Falling In Love Again

Early this year, my beloved Mac died. I mean my Macbook died. It was barely three years old, mostly unused. It was such a sad thing because I loved my Mac. On it, I started wrting personal pieces. I also wrote my first blog on it. And for it to die on me so soon, made me feel betrayed. What had happened? Did I get a lemon? Where is the much vaunted durability of the Mac, which is said to be self-healing? My daughter said it might have been because of the times I forgot to unplug it after charging. Anyway, after grieving, I knew that I had to buy a new one.  I bought a Macbook Air, which is smaller, a lot lighter, but with smaller memory than my old Macbook Pro. I did not know if I would love new Mac as much as old Mac. 

Earlier this week, I went for the free OS X tutorial at Powermac Trinoma. My daughter said it would be good for me to go since it is free, after all.

Three years on a Mac and still you go on a tutorial? You might ask. But the thing is, I just mainly used the Word application on my Mac, and till my retirement last year, I hardly used it. After retirement, my daughter assisted me whenever needed.

My daughter and I usually tell each other that "Papa Steve" has thought of everything, because the features of the Mac and other Apple products like the iPad and iPhone are so cool. This was reinforced during my tutorial when I learned to navigate the desktop , the panel, and the dock for sure. So elementary, you might say, but when it comes to gadgets, I am so easy to impress and please. Joyfully, I discovered that I can have access to a dictionary without being on the internet. Also, that I can transfer pictures and documents wirelessly even from a Blackberry. A lot of you must be laughing at how ignorant I am. My daughter is a bit peeved, because she said she had previously taught me all those things. I guess I paid more attention during the tutorial, because I might be tested afterwards.  

Seriously though, the tutor, Sheila Flores was a very nice young lady. By showing me all the capabilities of the Mac, I found myself falling in love again. And this time, I promise to be vigilant about charging.

Picture with my tutor using photo booth effects

A Low-tech Blogger Strikes: Memory Booster

Have you ever run into an acquaintance at a party who gushed about how good was is to see you again, and you could not, for dear life, remember her name? That blooper happened to me recently. So, I decided it was time for some memory boosters.

We all know about the benefits of physical exercise, socializing, a good diet with lots of fish, and mental  calisthenics. The only problem with me is lack of ACTION. So I am now trying to incorporate most of these memory boosters in my life.

As a form of mental calisthenics, I chose to learn how to use the computer beyond word processing and email. I know, I’m such a Troglodyte. But hey, I’m guessing that some of us have children, grandchildren, or office staff who do the fancy things for us like Keynote, PowerPoint, iMovie, spreadsheets, graphs, etc.

This might sound silly, but the first thing I did was make a notebook using an old Economist Magazine cover especially for my notes on how to operate my laptop.

I have to jot down my daughter’s coaching/instructions. You see, I get confused and overwhelmed by all the icons, tabs and dropdown menus. Sometimes, okay- several times, I accidentally deleted files, or copied files in the wrong folders. Whenever those things happen, I remind myself that I survived catholic girls’ school (at least until first year high), and I won’t let this two-pound bundle of microchips intimidate me.

By referring to my notes, I have so far made two iMovie videos of pictures taken during family activities. Feeling more confident, I thought of blogging. So here I am, trying out for the first time, something that a lot of others have been doing for more than a decade. I feel the way I felt when I first learned to ride a bike. And like that long-ago time of scrapes, skids, and exhilaration, I intend to continue blogging, mis-steps, mistakes and all.

What about you, what kind of memory boosters are you doing?