Last weekend, I made a new category, and went back and republished all my Laptop Saga posts -- all in preparation for this post, which may (or may not) be the last post in the category. Brief summary:
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It's been nearly a month now since my iBook arrived, and I finally begin to feel that it's comfortable. When my English friend Abigail first moved here, she complained that nothing worked quite right; even the light switches were "backwards." On the Mac, the close window button is at the upper left; on the PC, it's at the upper right. Now I understand what she meant.
I have a long list of things I keep intending to do, or talk about, or both. Things changed when I was mostly off-line. One of my favorite blogs, Affliction, was suddenly in a different language, even a different alphabet. Now it seems to have been hijacked by advertisers. Anne has suspended fishbucket and has started something new. Artichoke Heart is still absent and should probably be removed from my sidebar.
When my time online was restricted, I began to pay closer attention to what I actually wanted to read every day, and several of them are not on my sidebar. Soon I will be adding How To Save The World; Echidne of the Snakes; Body and Soul; NewWest; feministe; Burning Bird; In a Dark Time; neon epiphany; and Whimsy Speaks.
I also see that My Comments Elsewhere keeps slipping down the sidebar. I've no idea why that happens, but will put my mind to it -- soon. That is here mostly for me, anyway, to jog my uneven memory so that I go back to conversations I have joined. Of course, I have to remember to bookmark them to begin with, another unreliability. And an odd consequence of the recent TypePad changes seems to be that the shell on my title bar is suddenly sliced off.
There is a conversation happening about altars that I want to participate in. I am participating in a study on sacred moments that I want to talk about.
I think I am, slowly, getting my rhythm back. Thank you all for the welcome!
Oh, yes -- I took the above photograph this morning, under the Madison Street Bridge.
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An interesting weekend -- alternately exciting (Wow! Look at that!) and frustrating. Learning what can be done, and what can't. Yesterday I had problems getting the Flickr Uploader to work, but today it seems fine. I am loving loving loving being able to move my laptop easily between the living room and sun room. The battery life is amazing compared to the HP.
iPhoto, unlike Picasa (which is not available for the Mac) does not automatically add photos edited and saved with a new name in Photoshop Elements. This was annoying until I realized I probably don't need iPhoto at all -- Elements for the Mac seems to do everything I want.
Woke stiff-necked this morning, too much time looking at the screen. So I'm rationing myself today. It is so fun -- stimulating -- to be zipping around the Web again. Lots to read and think about. Also, I have a new poem, but I can't post it here yet; I entered it in a contest.
This tulip photo is one of my favorites from last month -- lots more to come.
Happy Monday!
[Did Pingomatic go down while I was away?]
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Argh. Headache.
Step away from the iBook . . . !
But first, a few photos that have been languishing:
See you tomorrow!
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Beautiful, isn't it? The keyboard is an absolute delight. Friend Kris called at about 6 PM yesterday to see if I'd remembered to eat; and sure enough, I'd had breakfast and then half a bag of goldfish crackers. She brought dinner and admired my new toy.
It is so lovely, I just can't tell you . . .
For someone like me, to whom aesthetics are important, it's a joy. I can't believe I haven't switched before. And now, thanks to all of you, I have.
The learning curve is somewhat steeper -- or the learner somewhat slower -- than I had anticipated. Everything is just a bit different.
My first post from the iBook! Please bear with me as I learn, and as I obsess -- you may expect a number of posts on Mac vs. Windows.
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Sometime last night, Watermark's site counter passed 50,000 !
Unbelievable.
AND -- the iBook shipped on Friday, and Estimated Delivery is Wednesday.
The day after tomorrow.
It may take me a bit to get everything up and working, and to get comfortable with the switch, but expect me back full speed by Friday.
I've missed you folks . . .
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My Apple experience so far has been less than wonderful.
Friend Cindy called Apple on June 8, and spoke with Raul about specifically how and what to buy. The next day, she called and left (at least two) messages telling him that we were ready to order. He never returned her calls (obviously not working on commission.)
On the 9th, she started over with a new representative, and ordered the iBook. Although the website then said ships in 1-3 days, and now says Estimated Ship: Same business day, according to Kyle it would be eight business days to shipping. Well, it is a specifically configured machine, and I was very excited, so no problem.
Each morning I turn on this old desktop and check Order Status. For days it has said: Estimated Shipping on or before June 14, so I eagerly anticipated receiving it at the end of this week, or, worst case, on Monday.
Yesterday we got this:
We appreciate your recent Apple Store Order W . . . .
Due to an unexpected delay, we are unable to ship the following item(s) by the date that you were originally quoted:
. . . IBOOK 12.1 . . .
will now ship on or before 06/20/2005
Today I received the Macintosh Photoshop Elements 3 disc from Adobe.
So here I am, all dressed up and nowhere to go.
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Late
again! And old photos, too -- but I don't think I've posted them here
before. The good news is, my new iBook has been ordered, and should be
here before next week's Friday Cat Blogging. Just a few more days; less
than a week, I hope.
[Spike looks rather stern, here, doesn't he?]
Keep yourselves entertained:
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I am exhausted, and giddy. Thanks to my generous readers, a bit of birthday money from family, and matching funds from poet friend Cindy, I will soon have a new laptop. I've spent the past few days up and down stairs to the desktop, printing out reviews, asking questions in forums, exploiting the expertise on The Well.
This research would be so much easier on a nice speedy laptop . . .
So, after wrangling with various factors (weight, size, memory, speed, battery life, support, ease) I have decided to switch. You folks are buying me a 12" iBook -- with a three-year support contract.
Adobe will send me a Mac version of Photoshop Elements 3 for shipping and a promise to not use or sell the Windows version (unfortunate, as I'd like the option to use it a bit on this desktop) -- and I've already done the paperwork for that. According to the lists on the Apple site, my printer will work. And, of course, my camera.
It's odd, to abandon twenty years of PC experience -- but a great
deal of that experience was trouble- shooting, for myself, my office,
my friends. I'm hoping that the rumors are true, that with a Macintosh
there is less problem- solving and more computing.
So, this little bitty magic machine is beautiful, and movable
-- at five pounds, I should be easily able to use it in the living room,
sunroom, and even in the garden. Who knows, I may even carry it up and downstairs -- we'll see.
Finally, I just have to say that something is happening in my life, something unsettling. This, and then -- you've heard about my little mossy car. For a couple of years now, the battery has been, umm, temperamental. Probably due to neglect.
So once a month or so a friend brings by a
battery charger she got at a yard sale and I charge up my car to go
grocery shopping. But yesterday, it didn't work. The battery would no longer take a charge.
Briefly, I considered canceling the iBook, since all my own spare cash is going to that, too. A darkness in the belly at that idea. Told myself to let go, just deal with one thing at a time.
I called to ask a friend if she would pick up milk and cat food for me -- the two immediate necessities -- while I pondered what to do.
My friend brought me milk, cat food, and a new car battery.
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Yes, we're still here; just not online very much. I don't feel able to
order repairs on the laptop until I'm sure the warranty will or won't
cover them -- hopefully will. Then I could glory in your reassurances
without having to actually spend them.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about what this technology,
and this blog, means to me. Isolation is, it seems, an almost
inevitable consequence of chronic illness. It is so seductive to take
it personally -- I'm just a bad, unattractive person -- but reading (on
the web and otherwhere) shows me that this is not so. It takes energy
to be social, to be active -- and illness uses that up.
So for me, this place has become my coffee shop, my living room, my circle- of- friends. And I am missing you.
While it all settles out, remember to visit:
Friday Ark
The Carnival of the Cats
The Carnival of the Dogs
I will be receiving guests, and visiting again, soon.
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