Mac Day

After yesterday afternoon and evening, I was wondering about my sanity - I even woke up sometime in the middle of the night thinking I was doomed, shouldn't have bought this Mac Book Pro.  But the morning came, and along with it, a bit of calm sanity prevailed.

Today is our last day here at the Pumpkin Patch, tomorrow we have a travel day all the way to Topsham, Maine, about 95 miles or so.  Jim had decided earlier in the week that he would do laundry this morning.  The dogs decided this morning that they would help out by waking up extra early, a little before 6.

Once coffee was on board and we were awake enough to function, Jim packed up the laundry and left for the local laundromat.  I put clean sheets on the bed, washed the dishes, dusted a little bit and called it good on the housecleaning.  Then I sat down with the new Mac and started learning.  I am not one to take little bites when it comes to learning something new - I prefer the immersion method - I want to know and understand it all - NOW.  I get frustrated when I can't find answers or accomplish some task. I don't necessarily go in a nice, orderly progression, either - I often jump around from one topic to another (Adult ADD?).  But whatever, I started working on figuring out the new system.

I'm feeling more comfortable with a lot of it by now, and figuring out some work-arounds for a few things that just aren't going to be the same going forward. For example,  Microsoft Live Writer is pretty much out of my picture, so until I find a decent replacement, I'll either write my blogs in Word and copy/paste them into Blogger or just write directly in Blogger.

Microsoft Streets and Trips is in the same trash basket as Live Writer.  But we have DeeDee, Android's Navigator, Google Earth, Mapquest, and - oh yes - paper maps!  I think we can find our way around the country without Streets and Trips.

Today's pictures are a hodgepodge of the past 7 months, from Louisiana to Texas to Colorado to Maine!  I've spent several hours with iPhoto, learning how to do some editing and export them to a folder in a compressed format to upload to Blogger.

Jim and me at Suire's Grocery near Abbeville, LA in January 2012

A Lazy Alligator Sunning at Avery Island,  January 2012

I have managed to tear myself away from the computer long enough to go next door for lunch with Jim, walk the dogs several times, put away laundry and call Verizon.  With the new "share" plans available, we're trying to figure out what's going to the best solution for us.  We have 2 smartphones, 2 laptops, a wireless printer, and the iPad.  Our past usage trends suggests that the share plan that includes 6 gigs of data shared on all our devices "might" be enough, but the 8 gig plan might be better.  The price for that plan is very close to what we've been paying, and it would give us unlimited text and talk in addition to the 8 gigs of data on our devices.  

Experimenting with iPhoto Effects with a Swamp Tour Picture - Abbeville, LA, January 2012

Bird seen on the LA Swamp Tour, January 2012

All of that got me to thinking about the priority of that data in our lives today.  I remember when the internet didn't exist at all, then in education we started using it a little bit for research.  E-mail was totally unheard of.  Now, if we didn't have these digital tools, we'd really be up the creek!  We rarely get a paper billing statement for anything, just an occasional medical bill.  Even then, I typically go to a website to enter an online payment.  What would I do if all of a sudden there was no internet?  No email?  Everything would sure be slowed down!  Internet and email are no longer luxury items in the budget, for sure.

Cowboy listening to music at  Luckenbach, TX, Spring 2012

And remember when TV was free?  Seems like a long time ago.  When we toured the LBJ ranch house in Stonewall, Texas this past Spring, there were 3 TV's in several rooms.  Back then, there were 3 options for TV - ABC, CBS and NBC.  No satellite, DVR, Cable or even Public TV!  And certainly no remote controls!  So, President Johnson could tune in to the 3 networks at the same time in certain rooms of the ranch house.  And that was high tech!  Ah, the good old days!

Bee and Bluebonnet - Texas Hill Country Spring 2012

Tomorrow, we're expecting showers, so we may have a rainy travel day, but that's OK.

Pikes Peak from Highway 24, June 2012

This evening, I'll be keeping one eye on the Olympics and the other on the computer, still reading all the help files I can get to!

Hydro Electric Generation Plant in Old Town, Maine, July 2012