Changes...

2 February 2011

Well, I have been pretty much offline, other than checking my email once a day, for the past couple of weeks.  It has been very strange and I actually think I had withdrawal symptoms.  

My computer died.  This was a horrible shock.  Particularly as my website was on it.  Yes I had an older version of my website backed up on my external hard drive which would be great if it had been possible to even get the external hard drive to allow me to put my password in to unlock it so that I could have tried to use it on Neil's laptop.  But no.  It wasn't going to allow this.  Still haven't been able to get access to it and as it contains 130 GB of my photographs this is rather upsetting to say the least.  

When I started to look at compatibility issues for the software I use with the new Windows 7 I realised that there was going to be a serious problem for my website as Frontpage is not compatible with Windows 7.  So I cannot rebuild my website in the same software.

At this point, as I spent time reading PC Adviser, Which Laptop, etc... and had almost reached the conclusion that it was a tie-break between a new Sony laptop and a Toshiba laptop... my sister said... "What about a Mac?"  "Be open minded" was her next comment... Food for thought.

On Sunday, Neil and I went into the PC World where we had seen a Toshiba that I had decided was definitely the one for me.  But it was gone.  Not getting anymore in.  End of a range. Hmph.

Neil wanted a strip of DDR2 ram as he still has hopes of being able to make the old PC (5 years old) work again.  I was of a different frame of mind.  

Having had many completely sleepless nights (I am not someone who suffers from insomnia... I am the type who is asleep the moment my head touches the pillow)... now I had found myself sorting out the untidy baskets in the bathroom at 4am as I had decided I may as well do something useful if I couldn't get to sleep... 

I realised that I was actually in the mood for a change...

We travelled to the Lisburn branch of PC World, for Neil to buy his DDR2 Ram and I was browsing the   laptops when a very helpful girl came over to me from the Apple Mac area.  "Did I know much about the MacBook's?" she enquired.  "What did I use my computer for mostly?"  "Photos, website, blogging" came my reply.  "Would I like her to show me what Apple computers could do?"  

I followed her over to the Apple area.  She started going through how the computer worked.  An hour and a bit later... I left with the price lists... names of software... and a new found enthusiasm...

I didn't want to rush into anything.  

By Tuesday morning, I had decided.  I went into the Apple Store at 9:15 am and said that I wanted to buy the 13" MacBook Pro.  So, the very capable young man, took me through the workings of the MacBook Pro again, gave me a tour of the shop, and I left at 12:30 pm with a new MacBook Pro laptop, a 3 year warranty, and one year of one-to-one training.  This is amazing.  I can book sessions to learn how to use my software properly.  Help with Rapid weaver as needed.  

Today, feeling a little like things were finally going right again... I bought a nice new Belkin Wireless system so I am now online again and I have a new hub to plug all the peripherals into.  

Great new External hard drive for the Mac (these are huge now... mine is 1 TB but they even come in 2TB sizes...)  So now... I am trying to find a way of cataloguing the photos on the external Hard Drive to make it easier to find specific ones when I am looking for them... and I need to try to find some type of access to my photographs... Should have had the back up backed up shouldn't I...  

And I have started planning my new Sasha Doll Style website... I printed out the website so I have a paper record... (400 pages spread between 2 ring folders)... I hadn't realised that the website had become quite so big...  Plenty of work ahead...