*snicker*

I know. It is actually very late for me. It’s 9.30 p.m.

So take what I am about to type with a grain of salt.

But I thought that these maternity clothes would be a fabulous idea for someone with a little (cute, CUTE!) belly like mine.. Hahahahha!!

Not to mention that I could freak out a lot of people (like my mom for one). But then I might invite criticism like “So.. Umm should you be eating that chocolate cookie?”.

Being obsessed with thinness, my mom would definitely freak. But on the plus side, strangers on the bus would be too polite to confirm if I was really pregnant and they would offer their seat to me on the bus or subway with nary a peep.

But seriously.

I have a friend who is just about to start ’showing’ (I hear that starts around 4 months?), and she is not keen on buying new maternity clothes, and is still trying to rock what she has (with the cute band I got her of course).

Moving on, I wanted her to check out some options online since she is not keen on going to a mall and waddling around trying to find clothes to fit that are cute, so for her, I found a site for maternity clothes called Kiki’s Fashions Maternity.

Here is a cute shirt I was thinking of getting for her:

OH! And as a bonus, here is a COUPON (we all love coupons) for 20% off: blogfriends

Ooooo sexy.

But in real life it looks like this:

I bought the HP Mini 1000, but BF wanted a new computer but not something up to $1000 since he wasn’t planning on using the computer much except to open sensitive documents to review, save and quickly work on (he’s a paranoid data geek like that).

So, we went to Future Shop and he paid $564 (tax included) for a Toshiba N100 Netbook, which is exactly what I would have paid for my HP Mini without my handy dandy $100 gift card (I ended up paying $460 something).

I don’t own the Toshiba (BF does), but I got my greedy paws on it and here’s my brief review keeping in mind that I own a HP Mini 1000 (FB Read: Review of my HP Mini 1000).

So I’m going to compare between the HP Mini 1000 and the Toshiba NB100.

Interested in other Netbooks (all 8.9″)?

Mary from SimplyForties is simultaneously reviewing the Acer Aspire One and her sister also bought the Asus EEE PC Netbook.

Specifications

It basically has the exact same specs (weight included) as my HP Mini 1000, but it has a larger hard drive at 160GB and an extra USB Port which is a dream for me.

• 1.6GHz processor
• 1GB RAM
• WiFi
• LAN
• Bluetooth
• Webcam
• SD Card Reader
• 160GB (HP Mini = 60GB)
• 3 USB Ports (HP Mini = 2 USBs)

See more details here about specifications in general & the HP Mini.

This is the right side with 2 USB Ports, SD Card Slot and an air vent (I know it’s hard to see).

This is the left side with the third USB port, some random port for something. The headphone jack is in the front under the trackpad.

Price

It was the exact same price as my HP Mini 1000 ($499.99), but they didn’t have any HP Mini 1000s in stock in all of the city, and even though he wanted a HP Mini, he settled for the smaller Toshiba N100.

Overall Feeling

SIZE
I find it too small. Really too small for me, but it may be because I’m spoiled with my own Netbook.

It is slightly thicker than mine, and longer in the vertical (screen length) as shown:

SCREEN
The screen is taller, but it doesn’t give much more typing than the HP Mini 1000. BF thought that since the screen was taller, he’d see more of the space in a Microsoft Word document, but we couldn’t see a real difference to be honest.

The screen is also dim.

Like a normal laptop. But the HP Mini is a lot brighter by about 20%. BF was happy with that because he doesn’t like very bright laptop screens (unlike moi), and he doesn’t watch videos on it anyway.

DESIGN
The battery sticks out at the back because they couldn’t fit all of the circuitry and hardware in that space while keeping it light and flush at the back.

Not a huge deal but it matters to some. In contrast, the HP Mini does not stick out – is flush.

I also happen to like the design of the HP Mini 1000 better (cuter cover design, looks sleeker, more like a clutch and less like a Netbook).

KEYBOARD
While I enjoy the track pad not being too glossy (also not a flaw in the HP Mini by the way), I do hate that the Mini has left and right keys on the left and right side of the trackpad.

Minor irritation but I am really used to the keys being on the bottom of the track pad, so it takes some getting used to if you are a one button person.

Anyway, overall, the keyboard is the worst thing about the laptop because of these two major flaws:

1. They put GREY type on a BLACK background

You cannot see the keys in low light.

And no, they don’t light up or glow in the dark, and are IRRITATINGLY DIM. BF says that he can see how the concept is a good idea because they put the special characters like F4 and all that in a light blue, so they really stand out more.

But on a Netbook, the keys are really tiny, so it’s hard to find even the most basic of letters.

2. The keys are baby-sized

So tiny that I am literally typing with one finger.

With my HP Mini 1000, it was 92% so it felt cramped and took a while to get used to it, but I could go at about 60 WPM (words per minute) versus my normal 120 WPM (words per minute)

Here’s the comparison of the keyboards between the Mini and the Toshiba.

I much prefer my keyboard, it feels like better quality, the keys are not as small (92%) and they are in white on black.

VERDICT?

Considering it’s the same price, I much prefer my HP Mini 1000.

Even though the Toshiba has 160GB of hard drive space (100 GB more) and an extra USB port, I think for the quality and all the minor little design flaws I’ve pointed out, the HP Mini is a lot sleeker for the cash.

BF however, is happy with the purchase, but he has conceded that mine is a lot cuter, better designed and that his was the first generation of Netbooks and mine was the second generation after some major improvements.

I don’t think that Toshiba was worth the $499 that BF paid for it, maybe $359 is what it was worth (especially now), but BF needed a laptop with more hard drive space than looks or sleekness. And he isn’t planning on using it very often.

Interested in other Netbooks (all 8.9″)?

Mary from SimplyForties is simultaneously reviewing the Acer Aspire One and her sister also bought the Asus EEE PC Netbook.

ORIGINAL BUDGET: $1500

(I’m half laughing & crying as I’m reviewing the amounts for each category. More laughing than crying.)

I re-jigged around the categories and put less in Eating Out, and Gas/Car Maintenance because I ended up buying that Netbook.

INCOME: $2367.11

From Savings $1500

To pay for living expenses – that was the budget I set for myself as close to bare bones, but I tend to always go over by a hundred or so but I don’t really sweat it.

Earned $867.11

Cash on the side doing side jobs.

Am waiting for a contract that may be coming up soon at the end of April. Will know more then, so I’m not sweating it for now.

WHAT I ACTUALLY SPENT: $2508.08

So as you may have noticed, I killed my budget sheet this month.

But only by $141.47!

UPDATE: I forgot about interest earnings on my accounts, I actually earned $71.52 in interest this month, so really, I was only over budget by $69.95.

I can’t totally blame it on my Netbook because I bought things for my trip next month (allergy pills, train ticket)..

So to compensate a bit, I also didn’t spend any cash on gas or car maintenance (car is fully paid off, insurance was $300/year) and I barely ate out this month.

Here’s my cute little pie chart in my budgeting sheet to show you that Savings, Rent, Food & Electronics are clearly my priorities in life.

FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT

Decreased by $3378.76 (the stock market dropped by another $1500 for me and I spent money living.)

ASSETS = $70,896.74

• Emergency Fund for 2 years = $36,000
• General Savings = $1914.55
• Retirement = $15,150.68 (Market Value) — Book Value is $24,489.14
• Business = $17,831.51

LIABILITIES = $0

NYE 2009 Resolutions Tracking:

• Save 50% of new income = $450 (a little over half of $867) – FAILED? Because I spent $141 of what I “saved”
  
• Tracked expenses and set a budget – CHECK!
• Stay on $1500 budget when not working – FAILED
• Increase Net Worth to $150,000 – FAILED FOR THIS MONTH.
  

NOTES

Wow this is a nasty month. March will not be better.

Am going back to Ontario to see my sister, pick up my mail and my taxes (FINALLY!).

Then I am going to NYC with BF. Heh

Oh well, it has to be done, and there’s no need for me to freak out until I really don’t get a contract by August 2009. So I’m going to take it easy until then and keep working on getting a contract and/or a job in the States.

I am however, going to try and tighten my belt on extraneous spending. I foresee some meals at home with my family LOL. No eating out extravagantly.

FRUGAL SHOWERING AS A CHILD

When I was a kid, we didn’t have showers at my grandparents.

We would have a huge tiled bathtub (you could fit a single adult in there up to their neck), that we would fill up with hot-to-warm water.

I’d sit on a little plastic chair beside the big tiled tub, over a tiled floor that had a big drain where the water would drain out and flow from the house to the street and wash away the dirt in the drains.

Anyway, the process was:

I’d throw a bucket of water on my hair and another on my body to wet myself, then soap up my hair and body.

Then I’d scoop buckets of water to rinse off my hair and body, then get out and let my sibling use up the water sitting in the bathtub.

If we wanted to be luxurious, you could actually sit IN the bathtub but it dirtied the water so we didn’t do that because it was rude to later bathers.

This meant of course, we all had to shower at around the same time so that the water would stay warm. And we also learned how to clean ourselves in about 2-3 minutes.

I guess we could do something similar now, but our bathrooms are not set up for that since we don’t have a main drain.

SAVING BUS FARE

When my mom didn’t have a license, we had to take the bus. I was around 7 at the time but kids under 5 rode for free. I clearly remember one day, we had to take the bus (all 3 kids and my harried mom) downtown for something.

We ran out of change, or tickets.. or my mom was just being cheap.

Anyway, she pulled me by the hand, handed me a huge stuffed teddy bear to hold and told me to look tired and pouty.. very young.

I got on the bus and she argued (a bit) about how I was 5! How dare he say I looked older! I was just tall for my age!

And I rode for free.

Those are all the small memories I can remember. Just made me think about them and chuckle because things are so different now.

Thanks to Mary from SimplyForties on Twitter, I have not in a long time, ever laughed so hard that I had tears coming out of my eyes.

I’d rather have these messages than annoying “FILE CANNOT BE FOUND” or messages that make no sense if you aren’t a geek.

Without further ado..

Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.

Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.

Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.

Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.

Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.

First snow, then silence.
This thousand-dollar screen dies
So beautifully.

The Tao that is seen
Is not the true Tao – until
You bring fresh toner.

A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.

Having been erased,
The document you are seeking
Must now be retyped.

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.