Courage

I bought my new iMac three days ago, but have been hesitant to set it up until Eric comes home. He is adept with computers and I am always befuddled. Because of his expertise, I have never learned much about computers and have always had him do anything of substance with regard to my computer, or fix any glitches, or do whatever confuses or challenges me. So I have been admiring the big box in the hallway since I brought it home Friday night. I could have returned to the Apple store to have a tutorial and get help with the backup, but the box was heavy, and I did not want to drag it through the parking lot and the mall and then wait for hours to get some attention and help.

I chose the biggest screen I could and it is beautiful. Stunning. This is my first desktop in a few years, and I am impressed with this machine. I carefully read the instructions and after unpacking and placing the computer on my new (Eric's old) desk in my new study (Maya's old bedroom, now that she has moved up to Tara's old bedroom but actually sleeps in my bed most nights), I plugged it in and added the 'Time Machine' backup drive. The computer seemed to know what to do with it, and has been uploading (downloading?) for the last three hours. I have had time to finally unpack from our most recent trip and sift through the mail that has accummulated since before Christmas. I found all sorts of surprises in the piles, and managed to create a pile of garbage as well.

I keep visiting the computer to admire its beauty and see if new clues are presented on the screen....but the transfer seems interminable. I have watched bits and pieces of the State of the Union address and am no more convinced of Obama's sincerity than I was during the campaign. By tomorrow I will finally have a computer, at least at home, and if I am lucky I will have transferred all my files, including my office billing information, my thousands of photographs, my list of addresses etc. I am hoping to resuscitate my old laptop by replacing the hard drive and use it for the office. I want to get the damaged hard drive examined and hopefully the eight thousand photos I took in Ecuador during our trip will be salvageable. There are companies that offer that service at great cost.

I have been managing with my iphone this past week, which is a computer, albeit a very small one. It does skype and email and webstuff etc, and in fact works just as well as a computer. I appreciate it so very much. Maya has also lent me her computer, so I truly have been less desperate than I expected. It is astonishing how dependent I have become on my trusty Macbook, and how much my life revolves around it. It was my lifeline in Ecuador last year, and I use it daily, in fact dozens of times daily. This despite the fact that I know nothing about computers or how to use them.

Whew, the transfer is complete and my old Macbook is now on my new desktop. Next, I will see if I backed up enough to get back on track with the office etc. Unfortunately all this takes too much time and it is late and time for bed....