There was a time I couldn't stand LCD monitors. The smug thinness, the not-quite-dark blacks, the unreliable starter circuits. And I loved CRTs for being all different. Now it's flipped. I will never know what possessed the monitor to give up its relays on Thursday morning, but by that night, I was an LCD believer. And they are so LIGHT! I may never like vacuum tubes again! Thank goodness, really.
My car had its last "woes" of 2010 when, with hours to go in the year, the starter (of ALL things) decided not to work anymore. After some hemming, hawing, and some last-minute plan jiggering, I put it to bed at Novak Automotive, where they found THREE things wrong, all of them long-term trouble-makers: the battery cable, the battery itself, and the oil-pressure switch. Turns out the inadequate power was no accident, but the real starter-wrecking culprit was the leaking switch--the starter was so fouled it could barely work. $325 later, I had a brand-new machine in my machine. Extra credit to my backup driver, with whom I shared cheese sandwiches afterward.
My last camera-phone was stolen a few months back, and I took it as punishment to use an older phone for a few months. Tonight, I was able to buy a new one--slick, camera-installed, and it uses these bitsy USB connectors instead of the proprietary Samsung garbage I've had to wrangle so long ago. I also got back all the contacts that were on that phone, and spent an hour tonight merging, deleting, and sorting people into work, friends, and family. Woohoo! New phone! Full keyboard! I can use headsets!
Also, this book is wonderful. If you care a whit about knowledge work, teamwork, software development, or management of all-of-the-above, please read it!