'm such a night person...