iPod want...

I wanted the iPod Touch in the worse way. Could I justify getting one or was it just plain lust? If I got one, could I keep it as a tool or would it become an obsession? So I started to make a list. First glance it looks like I am stacking the deck with all pros but the negative looms large like a green monster hovering over my shoulder. I need a list of what I want so that this iPod serves my purpose and goal.

This past summer I finally got a faster internet so now the dream could happen. It is useless to have an iPod without wifi. I was feeling the pull even stronger. Interesting enough my parents where being lured in by the enticing Apple. Dad finally got tired of slow internet and bumped up to a higher speed. An Apple store opened up locally and we made the trip. I have been an Apple freak for 18 years and it was cool to see my pc parents engage the with the Apple products. Woohoo, it was like being let loose in a sweet and dark chocolate shop where you could sample to your hearts content. A few days later Dad gets Mom an early birthday gift of an iPod. Getting her set up was a nightmare and I reminded myself that it was from forgotten passwords and the new gmail password was acting up as well. Pretty sure that it wouldn't stop me.

Way before now my list was made. I listen to BBNradio.org for the great hymns and sermons. There are times when I am away and miss one of my favorite speakers. On Sundays especially I listen to Ravi Zacherias but he comes on when I need to be at Sunday School at the new church. It is much easier to download and listen to the the iPod than firing up the big iMac. Plus, I can't truly listen well when at the iMac. My eyes, ears, and mind are all over the place. I listen best when my hands are busy and the mind is free to focus on the message like when dish washing or even crocheting. Downloading to the Nano is too time consuming and by the time I would listen get to it, it would be old news. With Wifi and the iPod Touch this would fix it all right up. So what to do with the Nano? I can't just leave in crying in some dark desk drawer. I made plans to rip CDs to it monthly so it won't feel sooo lonely. I do like listening to music as I fall asleep or when trying to waking on a weekend and this brings about 7 plus CDs in a tiny space.

There are times when I have some radio difficulty and having the quick option of podcasts through the iPod Touch & Wifi makes quick work to carry and go in the all to short morning routine. That way I am not stuck to bad radio stations. Those days I can't get my BBNradio really wear me out spiritually. Anything to keep sane at work is a major plus.

I really like to write. I am a major thinker and writing is the best companion to an overworked mind. I see it as one long conversation with God. It is breathing in and exhaling. It is having things gel after a long think. It is seeking God and having Him clear things up. By the time the thoughts and meditations on the Word have gone through the long hallways of my mind and out through my fingers, I am amazed at where I am at. It is like crawling through a sewer and coming out into bright sunshine standing upright.

Now that you know how much I like to write, the question is 'will I be able to use the iPod Touch to write?' Is it going to be too awkward? Will I trip over my brain trying to touch the correct letters? Will I be to distracted by the other gadgets apps and fail at making writing a daily habit?

A deep voice from deep within shouts back that this is the perfect answer for those many moments where I wait like having the jeep serviced. Having a small handheld device would make quick work of writing, blogging, and tweeting. What about those nights right before bed when a genius thought enters the mind. No more laying there with the thought quickly fading away because I don't want to jump out of the warm comfy bed to fire up the iMac that I put to bed instead of asleep. Now this handy device muted for sleeping purposes is right there to touch pad my burning thoughts. No more excuses can be allowed for disappearing thoughts except for a wiggling temptress game app that might catch my glance as I turn into my note taking app.

I most secret love is to write out a poem because it usually comes from a broken heart and a poem mends those jagged edges. Having an iPod handy is like a bandage of healing right at my fingertips. It would be neat if I could make my own ibook where it is readable like the other ibooks but I think that is a dream. A pdf saved in ibooks comes out with tiny print and you have enlarge it to read it. Bummer.

If I can only keep from being distracted by the game and note taking apps! These are the potholes to my writing scheme. I do love how it makes life easier but oh so distracting too. Maybe the excitement will wane a bit and I can get myself under control. I could gush over the reading and the writing all day and into the night long!

There are some other features that I want to discuss. It has a speaker which is nice so one less thing to attach to it. However, it doesn't like to charge to your old but expensive ipod radios. You need an adapter. Bummer. Mom swears by the one I got for her that plugs into the wall so that you aren't always firing up the computer to charge it up. She says it only takes an hour to charge her pod up where it takes me on the computer or other device 2 to 3 hours. I will have to time her adapter! My inquiring mind wants to know.

I love my iMac dictionary and was hoping the iPod would have the same feature. It doesn't it but it is smart and once you get the hang of the help it provides, you can touch pad as quick as you can type and with correct spelling. However, it is a dance you and you have to learn your partner's move or it you send 'gobbly- gook' or like my Mom says 'afraid I send off cuss words!' You can master it if you are willing not to get mad at it first.

I love the Facetime feature. However, it is a weird too. At the beginning I would just laugh because it me it was funny. It makes me nervous too because they can SEE you. That is too wacky! I also love the chat feature. Meebo was what I chose for Mom to make it easier for her to communicate through her Facebook and email all in one place. I use Meebo too. It is easier to have one chat program than all the different apps. Plus, you have to make it easy for your parents to engage in the experience or they will just throw it out.

What that is my list and I must stick to it. An iPod must work for me and my goals. It cannot become an idol of wasted time....

apple mash ...

What is up with Apple? I have been an Apple freak ever since I laid eyes on them back in my college days. I have never owned a PC - only Apples for me and Macintosh is my favorite flavor even in the real thing from the tree. However, there is a trend that I do not like.

The new iMacs do not come with dial up connection nor word processing as a standard. What? Yes, tis true. What is a computer but a place to come to write and create? We don't need to write? Good grief!

So more $$ to throw out to the wind. What is most frustrating is that you it is limited where you can get products for Apple meaning the cost goes up. Sure go cheap. Buy a PC. But I am a creative and Apple is a creative as well. And you have to pay for that creativity through the nose. Creativity should not be a luxury for the rich and famous. It is wasted on them.

I have been fussing about with my iMac for about a year now and it has been getting more intense ever since I lost my Appleworks. I am going crazy! Need an apple friend! Brainstorming and help greatly wanted! I want to really buckle down and get started writing. Apple is my brand of magic... or I thought it was...

a mess ...

I do have a bit to write about but since this basket of apples has been tipped over, I have had a divided mind. I need organization for my creativity. A few of the apples that have rolled away are Safari, Appleworks, iMovie, iPhoto, and Shutterfly. I have lost all my favorite bookmarks here in my Safari so I have been gathering up from what I can remember. It is great having a visual mind. I shall surely bit by bit get my world back in order. I still have to find Appleworks and iMove. Grrrrrrr, because I have no idea where to find them. I have reload iPhoto and Shutterfly. All in all I have cleaned up and learned bits more about my iMac.

I need some vacation time besides a rainy Saturday to help me in my turned-over-apple-cart. Man, I need an apple friend!

timewarp ...

All I wanted to do was get my Appleworks back. Shouldn't that be important to someone who wants to write? It came with my Mac and I have written things down that I want access too. Well, this girl tried to find it and when I put the disk in and pushed buttons that I shouldn't have, I broke my Apple even more so much so that I was sent back to operating system 9! Nothing worked and I couldn't even get online. I still had the music, pictures, and documents that I could retrieve. It took a bit to get a USB large enough and then when I went to get it, Staples didn't have it. Now that is a story and a half. The helper was a bit wacked out but Staples did send me the USB port. Well, because I was not home to receive this package, I put a note for UPS to leave it. I had no way to access the Internet for an official leave-the-package-or-i-just-might-go-ballistic document. No, they would not leave it. So I got it the next day only to find out that this fantastic lifesaver would not work on an OS 9. I was hoping what I could to my tiny USB ports and then got a notion to transfer them over to the big USB port at work. Yesterday, I reloaded my Tiger. Got back to OS X but couldn't get online. Plus, Appleworks still was broken. Today, I was ready and erased the whole thing and reinstall Tiger. Guess what? No Appleworks to be found! What? I did save all the dmg's so that I would not have to waste precious time reloading all the things I had downloaded. They worked too. Very happy about that. Not sure if I was successful at saving my Safari preferences. I hope I have a good memory! It will take me some time to get everything back just the way I like it.

I missed my writing ...
I did have good thoughts but my brain was working overtime on how to fix things up. Furious about Appleworks. Still wishing for an Apple friend. Could have used one! And sadly, no one seemed to miss me. But that is my life. A loner...

Apple Classifieds ...

::: W A N T E D :::
an apple guru who can mentor an advance novice! with her iMac and downloading issues. All I have owned is Apple and I need to maximize my knowledge. I have struggled and thought I was on my way last night only to have an error -4960. I have broken my Appleworks. ITunes won't work because I can't update to 10.4.11. I have searched the web and have come up short. I am off to reload OS X and cleaning off system 9. I am afraid, very afraid. I don't want to lose everything! I need help!

tech bytes ...

Breathe......

I am just out of sorts and frustrated with dial up and trying to get the updated downloaded for my operating system. (Tiger, hear me roar!) It takes hours and just when it is almost finished, the connection drops and I am left with no download. I tried a different way thinking that I could download it bits at a time but noooooo, it will not be working out this way.

I have no iTunes and I managed to break my Appleworks to add to my mess. I am so tired of trying to keep connected so I can write and do some creative things online. I want so badly to make this work so I spend less time on the problems and get to being creative......

While I am having a splish splash in my pity pool, ticks me off to have made a blog entry last saturday as I pushed the publish button - poof Safari shut down. When I got back onto my little place, the entry did not save nor where there any drafts saved in my posts. What good is autosave if it doesn't work?

One last thing - I have made a notch on my virtual front steps in hopes to find a good, knowledgable, and very patient apple friend. No bytes there... bummer. Maybe I will have to break down and beg for some poor chap or chapette to help. Opps tooooooo neeeeedy. Crossing that off the list. I will mutter through and survive...

What is up will come down?

I can't get on blogger? What is going on? Is anyone else having issues?

I have been preoccupied with getting more instruction on my looms and haven't been mentally ready to write. Bummer, too. I need to write to be sane. A lonely existence needs outlets as well as a creative.

I have been running into glictches. My iTunes needs my iMac updated and when I go to upgrade it takes alllllll day and even into the night then it gets a networking error - timed out (-1001) Before that I had to delete old systems to make room. Guess what? My currant Appleworks is messed up because of me! And the fourth break down is blogger not allowing me on and it smells of Safari not working with Blogger.

On the looming side of things, I have made progress on finding a great instructor. She creates small projects that really make for great impact! She labors over the instructions more than the actual creation. What dedication! I am too new at looming and have no back ground in knitting or crocheting. I doubt I will ever to create anything that far out. I can make some creations and maybe when I am over my frantic need to grasp everything, I will be able to really have some creative vision instead of relying on patterns.

At work the auditors have come. Grrr. I know that they are there to make sure we measure up yet it feels like 'big brother' breathing his grimy breath down my exposed neck.

All the while God still whispers that He is still there and reminds me what is important for the Eternal. Swindoll has been taking about 'living life exceedingly, abundantly, beyond'. It came at the right moment. It that amazing of God? It is flying over and seeing all the crazy chaos below and not being touched by them nor hindered. This learning sticks to my bones. I care very much about how I do things and the tools that I use but I don't get bogged down. Not necessary. Not eternal either.

Another thought came this week and I think it was Swindoll again. ''The struggle in coming around is as important as doing what God asks'. I so often get frustrated with others when they are struggling and just don't do it as well as getting frustrated with my ownself. I do come around to excepting it. Hmmm, a struggle isn't it. The struggle is 'holy mud'. It fashions us into being a better reflection of God.

What won't kill us makes us stronger. eh?

widgets...

Wooohoooo!!! Love the Widgets, love the Dictionary, love the iCal, love the upgrades of the messengers. Much faster. More colorful. More, more, more to express! Safari works ok with my blog even though some things are missing. I did not like firefox but going to keep it on my system just in case. (bummer)

I have been so busy playing and trying to get everything updated and iSync I am feeling guilty because December has ended and I need to wrap up my thoughts for the month and the year. I have been making a list and checking it twice. Slowly but surely I will get caught up!!!

HK degree in memory ...

Suffering all weekend with a mental battle to why I couldn’t get that memory and Tigar installed on my iMac, I decided to once again try even with my food allergy headache clogging my thought process. I proved successful and can say I have a HK (hard knocks) degree when it comes to installing memory.

I hate to reveal this but I had gotten some memory some time ago. I installed it but the clips to hold at the notches on the memory just didn’t fit. For fear of breaking the memory bar or killing my iMac, I just let it go. There was no message that there was an increase of memory. Bummer.

But with my computer slowing down and knocking me off line because websites were becoming more advanced and to top it off, I was struggling with my favorite thing to do (blogging), it was a do or die situation. Plus, after being told that my machine could be upgraded and money invested, I was a horrible wreak.

So I tried again. I was putting the memory in straight and trying to push hard enough to get the clips to hold the notches. So this time I pushed the one side in and was able to get the clip to hold right at the notch! Could I hope for success? Then I pushed the other side in and what? Yes! I could clip the notch. Tipping the iMac back to his upright position, I was wiggling around with hope. Turning on and clicking system profile, I could hardly contain myself. YES!!!! The memory had taken hold. And when I put the Tigar upgrade everything worked beautifully. I am afraid of a long night tonight and I must go to work in the morning … grrrr

Thank You Heavenly Father,
For helping me even when I was throwing a temper. I am so sorry. I wish I could take these bumps more willing and with a soft grace. I needed these bumps because I needed to know more about my iMac. I needed to go to the library and find the books. I need to read up. I need the magic to work more efficiently and to make the iMac serve me instead of suffering because I was unwilling to risk.

Whew! These books are thick! There is a lot of stuff! I can’t wait to do new things. I am excited get past the beginnings and get to the writing. There is a new toy I can’t wait to explore. The Dictionary built right in? Excellent! No more running to get my favorite friends (dictionary & thesaurus).

You are All-Knowing and I must trust and lean into You more quickly. Thank You so much!!!
~ Your mac-crazed little girl

bottomed out ...

I had the evening all set to spend with Mac. I had been nerveous and excited all in one. It has been a long couple of months with distence and shut downs. Tonight was suppose to open up a whole new world.

No, not talking boyfriends here. I am talking upgrading my old pal the iMac. I prepared to 'destatic'. I put the memory in and like the last time the white tabs that are suppose to match up with the notches on the memory don't. I push hard (being small I am not sure if I am using enough ufph). Well, it won't go in any further. I don't know how it will stay put. I flip Mac back in upright position and turn it on. Wooohooo, time to put in the disk.

The disk is a dvd. I open it up and read what I am suppose to read. Then I click on the installer. Up comes the big X screen with a button to restart. I click it. So Mac does his thing. What is suppose to come up is the installer screen. But that does not happen. I have a screen showing the installer button just like before. I restarted several times. Then I shut it down. Checked the memory again. Turned it on and restarted several times again. Then I went surfing google to get help on troubleshooting. What I find is not what happened to me.

What a mess. When things like this happen, I break down. God has been with me the hold time and I again come crying and tearing myself up. I know this is just a stupid human desire. This isn't eternal. Yet, I bring up all the things I could better use ...

I thank God that He doesn't need to be upgraded. He never slows down. He never just drops you for no reason. He is always there in every emergency. He is always working the NightShift and Weekends. It doesn't matter if it is a holiday. His manual is always included. He is always there. There are no lobby music blaring as you wait on the phone. You can take on life even without macgroups because God is in your group. You don't have to go the library to get five volumes of mac books to see if they have an answer to your problem....

My heart had that feeling again where the bottom drops out and it left scrape burns all down my insides... I was afraid that I would not sleep... I cried out ... He heard and granted me sleep .... I promised not to touch mac the next day...

waiting on memory ...

I know they told me 6 - 10 days and with Christmas in the mix, I figured at the earlist tomorrow and the lastest, next week. I am talking about my upgrade and memory for my iMac. I got my upgrade Wednesday but still have not seen the memory. I am biting at the bit! I have been trying to stay calm but a little impossible! I had them ship to the office but now with the weekend looming, probably not a good choice. I am also peeved because they didn't get the addresses down right nor the spelling of my first or last names! Good grief, where they listening????? So I am a nervous wreck!!!

broken window ... free flying

Whew!!! Feeling much better today. A few things looking up even though I busted the sliding window at my receptionist desk! No damage to me but a slight nick to the keyboard though. To bad I don't have a glass knife to cut the broken pieces down to a nice picture size to paint on!!!

Well, to the good news of the day...
... the computers are back. I saw them move in my old friends back to the back room. I just might be able to finish my Christmas letter yet or make that my New Year's letter during my hour lunch break.
... I stumbled upon a great website for us Mac lovers! Here I found the software since Apple was no help nor carries their old software I need and a number to call. I made my call today and found out that I can upgrade. I do not have to buy an whole new one. I am doing my happy dance. I just might have my upgrades by the first or second week of January.
... that transaction I made that I wasn't to keen on turned around and I feel better. I am not a sucker and I don't like to feel like it.
... I got to express somethings that had been piling up yesturday on my blog which when I woke, my 'sour' mood seemed to have dissapated.
... I also worked on a paint project for a girl at work. As I speak they are baking and I can hand them off. Now my time is freed for my own Christmas paint projects!

It is amazing when you can find a verse (Ps 25:17-18) to speak to God with and cry out. He hears. The struggle might still be there but He puts the bounce back in your step. I hope I can get back some of things that have fallen by the way side for this December. I like to make lists in prep for the New Year. I like to have a theme ready for my learnings. Compared to last year, I am really behind...

Thank You, Heavenly Father. You bring on the sunshine when all I have is the rain. Thank You.

apple bytes ...

More than depressed, I came out defeated! Instead of upgrading I have to buy a whole new system because if I want to update my system I have to scrounge through their refurbished items for memory etc. So I said what about adding a macmini? No, won't work with what I have.

While I was busy working and blogging and whatever else I do, the tech world has spun out of my own galaxy! I am at the point that if I want to expand, I must do something. All I can do at the moment is cry.

Cry because my ever expanding world has booted me right off the train. I have been working hard at engaging and taking on good stuff. Yes, I am not just taking about my apple now. Everywhere I turn I am booted right off...

misses them ...

As the tree begins to terminate their own leaves, the wind catches the colored crispy fly aways and toss them about. They flutter, spin, dance, skip, twirl, and gather in piles...

It hit me thursday evening that I will be without my parents for a week. Sure I am a grown up or at least that is what the license in the wallet claims. But it doesn't say that I won't misssssss them ... ( a lot! ) You know? I am not the type that gets homesick! What is happening? tee hee... that is what happens when you grow up in singlehood...

I took the week off from work so that I can live out of two houses. I got yummy boys (pupinators) to love on and my parents kitchen has very little safe food for me. I started a list of things to take care of like getting my tonka toy serviced and take care of a little recall. I plan to get info on upgrading my apple which will depress me more. Hope I find a nice and patient apple-techie that will answer a ton of my questions. I probably won't be able to upgrade till the end of next year or maybe in '08! So be a nice Apple. Argh! Right now my IM isn't working because msn does not play nice with us apple geeks. (stomps my feet) I also hope to clean up my home here (llj blog). I am toying with upgrading it to beta. Just hope everything works. I must save my templete just incase. Parents pear tree has a ton of ready pears. Hope the freeze didn't ruin them. I want to try pear jam and a pear pie that is keeper friendly!!!! no flour or sugar!!!! So if there is a success, I hope you tap your wooden spoons and break into a culinary dance with me!!! Of course I will be painting up a storm of glass and hope to pen out a lot of my thoughts. A lot on my list! I better get moving ...

...the pupinators are probably quite hungry and worried with all the rush of bags and stuff... I hope they settle in with me and not worry over every noise. They have that internal time clock of when everything should happen. Oh, they shake and worry so!! I understand their worry 'but hey, come on your favorite sissi is here and you are warm and fed and loved ... muuahh muuahh'