New Computer
and other little things
“Sweet as,” as Frodo Odes would say on Brokenwood Mysteries. I have been using a 10-year-old MacBook for my not-in-the-office work (which is a lot because Wally will pester me until I go sit on the couch with him even though I got him an ottoman to sit on next to me at my desk and made a spot ON the desk for him to sit on). It was . . . fine. But it never felt like my computer. It was a “borrowed thing.” Technically, it was Abe’s. I had a smaller, very slightly newer MacBook that a friend had given to Abe because it needed resetting and stuff to be useable but Abe took that one to work because the size made it easier to move around.
Anyway, so I do my copy editing and proofreading from my laptop on the couch with Wally. It is actually quite nice. But I had a short project management job, which meant I had to clean up a Word document (180-ish pages) that averaged 3 or 4 tracked changes per page. Yes, it was a lot. Mostly little things (commas, spelling consistency); some bigger (added passages for clarity). But it brought that poor little Mac to a standstill. I would accept a change and then wait 20 to 40 seconds. In the end, I accepted every change that wasn’t up for discussion in a comment on my desktop computer and then finished it on the laptop.
But that finally made me want a newer laptop. I use it almost every day so for things that aren’t too intensive, I didn’t need anything crazy. Anything too intensive I will want to do on my desktop anyway because I have two 27” monitors and a third with my WacomOne tablet.
So we looked online and ALMOST bought a laptop but then Abe got scared about buying a laptop online because when he bought my birthday present (a beautiful electric ukulele) last month, the first two were bad. The first was supposed to be in-box, unopened, brand new. It was not even in the right box, the body was cracked and the tuner worked exactly once. So he returned it in store and the manager kindly spent an hour calling other stores around the country until he found one that said they had one in-box, untouched, ready to go. Fast-forward a week, and what do you think arrived? Well, I spoiled the surprise in the first sentence. This one also was completely scratched up, the body was cracked. But the tuner worked. So he once again returned it. The manager at the Guitar Center was super apologetic and upset about the whole thing and wrote Abe a long apology email. So we still shop there, but in-person only.
This time, third time’s the charm, he just went with Sweetwater because they are a wonderful company through whom Abe has bought many instruments. (He got a really cool bass recently and on the outside of the packaging was a sticker saying, “Wait! I know you want to open me right away, but please let me rest in the package 24 hours before opening. Drastic temperature and humidity changes could warp my everything. Trust me. It will be worth it.”) It’s a Luna concert uke and it is beautiful. The pictures don’t do it justice. It sounds amazing. I simply adore it. I have a non-electric Fender uke that I also love but even without the amp this Luna sounds better. And it should. It cost more than double.
OK. I got off topic. Sorry. What was I saying? Laptop! Which I am writing on right now! So we decided to go to Best Buy to try out laptops before buying. I am what could be called an “expert” computer user, at least with most of the software I use on a regular basis, like Word and the Creative Cloud. So things like how the keyboard feels while typing can make a world of difference to me. I tried out a bunch, skipping all the HPs because that company has gone the douchey route of strangle-holding their products. And I ended up with a Lenovo Yoga 7. We went to the customer service area (because this branch doesn’t have the staff to also open the registers) and waited forever for the one (very nice) cashier to finish with the customer before us. I do have to say, everyone in line was very polite, waiting patiently and quietly. So we go up, Abe shows her the pic he took of the label for the computer I wanted, she looks it up, and says, “I’m so sorry. We don’t have that in stock. But we can order it for you?” In the end, we went out to dinner and ordered it from the website. So she could get to the next person in line who had been holding what looked like an A/C for his 10 minute wait! (To be fair, they offered to let him set it down on the counter and he said no thanks.)
So far? I love this Lenovo Yoga. My one complaint is the “Copilot” button where the right control key should be (I already remapped it). No, I am not going to use your stupid Windows co-pilot AI to do whatever stupid stuff you want me to do. And I use that specific control button all the time. Ctrl + arrow lets you select move around text documents word by word rather than character by character. Ctrl + Shift + arrow lets you select word by word, yada yada. I use it constantly. And with only the one hand. Having to use both hands for this function throws off my typing flow. I use it especially now that I am learning Python, but that is a subject for another post.
The Lenovo Yoga allows you to complete flip it open so you can hold and use it like a tablet (yes, touch screen). Because for some reason Lenovo Yoga’s do not come with the pen if you buy through Best Buy, I have a pen in the mail (should arrive today). So in the future, I will be able to draw up quick digital illustrations to add to these posts. For complete illustrations for projects, I still prefer traditional, but for doodles like I would add here, I like digital because I don’t have to draw it, scan it, clean it, move it to a different computer . . . I also have an antiglare screen protector coming that I hope against hope works well with the pen. I am already using my laptop to work outside, which Wally loves. Yesterday, we sat under the pear tree while I ate lunch and tooled around on here.
Story suggestion
I mentioned Brokenwood Mysteries at the start of this post. It is a New Zealand whodunnit cop show. And it is so good. The main characters are fun. But the secondary characters are astounding. They keep the main characters fairly stable and unchanging so you can get your predictable show each however often (there are only 6 episodes per season). But the secondary characters are so nuanced and evolving. Every character you start out hating, you grow to love when you see why they are that way. And they grow and evolve and become better, happier people over the 10 seasons that are out.
There’s a skeezy lawyer who is just so annoying to start and then you see more into his life and you’re surprised. Wow. He has a lot going on and he is a good guy and he believes in what he does. He believes in enacting the law correctly and as justly as possible, not just twisting it around to make it do what he wants.
Trudy, whose hilariously aspirational brother owns the bars. I couldn’t stand her sour face at first. But every season I liked her more and more with how the character developed until now I am excited every time she is on screen. As she might say, “I’m no narc . . .” so I won’t go into details.
And Frodo, one of the dumbest little idiots. That is of course just his nickname. He has such a good heart and barely two brain cells to rub together. But he also is smart enough to run his own successful business. And it completely works. He is one of the Odes clan and after this last season I was left wondering if there is an “Odes Family Acting Bible” because every actor who comes in brings in a sense of the Odes family. I can’t put my finger on it. Some parts are obvious, like they are all a bit dimwitted and uneducated. They are all good-hearted, even though some are more criminally inclined than most. But there are facial expressions and mannerisms.
OK, let’s leave that there. If you watched it or have watched it, let me know what you think.
Sorry for wasting your time. I hope your day gets better.
Stay curious,
Angela