Shortly after starting my new contract, my old phone (okay, my wife’s old old old phone) broke. This is the phone I used after my last phone died (and I dithered about whether or not to get a new one). Now I’m a contractor freelance software consultant, a mobile is definitely a necessary evil. It probably also won’t do to be carrying around an ancient brick, no matter how retro it might be.

So I got me a brand new Sony Ericsson K750i. Not exactly top of the range but it makes calls, takes voice mails, has a 2.0Mb camera, plays MP3s (and MP3 ringtones) and has a slot for a memory stick. And, most importantly, it comes in black. Unlike my last phone, this one actually comes bundled with PC software to allow you to manage and transfer files - no need to shell out 30+ quid like those theiving bastards at Motorola charge.

My new ringtone? “Help me I am in hell” by Nine Inch Nails.

Last week was my first full week away from home since starting here in Dublin. While I managed to find a cheap and cheerful hotel, it occurred to me that I shouldn’t really be going out eating, drinking and partying until the small hours (or whatever it is that Dubliners actually get up to of an evening) and that I needed to keep costs down as I’m now working for myself. Apart from a couple of trips to the cinema (more on that later) I could, well, watch TV. Or read a book. Or both at the same time. After the first hour, I got a little bored (although I did discover that I really enjoy “Scrubs” and that “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is vastly overrated and more than a little bit shit.)

So, despite not yet having been paid for my first couple of weeks work, I decided to buy a laptop so that I can a) do some web work b) play games c) watch DVDs and d) provided I can get a ‘net connection, talked to my loved ones at home using Skype.

It’s yet to be delivered but I am soon to be the proud owner of a new Dell Inspiron XPS M1710:
2.16Ghz Dual core processor
100Mb 7200rpm HDD
4Gb RAM
17in screen
512Mb Geforce 7950GTX graphics card
4 year warranty
and other gubbins that you’d expect.

List price from the Dell website? I’ll let you work it out. All I can say is thank the Lords of Kobol for eBay!