New computer good. Old computer bad.

As you might be able to tell by the fact that I was finally able to post that picture of me and the dog, I finally broke down and bought a new computer. I couldn't take the crap anymore -- having to prop my screen up with my free hand because the hinges had all come loose, battling popups all the time, not being able to post pictures to my stupid blog.

All that crap is in the past, thanks to my new ibook G4. It's a beautiful thing, really. It's infinitely superior to my old steaming pile of poo that I called a computer. Now I can post all kinds of pictures -- I didn't even need a stupid driver to get my digital camera to work with the ibook!

The dog that changed my mind

Anyone who knows me knows that I am definitely NOT an animal lover. I never grew up with any pets, other than a goldfish whom I named Star -- and who lived almost an entire year, which is a freakishly long time for a goldfish.

I absolutely despise cats, because, well, most of them look like spawns of the devil. They're also sneaky -- they like to creep up behind you and then pounce and scare the hell out of you. My apologies to all the cat lover out there, but I doubt my viewpoint on cats will ever change. I'm pretty set in my ways on that topic.

Dogs, however, are a slightly different story. I've never really liked dogs much, and as a child I was always deathly afraid of them. I'm still afraid of most large dogs, and I hate when they try to chase after me when I'm riding my bike. It might as well be a pack of wolves chasing me for as freaked out as I get by a stupid dog. And, I hate really small, yippy dogs -- the chihuahua types that yap, jump on you, and never shut up.

But I've always been willing to admit that there are some cute dogs out there. I'd just never interacted with one until my boyfriend's roommate got a dog a few months ago. At first, the dog just annoyed me because it was a hyperactive little puppy that would jump up on me every time I walked into the house. And once, when I was sitting at the computer, the dog jumped up and scratched the hell out of my upper buttocks region.

Recently, however, I've started to have a change of heart. I think it started a few weeks ago when I was again sitting at the computer and the dog jumped up into my lap and just sat there looking up at me with his little puppy dog eyes. And then a little while later I was sitting on the couch and he just crawled up next to me and sat there, watching the TV. The climax of all of this was when he curled up in my lap like he was getting ready to take a nap. It was at that moment that my boyfriend had to snap this picture.

An interesting turn of events

It wasn't so long ago that I was unemployed and living with my parents. In fact, it was a mere two years ago and I had just finished college. I sent my resume off to dozens of different places, and no one even bothered to give me a "thanks but no thanks" email. I'd probably still be living with my parents, working at Subway or some equally hideous place, if it weren't for the fact that I was fortunate enough to stumble into a job (by pure, dumb luck) working at a weekly newspaper in one of the most backward, conservative, inbred small towns I've ever encountered.

While there, I questioned my calling in life. I had several people tell me I suck at layout, reporting, design, etc. People ranging from the mayor of Inbredville to the bitch who (mis)handled company computer problems to the jackass who replaced me as editor told me that I had no skills. Luckily, I had just enough skills to trick another newspaper into hiring me -- my current employer, the Globe. No one at the Globe has ever indicated that I suck in any way, but I always secretly wondered, Do I have what it takes? Am I good enough to work at a real newspaper that is not located in a crappy small town?

I recently found out the answer to that question is a resounding "yes." One of the largest newspapers in this region recently called me because they wanted to set up an interview. So I went through four grueling hours of talking to editors, taking copy-editing tests and designing mock pages yesterday. And today, I got a call from one of the paper's editors telling me that not only did he want to hire me, but also that I got the highest scores he's ever seen on the tests they threw at me.

Add that to the fact that I also had an interview at another large, metro newspaper last week, and they called me up less than 24 hours later and practically begged me to come and work for them.

That's right -- I don't just have a job offer. I have multiple job offers. I am going to have to call one of these newspapers up and tell them, "thanks but no thanks." The tables have turned in two short years, and it feels damn good.

And to everyone in Inbredville -- thanks for launching my career. Now go f*** yourselves.