Tag Archives: Mac

A New Computer (or Out With The Old And In With The New)

Posted on December 27, 2016 | 1 comment

I’ve been writing about wanting to get a new computer for a pretty long time (my computer frustrations have been happening almost as long as I’ve had this blog). And the day that the new MacBook Pros were announced, I knew that I’d be getting one. I didn’t have the money at the time of the announcement, but I knew that between what I was able to save and the check I was going to get from my grandma for Hanukkah that I would have enough. So I immediately started to plan for the new computer.

The first thing I had to figure out was which one I was going to get. I knew I’d do the smaller size since I do like to bring my computer with me when I travel or to different events. And since the Touch Bar was the new thing they were introducing with the MacBook Pro, I figured I should splurge on that as well. And because the main problem I had with my old computer was that I ran out of storage space, I wanted to max out on storage (the maximum was going to be 4 times what I had on my current computer).

Since I wanted to upgrade the storage, I wasn’t totally sure that I would be able to just go to the Apple Store and get my new computer. So I sent a quick text to a friend who works at the Apple Store to find out. And since I was doing this the day they announced the new computers, I started my text with “don’t worry, I’m not asking you for a discount on the new MacBook Pro”. My friend answered my question (I would have to order it online), but then he also offered to let me use his friends and family discount! I wasn’t expecting that at all, but since it is a better discount than my educational one, I was so grateful that he was going to let me do that.

It ended up being an easy enough process to order the computer once I had the money together  (I was on the phone with my friend while he was online typing in the information) and according to my order it would be arriving at the Apple Store the first week of January. So I figured that I would spend most of December preparing my old computer to transfer my data over and that in January I’d be able to get everything set up super quickly.

Of course, I didn’t get time in December to work on the transfer stuff and then this past week I got a message that my computer was ready to pick up at the store! I couldn’t go the day it arrived so I planned on going to the Apple Store in the late afternoon on Christmas Eve (when I had free time). I knew the store would be insane, but it would be ok.

Then, on Christmas Eve I logged into work only to find out that we were given the day off! I still had other obligations in the afternoon, but since I didn’t have to work I had 3 hours free and figured it would be the perfect time to get to the Apple Store and deal with the crowds. But I discovered that 8am (when they opened) at the Apple Store on Christmas Eve is pretty empty! There were maybe 20 employees there and only 3 customers if you include me. And since all they had to do was go into the back and grab my laptop, it was a pretty speedy process.

Once I got my computer home and unpacked it, I was shocked at how thin and light it was! It feels like a kiddie toy compared to my old one! And when I set the computers up side by side (to help make sure I’m transferring all that I need to), the size difference was really obvious.

I’ll eventually get a protective case for the new computer once they start making them since it makes it easier to travel with the computer and it makes it stand out more when I’m in a room where a ton of people have the same computer. And I managed to spend some time over the weekend and the beginning of the week getting stuff transferred over to the new one (I’m typing this on the new computer). My game plan is to try to work on the new computer with the old one nearby in case I figure out something that I need that I didn’t transfer yet. And once I feel comfortable enough with the new computer only, I’ll wipe my old computer clean so it can go to its new home (a friend of mine will be buying it from me).

While it would have been nice to have a new computer sooner, I’m so glad I finally could get a new one! I’m still getting used to things so it feels a bit weird to work on it, but I know that this is going to make my life easier. It will be much faster to work on it, especially at the box office job where I need dozens of windows open at once to work. And I’m hoping that this will also make my blogging better as well (I can start doing more stuff with my blog that the old computer couldn’t handle).

I know I’m incredibly lucky that I got money that helped me pay for this. The fact that I got it on Christmas Eve and the first night of Hanukkah really made it the perfect gift! And I’m so grateful to my friend who let me use his discount. The money I saved helped to pay for unexpected expenses I had recently (like the new power steering I had to get for my car).

My old computer made it about 7 years, so here’s to making this computer last for the next 7!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailLooking Forward To Some Big Spending (or Needing New Technology) Default ThumbnailRestoring My Computer (or Glad For A Backup) Default ThumbnailHoping To Fix My Computer (or Can The New MacBook Pros Please Come Out Soon?) Default ThumbnailTrying To Cut Back On Clutter (or Why Won’t My Computer Do What I Want It To Do?!?) Default ThumbnailMore Computer Frustration (or Trying To Let It Go) Default ThumbnailA Free Weekday (or Planning Ahead For Fun Things)

1 Comment

Posted in Fun Stuff, Shopping, Work

Tagged , , , ,

Hoping To Fix My Computer (or Can The New MacBook Pros Please Come Out Soon?)

Posted on May 20, 2016 | 1 comment

This is totally not the post I was planning on writing for today. I’ll write about what I was going to write about next week, but today’s post is all about my computer frustrations.

My laptop is my life. I run multiple jobs off of it, I run my blog off of it, and I do most of my online work on it. It’s really that important to me and I need it to work the way it should work. I understand I do a ton of multi-tasking (when I’m working I must have about a dozen windows open), but it should work just fine. But my laptop is also 6 years old. That’s not a horribly old laptop, but when you do as much work on it as I do every year counts. I try to stretch the lifespan of my technology as long as I can, but there are limits.

Over a year ago, I ran out of storage on my laptop. The new models have a baseline of twice the storage I have now, so clearly I don’t have that much space on my computer. I’ve gotten rid of as much as I can (all my old blog posts that are freelance articles are deleted and no movies are actually stored on my laptop), but I’m still down to less than 10GB of storage left. I’ve tried to find more and more to delete, but I’m pretty limited in what I can get rid of and still be able to work.

I also can’t upgrade my operating system because of the lack of storage, so not everything is running as smoothly as it should. My computer can be very slow and laggy at times, especially while I working. It’s so annoying to always have to tell customers on the phone that they have to hold while a website loads on my computer.

Obviously, the clear answer to my problems is to get a new laptop. And that’s totally my plan. I have enough money for a new one (thanks to all the money I saved for my taxes that I didn’t end up needing) and I pretty much know exactly what I’m going to get. I want another MacBook Pro and I’ll be upgrading the storage and memory (which will be quadruple what I have now) so the new laptop lasts me at least another 6 years.

The only problem is that the most recent MacBook Pro was released about a year ago. They are no longer current machines and a new one is supposed to be released really soon. But really soon is a pretty open-ended phrase. I thought they would be released before the holidays last year. Then I thought they’d be released in April. Now the rumor is they will be released in June.

I don’t know how much longer I can wait on getting a new laptop. My current one with no storage is getting to the point where it isn’t very functional for me. It would be a perfect machine for someone who doesn’t have several thousand photos that they keep on it. And I’m hoping a friend will buy the old machine from me when I get the new one because it really is a great laptop for someone who doesn’t have the same storage needs as me.

But for now, I’m dealing with a pretty glitchy set up. And last night, because somehow 4,000 of my photos disappeared, I spent my night watching my computer restore itself to an old backup in the hopes that whatever happened will be fixed.

Computer Restore

I will probably be jumping for joy the day the new MacBook Pros are announced and will be ordering one the second I’m able to. I can’t wait to be impressed by how much better a new computer will be for me!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailLooking Forward To Some Big Spending (or Needing New Technology) Default ThumbnailSplurging On Technology (or I Guess I Had To Get A New Phone) Default ThumbnailA New Computer (or Out With The Old And In With The New) Default ThumbnailRestoring My Computer (or Glad For A Backup) Default ThumbnailMore Computer Frustration (or Trying To Let It Go) Default ThumbnailTrying To Cut Back On Clutter (or Why Won’t My Computer Do What I Want It To Do?!?)

1 Comment

Posted in Shopping, Tough Stuff

Tagged , , ,

Restoring My Computer (or Glad For A Backup)

Posted on October 29, 2015 | 1 comment

I’ve had my computer for close to 6 years now. That may not seem like a lot, but considering how much I use it every day (I have to do multiple jobs on my computer every week), it’s pretty impressive how long it’s lasted. I’ve been pretty good about trying to update things as they come up and making sure that I clean out old files when I can. And of course, I have an external hard drive always attached that backs up my laptop on a very regular basis.

The other day after work, I got an alert that there was an update ready for my computers. I checked the reviews online first to make sure the update was good and compatible with my computer. And once it all looked good I started the download.

The actual download of the update went fine, but when my computer rebooted and tried to install the update everything went wrong. It froze on the update and no matter how many times I tried to restart my computer it wouldn’t budge.

Finally after an hour or so of restarting I got my computer up and running again but everything was gone. There were no settings, no photos, no documents, and no downloaded apps on my computer. It was like it came straight out of the box (or more like straight out of the box 6 years ago because it was using the operating system that came with the computer when it was new).

After a minor freak out and google search on my phone on how to restore my computer from my backups, I finally got the restoration process started.

Computer Restore

Restoring my computer took about 6 hours and then resetting the last few things on it took another hour or so. I was up all night making sure that this worked because I knew that I had to work in the morning and if my computer wasn’t working I’d have to figure out how to fix it before 10am.

This entire problem was resolved pretty simply (I’m very lucky), but it made me realize how reliant I am on my computer. Obviously, I need it for work but it also has all my photos on it. And while I feel pretty good that my backup is reliable, it still terrified me that all my things might be gone.

I’m not going to try to update my computer again. I’m worried that I’ll have this issue again and I’m planning on getting a new laptop in December or January. While this laptop does an ok job, I need more storage for photos and files and it’s getting very slow and glitchy (in order to open my web browser I usually have to attempt to open it 5 or 6 times and force quit it until it works).

I know that a new computer is a really big expense and probably considered a luxury. And people may think I should buy the cheapest computer I can to save money. But those cheaper computers seem to not last as long and I won’t be able to do all the fun things that I use my computer for (editing photos, collage projects, syncing with my phone the same way). To me, it’s worth spending the extra money in order to make sure I have a computer that is good and will last me at least another 5 years.

I’m getting very excited for a new computer because I know it will work really nicely, but I’m already starting to think about how I will transfer all my data from one computer to the other. My mom is also looking at a new computer (her computer is as old or older than mine) and I want to be able to help her too.

I’m doing so much planning for this purchase that won’t happen for another month or two. But there’s nothing wrong about getting excited for something that should make my life much easier!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailA New Computer (or Out With The Old And In With The New) Default ThumbnailFall Cleaning (or Making My Workplace Spotless) Default ThumbnailHoping To Fix My Computer (or Can The New MacBook Pros Please Come Out Soon?) Default ThumbnailNew Shoes! (or I’m Glad I Had A Pedicure) Default ThumbnailTrying To Cut Back On Clutter (or Why Won’t My Computer Do What I Want It To Do?!?) Default ThumbnailMore Computer Frustration (or Trying To Let It Go)

1 Comment

Posted in Fun Stuff, Shopping

Tagged , , , ,

Letting Go (or Technology Really Is Important In My Life)

Posted on September 25, 2013 | Comments Off on Letting Go (or Technology Really Is Important In My Life)

I’ve had my iPhone 4 since Verizon got the iPhone (so just over 2 1/2 years). I love my phone. I’m a total Apple nerd. I’ve never owned a computer other than a Mac and I hated when I had my Blackberry (it never synced nicely with my computer). So the day that Verizon got the iPhone was the best day ever!

Lately, my phone has been very sluggish. And not just a little, a lot. For example, to go from reading an email to texting, it would sometimes like 2-3 minutes for the apps to switch. That’s not good. And the home button didn’t work most of the time either. So I’ve been waiting for the release of the newest iPhone before I upgraded.

With the release of the iPhone 5S, I knew it was time to upgrade. And yesterday, I finally did it.

I don’t have the easiest time letting go of certain things in my life. I wrote about my alarm clock not working perfectly months ago and I still use it! But I sucked it up this time.

I did have some minor panic attacks at the store. I was worried that something would get lost (even though I had just backed up my phone onto my computer). I thought maybe there would be a problem with upgrading my plan (there was, but only because I didn’t know the last 4 digits of my dad’s social security number). And I was worried that I would hate this change.

Fortunately, having a phone that works properly really has made some of the panic go away. I’m so happy that I can send a text or an email without it taking several minutes to go through. And I have a working home button on my phone again!

Sometimes, I do need the push to change my ways. I don’t know if it’s stubbornness, panic, or a mix of both. But when I do get pushed into change, it always seems to be for the better.

I only wish I could rationalize that it would be for the better while the panic attacks are going on.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailLooking Forward To Some Big Spending (or Needing New Technology) Default ThumbnailSplurging On Technology (or I Guess I Had To Get A New Phone) Default ThumbnailTrying To Stay Calm (or Not Letting Panic Take Over) Default ThumbnailA New Alarm Clock (or Letting Go Of A Little OCD) Default ThumbnailThe Past Few Days (or The Crazy Life I Lead) Default ThumbnailBack To Normal (or Catching Up On Life)

Comments Off on Letting Go (or Technology Really Is Important In My Life)

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged ,

More Computer Frustration (or Trying To Let It Go)

Posted on August 28, 2013 | 1 comment

After yesterday’s craziness on my computer, I went to bed and hoped I could figure it out tomorrow. That did not work.

I finally got the trash emptied on my computer, but then my external hard drive disappeared. So after spending a couple of hours fixing that, I thought everything was good. Until I saw that everything I deleted in the trash was back in the trash again! So I tried to empty the trash again, but weird things kept happening. Like as the trash emptied, the count went into negative numbers. How can you have a negative number of the items that need to be deleted?

I googled and YouTubed solutions but really haven’t seemed to be able to find one.

Then I took a step back. Maybe I can’t fix this right now. I did successfully delete some files that allowed me to have more room on my computer to update the programs I needed to update. And there are a few more programs like Garage Band that I don’t use that I could get rid of.

I’m making this problem more than it really is. I have a tendency to do that.

Then I tried to relate what’s going on to my weight loss (as I tend to do as well). I’ve done more research on weight loss than most people. I’ve read hundreds of diet books. I know the science behind weight loss and the numbers to track. I’ve had medical testing done to see if there is anything wrong with me so I know what symptoms to look for that could mean that my weight issues are something else.

But with all the research in the world, it hasn’t helped me. Because I need to find my solution to the problem. Just because I have a weight problem doesn’t mean it’s anything like anyone else’s weight problem. Just like the crazy problems with my computer aren’t necessarily the same as the problems I’m researching (maybe it is since the computer isn’t as individualized as a person, but just go with me on this).

What I’m saying with all this craziness is that I need to step back from the big problem and start focusing on the little things. Because fixing each of those little things can add up to one big thing.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailReality TV (or How Losing 200 Pounds Can Be Something That Is Booed) Default ThumbnailTrying To Cut Back On Clutter (or Why Won’t My Computer Do What I Want It To Do?!?) Default ThumbnailHoping To Fix My Computer (or Can The New MacBook Pros Please Come Out Soon?) Default ThumbnailA New Computer (or Out With The Old And In With The New) Default ThumbnailRestoring My Computer (or Glad For A Backup) Default ThumbnailThe Frustration Of Looking For A Day Job (or Why Is This So Difficult?)

1 Comment

Posted in Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged , , , ,

Trying To Cut Back On Clutter (or Why Won’t My Computer Do What I Want It To Do?!?)

Posted on August 27, 2013 | 3 comments

I’ve been working on getting rid of the excess things in my life. I have some luggage that I don’t use anymore so I’m selling it (sold 3 pieces so far and only have 1 left). I’m working on donating book to the library (there’s no need for me to keep a “real” book and e-book unless it’s something really special). I’ve done a bunch with cleaning out my closet as well.

And then the other day, I got an alert on my computer that my startup disk is full and I need to trash some items to make room (I don’t have enough room on my computer to do an update). So I’m trying to move some things I don’t use too often to my external hard drive. But this has not been going so well.

To make room for movies and videos on my external hard drive, I have to delete some of the old backups of my computer. There’s no need for me to have 27 different backup versions. 2 or 3 should be good enough. So you’d think that you could move the extra backups to the trash and then delete it, right?

Wrong.

For some reason, my computer does not want to delete any files. This is extremely frustrating. After consulting Google, I’ve tried a few force empty ideas. I’ve downloaded a couple of apps that are supposed to empty your trash when your computer won’t do it. Well, all of those apps crashed on me.

I’m getting ready to admit defeat and make an appointment at the Apple Store for them to help me.

If any of you out there have any ideas, I’d appreciate them. I won’t have time to go to the Apple Store until Monday, so there’s plenty of time for me to try new options.

I’m excited that once this is done, not only will I have more room on my computer to store photos but my computer should run a bit faster.

I’m really feeling better about things as I de-clutter. It’s nice to have room to grow in my house (before it was starting to feel a bit crowded).

I just wish my computer would be as enthusiastic about getting rid of clutter as I am!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailMore Computer Frustration (or Trying To Let It Go) Default ThumbnailHoping To Fix My Computer (or Can The New MacBook Pros Please Come Out Soon?) Default ThumbnailWorking On Cleaning (or Time To Declutter) Default ThumbnailSplurging On Technology (or I Guess I Had To Get A New Phone) Default ThumbnailA New Computer (or Out With The Old And In With The New) Default ThumbnailRestoring My Computer (or Glad For A Backup)

3 Comments

Posted in Tough Stuff

Tagged , , , ,