The “heroes” at my favorite Apple Store!

About 14 months ago, I finally broke down and bought a Mac! A MacBook Pro (15 in) actually.  

I have been an avid PC user for more years that I really would like to admit! heh My computer exposure actually started with my first Commodore 64, and then I got a dual floppy disk computer that had the basic DOS, and was a HUGE machine!  I fought upgrading to Windows, back in the day, but finally gave into peer pressure, and the need to learn this new technology!  With each upgrade or improvement to Windows, I would wait a few years until I would invest in the latest upgrade.

Now, I know that Macs have been around FOREVER, but my learning curve with PCs has kept me plenty busy, that I didn’t really have time to learn yet another operating system.  Instead, I put my time and attention to learning how to build my own PC, and fix general problems with the operating systems on those computers, and on my friends’ machines.  I became the proverbial self-taught geek goddess.

Fourteen months ago, I took the plunge and got my MacBk Pro. I did this for a few reasons, many revolving around the fact I have clients that use Macs, and I wanted to beef up on my “service offerings” and expand my business a bit. (I have a bookkeeping service that I work from my home.)  Another reason I wanted this Mac was to learn how to use a program called Garageband, and then do my own production on my very own podcast.

It took me about a year to get to that point, and when I tried to use Garageband, I found it was as cool as other podcasters that use it said it was.  However! I got myself stuck, and found I couldn’t think my way out of the problem.  One problem was that I was trying to do “Mac” stuff with a “PC” mindset.  That never works out real well!  Dummies books, help from friends that use a Mac, and working on my clients’ Macs did help a little, but I still found myself getting more frustrated, then having fun with this new laptop!

And then, much to my delight, an Apple store opened up at one of the malls very close to where I live. I was happy, as this one was much easier for me to get to, and it was at a mall I frequent on a near weekly basis! So, I went to check out this new Apple Store.

It was so obvious this Apple store was going to be very popular.  It was packed with so many people, but there were plenty of Apple people on the floor to help us all.  In chatting with one of them, I was informed about a “free service” they have at Apple stores, called the Genius Bar.  So, I signed up for an appointment, and met with Bruce, who helped me with an issue I had been having with Garageband.  That’s when I learned about their “One on One” tutorial program, and signed up for that. 

This week I had to utilize the Genius Bar again. My battery had basically died.  I was just going get a new battery, and switch it out, but the gal who took my question about the battery suggested I see one of the guys at the Genius Bar, and so, I talked to Bruce, again.  In less than 20 minutes (that is what the Genius Bar appointments run for), a bit of testing and evaluating my Mac’s system profile, it was confirmed my battery was fried, and I needed a new battery.  

Now, the reason the Apple Genius Bar guys are heroes is simple.  Bruce replaced my battery, under the warranty I had on my MacBook Pro, and had me back on the road in about 20 minutes! And it didn’t cost me a dime!  I was so glad I consulted with Bruce!  He really did want me to have the best value for my investment, and understand what was going on with my Mac!  

To say the least, I will continue my lessons on the One on One sessions, and learn as much as I can about my Mac!  And I will, most likely, utilize the services of the Genius Bar as often as I might need to.

And now, I will do a battery calibration, and work a little more on my lessons for my next One on One session….

-cya

Filed under: General, MacBook Pro , MacBook Pro, Apple, One on One, Genius Bar

Clearing and organizing for a really good year!

In the midst of rearranging files, sorting through the closets and cupboards, and going through boxes and bags to decide “Keep”, “Toss” or “Donate”, I get this email today from a newsletter I subscribed to last week or so.  This gal, Christine Kane, seems to have a wonderful handle on her outlook on life, and is doing a great job of sharing those viewpoints to “the world”.  For me, she is a real boost of energy, a breath of fresh air, and a kick in the pants…all rolled up in one little package.

She sends out articles that seem to inspire me to want to share the good ideas, the strong positive energy and then encourage it be shared all the more.  Right at the bottom of  these articles, she gives permission to post on personal websites, etc., so… here is her latest!!  It really is funny, witty, and very inspirational.

Read on……

….til the next post….

-cya

**********************************************************************************

56 Things You Can Toss Out Now

by Christine Kane

We hold onto our stuff for two reasons: Love or fear. We either love things. Or we fear letting them go.

We cherish them and know they have value to us.

OR…

We fear that we’ll need them someday. We fear that we wasted our money on them. We fear what others will think if we let them go. We even fear making the decision to release our mistakes, so we don’t make any decision at all. Instead we passively hold onto stuff out of guilt.

Well, guess what?

When you begin to make choices from a place of LOVE and EXPANSION, then your world will change. Love is the clearest reason to do anything. If you don’t love it, toss it. Give it away. Your abundance and energy will increase when you begin to live by love, and not by fear.

Here are 56 things you can toss out (or give away) right now…

1. All the hotel key cards you forgot to turn it when you checked out.

2. The doilies your Aunt Missy crocheted 45 years ago that got handed down to you.

3. CD’s you haven’t listened to in three years or more.

4. The boxes of cassettes you’ve been meaning to transfer to CD’s.

5. The bread maker you haven’t used since 2003.

6. Your wedding dress

NOTE: You can say you’ve been saving it for your daughter, but here are three signs that your daughter doesn’t want to wear it: a] she’s already married and wore her own dress, b] she’s been roommates with a woman named Pat for nine years, or c] you don’t have a daughter.

7. Credit card bills from 1995.

8. The Allen wrenches from every piece of IKEA furniture you ever assembled.

9. The jacket you spent way too much money on and never wore. NOTE: Keeping it around just to punish yourself for your bad choices is like going to parochial school all over again.

10. Every scratching post or toy your cat doesn’t like. NOTE: Your cat didn’t go to parochial school so there’s no sense punishing him.

11. House plants you no longer love.

12. The stacks of O Magazine you swear you’ll re-read.

13. Every little zippy bag that came with a Clinique purchase.

14. Every unopened perfume that came with a Clinique purchase.

15. Leftover scrunchies in case you grow your hair long again.

16. The “Cherries Jubilee” flavored lip balm that makes you nauseous.

17. Every single regretful lipstick color you bought on a whim. (“Cherries Jubilee” is probably there, too.)

18. Your last four cell phones and all their chargers and blue teeth.

19. Single socks.

20. The Spode Christmas plates and mugs you don’t like. (Along with the Christmas bath towels and welcome mat.)

21. The framed posters you had in your college dorm room.

22. Old stereo wires.

NOTE: If your husband refuses to let go of any of these mysterious wires, try this: Put them (not him!) in a bin and label it “Random Cables and Wires.” After two years, bring it out of storage and kindly note that no one has thought about it in two years. Ask if it would be okay to let go of half of them. Repeat process until all mysterious cables and wires are gone.

23. The nails, screws, anchors, and cup hooks rusting in the bottom of your tool chest.

24. Remote controls that don’t remotely control anything you own.

25. Lamps, toasters, blenders, coffeemakers that no longer work.

26. The notion that you will ever be one of those moms that makes beautiful scrapbooks.

NOTE: Put your photos in boxes. No one will judge you.

27. Old blankets and linens you keep in case you suddenly have 27 sleepover guests.

28. College text books

29. Any boring decorative item that does little more than fill space.

30. Vases you don’t love or use.

31. Candle holders you don’t love or use.

32. Picture frames you don’t love or use.

33. Class notes from college.

34. The idea that you have to save every piece of your children’s artwork and school work because it might mean you don’t love them if you don’t.

35. The “good silver” you don’t use that was passed down to you.

36. Old VHS movies

37. Unlabeled VHS tapes. (And don’t waste your time watching them just in case.)

38. The stationary bike that got even more stationary after you got it.

39. The fabric pieces you’ve been collecting in case you ever become a quilter.

40. Flashlights that dimly light up only after you bang them over and over on your thigh.

41. Old keys that open some door somewhere in the past.

42. Suitcases you don’t use.

43. Old computers.

44. Old stereos.

45. Promotional duffel bags with ugly logos and bad acronyms stitched all over them.

46. Anything that makes you say, “But I got such a good price on it!”

47. Anything that makes you say, “But I paid so much for it!”

48. Half-full cans of paint.

49. Extra baby items/Old baby items.

50. Record albums. NOTE: Don’t spend your extra hours in a day trying to figure out if someone will buy them. Really. They won’t.

51. Gifts you never liked.

52. All the cross-stitch, knitting, or sewing projects you never finished.

53. Any glassware or dinnerware that is a “memorabilia” item from proms or sororities or sports events.

54. Old information packets you no longer need or that you can easily find on line.

55. All the hotel soaps that you took with you. (And stop taking them. You’ve got plenty of soap!)

56. The belief that you only have to go through the de-cluttering process once and won’t ever have to do it again.

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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her ‘LiveCreative’ weekly ezine with more than 4,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at www.christinekane.com.

WANT TO SEE HUNDREDS MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Christine’s blog – Be Creative. Be Conscious. Be Courageous – at ChristineKane.com/blog.

Filed under: General , inspire, lists, love, new year, organize, Project lists

Making project lists….

….really does help to quiet all the battles in my mind of “do this, no! do that first!” and so on. I have a tendency to do two or three or more projects, simultaneously. I might be reading several books at one time, trying to learn new software programs and learning a new game or two…. all while trying to juggle my normal work loads of housework, bookkeeping work, and general entertainment times!  I’m sure many of my friends have similar work/play habits! There is just never enough time, in any given day, to getting it “ALL” done!

I am often asked “how do you do all that stuff?” or “what DON’T you do?” That’s when I stifle a smile, as I know there are plenty of things I “don’t do”, or even know how to do (or would maybe not even want to do!)

Anyway, with the help of my MacBook Pro, and a few lessons on some of the applications that are native to the MacBook Pro, and some I’ve added over the last year, I think I’m getting a handle on “getting organized”, while still working at being a social networking butterfly, and doing my darndest to keep in touch with all my friends on Plurk, Twitter and Facebook!

One project that I am working on rather diligently right now is getting my ‘collections’ documented and accounted for. I have a few “personal collections” that have gotten rather encumbering, and I don’t see them dwindling anytime soon. One is my DVD movie collection, with over 580 titles on my library! I even have this listing posted on my personal “picture blog” website. The other collection is my “Trail of Painted Ponies” figurines. I will be putting those up on my library pages too, and anyone will be able to see just which ones I have. (I also sell these ponies on eBay, and will be getting back to that social networking very soon, too!)

Another typical January project is getting my clients’ books done and reconciled by the time I meet up with them, with the final numbers for last year. I also have to get payroll tax reports done, and distribute the W-2’s to a few smaller payroll based clients that I have.

So, all in all…. I do have a lot going on for me at the moment. And I have new projects already sprouting the beginning seeds of new ideas and new things to get going on. At the end of the day, week, month, I should have a few more check marks to assign as “dones” on my ever-growing “task list”.

So… before I think of another project or six….

-cya

Filed under: General, MacBook Pro , Facebook, MacBook Pro, Plurk, Project lists, Twitter

I want to share this article…

…by a gal named Christine Kane.  She’s a musician, but also a “motivator”, in being positive, healthy, and feeling good on yourself.

That’s the proverbial nutshell description, but she’s really a whole lot more than that!

I don’t actually recall how I stumbled upon her site at www.christinekane.com , but once I arrived there, I stayed there for well over an hour looking and reading and listening to all that she had done there.  I was impressed by all that she does, and inspired by her energy and love of life! I subscribed to her newsletter! (and I don’t subscribe to many of those any more! who has the time to read them??)

This is one of the first newsletters I’ve gotten from her, and certainly one of the first I’ve read in a very long time!  But I liked this article, and she encourages sharing, so here it is, with the proper “credits” at the end, as she has requested.

Read on… enjoy!!!

-cya

******************************************************************

Baby Steps: The Best-Kept Secret to Accomplishing Anything
by Christine Kane

Let’s say you had a baby.

Congratulations! Your baby is the best human ever!

You love your baby. You celebrate as it starts to crawl. You and your partner delight in this baby’s every new adventure.

Then, one day, the baby stands up on her own. “Yaaaaay!” you cheer. You clap your hands. The baby smiles and laughs. You think, “Wow. She’s gonna learn how to walk. Isn’t that great?”

One evening, you and your partner are on the carpet playing with your baby. Suddenly, your perfect child stands up again. She braces herself on the coffee table. Your partner grabs the movie camera. You call your parents in Idaho so they can listen to the play-by-play.

Your child lurches forward. You all gasp and hold your collective breath.

Then, CLUNK. She falls onto her butt on the carpet.

“Awwwww,” you say.

“Dang,” your partner says.

“Well, I guess that’s it. This one just wasn’t cut out for walking,” your parents say from their home in Boise.

“Oh well,” you say. “It just wasn’t meant to be. Bummer.”

You hang up the phone. You turn off the camera. You take the baby up to bed. Tomorrow you’ll begin the search for a bigger stroller because your kid’s obviously gonna have to get through life on wheels.

Get the idea?

And yet, how many of us are already acting like this with our plans for the coming year or with our own new beginnings?

Your project, your dream, or your goal is your baby. If we all gave up on our kids as much as we give up on ourselves, then we’d have a race of humans with big calluses on their knees!

The Best Way to Take Action: Baby Steps

Every big project or goal can be broken down into baby steps. Little lurches forward. Sometimes they’re clumsy. Sometimes they don’t even seem to make an impact. But this is how anything gets done.

* Years and years of built up clutter get sorted and thrown away one drawer at a time. (Plan for 30-minutes a day in one zone of the house – not “Get rid of clutter.”)

* Years and years of reckless eating and unhealthy habits get shifted one work-out at a time. (Plan a 45-minute work-out 5 days a week, and a once a month visit to an acupuncturist for a year – not “Lose 50 pounds by June.”)

* A song gets written in fits and starts. Hour by hour. Moment by moment. A flash of an idea. Then an edit. (Schedule in an hour of songwriting time in the morning. Start with scales to warm up. Not “Write Lots of Songs.”)

* A coach builds her practice one client at a time. (Schedule a daily system for authentic marketing. Not “Get 50 new clients by March.”)

That’s how it works.

Stinks, doesn’t it?

Actually, no.

This is the good news that no one ever tells you.

When you get this concept, you’ll never be afraid of failure again. When you learn how to break a goal down into baby steps, and how to complete something fantastic using this method, then you have the key to doing anything. When you understand that everyone falls down and gets back up again (some of us on an hourly basis!), then you need only to trust in your strength to get back up again.

The only block is your ego.

Your ego wants it to be done now. Your ego wants to move through life risk-free, foolish-free, discouragement-free, mistake-free, tired-free. And the best way to trick your ego (and yourself) into letting go a little bit is to take baby steps.

If you read the comments on my blog post on New Years Day, you noticed that many people chose the word “Courage” to guide them through 2009.

Baby steps take courage. Baby steps are a huge risk to your ego because they are so easy. SO easy! The ego wants big deals, major accomplishments, huge weight-loss, and fast results. In other words, the ego likes adjectives, not nouns. Those adjectives guarantee that you’ll stay stuck and never try anything new. Over time you’ll get that deals, accomplishments, weight-loss, and results feel pretty good — even without adjectives.

Now, try this:

Take a goal you chose for the new year, and ask yourself, “What one baby step could I take every day to complete this goal?” And then (and this is the big challenge) get out your calendar and schedule it in there daily for the rest of January.

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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her ‘LiveCreative’ weekly ezine with more than 4,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at www.christinekane.com.

WANT TO SEE HUNDREDS MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Christine’s blog – Be Creative. Be Conscious. Be Courageous – at ChristineKane.com/blog.

Filed under: General, Health & Fitness, This n That , Baby Steps, Christine Kane, motivation, musician

from my Storm!

Now I am going to test this blog with my blackberry! It might be fun to post on the fly from my blackberry!

Woot!

Filed under: Blogs & Blogging, General

To Wii, or not to Wii….

One of the coolest gifts I got for Christmas was a Wii game console, and the Wii Fit “game”!  Now, I would beg to differ that the Wii Fit is a game, as it would seem more “work”, or exercise routines, and such.  After over a week of using it, however, I have to admit I am having a whole lot more fun with it than I would have thought.  

I had seen some of the “games” demonstrated at one of our malls, and thought they were “kid stuff”!  Boy! Was I in for a surprise!  After the third day of my new regime, I found myself looking forward to working out with my Wii Fit!  I found myself anxious to (1) learn the exercise, and (2) work at improving my scores and standings.  I could say I was finding my competitive spirit once again!  That and determination to win at these “games”.  

Funny thing is, I am exercising while playing these Wii Fit and Wii Sports games!  I’ve lost a few pounds just from the work-outs, and have noticed that my energy level is up on those days I work out, compared to the days I miss working out.  I’m very encouraged to keep at these exercises, and have even thought I might work towards getting back to playing tennis on a real court again, sometime soon!

At the beginning of November, I started a very strict diet, under doctor’s supervision.  I have stuck to the plan very diligently, and had a good amount of success with it, to date.  I have been on a monitored “maintenance” level of this diet, over the holidays, and this is the first holiday season that I can remember that I actually lost weight! Whoo hoo!!  Since starting this diet, I have lost 30 pounds, and now finally feel getting into an exercise routine to help keep up my metabolism, energy level, and motivation!

I will go back to the “strict diet” routine in mid-January, but for now, I’m doing well on the “maintenance”, and teaching myself a better way to eat and exercise, and feeling really good with ME!  I’ll share more of my progress as I get back to it.  (Oh! and I can’t wait to go shopping when I have reached my goal!! A whole new wardrobe will be necessary, to be sure!)

-cya

Filed under: General, Health & Fitness , diet, exercise, games, Wii, Wii Fit

Let the new year begin…

…. now that the holidays are actually over, and everyone is just about back to their normal routines! Ha! I wonder!

I suppose the end of the “holiday season” is official once the holiday lights are down, the tree has been un-decorated, and all the Christmas “stuff” is boxed up for yet another year.  Two or three trips to the attic, or storage locker later, there are no more reminders of any holiday frivolity to be seen.  What probably took most of us weeks to plan and execute has taken maybe a few hours to tear down and pack away.  

My house looks rather empty now, and I’m a little bit sad, and a little bit relieved.  Mostly, though, I am very anxious to get on with the new year, and start making it a “good one”!  

The next area of “organize” I will be attacking is the two file drawers with last year’s files, and other outdated paperwork that can now go into one of those ‘banker’s boxes’, and be shipped off to storage, along with the Christmas lights and ornaments.

I guess I best get to that chore for now….

-cya

Filed under: General , Christmas, new year, organize

Gearing up for the new year

The time has arrived, and a new year has begun!  As many of my friends, and people all over the world, I have big ideas of what I would like to get done over the next couple of months.  Having spent a good many hours over the last several days contemplating what I would like to envision this new year bringing, I think I may be ready, very soon, to put together a plan of how I would like to go about doing all that I would like to get done for 2009.

It is not typical for me to keep Christmas up much after the New Year.  So, this weekend, we’ll be packing it all back into the pretty red & white Christmas boxes, and dragging all 20 of them back to the storage locker, until next year! Don’t get me wrong… I love “putting up Christmas”, but after a month of my house being basically re-arranged and cluttered up with this stuff, I am ready to un-clutter and clean it all up. *smile*  That, in itself, is a great sense of accomplishment. 

So, for today, for now, I think my first “big goal” for 2009 will be to “clean house”, and get things back to my “neat normal” routine, so that I can organize for the next task that will most definitely show itself to me very soon.

’til then…. I will be working on more of the WordPress/MacBook Pro lessons. 
love and warm Happy New Year wishes to all,

-cya

Filed under: Blogs & Blogging, General, MacBook Pro , blog, Wordpress sites, MacBook Pro, Happy New Year, goals

Day 1 of 2009!

 

A new day breaks...

Happy New Year!

This is the first day of 2009; a day filled with hope and wonder that this is going to be a good year, indeed!

I will take a few days, over this weekend, to work up my Hopes and Goals lists for 2009, and what I would like to get done this year.  Some of these items will be work related, some even Second Life related, but mostly these Hopes & Goals will be dealing with my own dreams and desires to measure growth and accomplishment on a much more personal level.

And one small goal I hope to achieve is actually working this blog, and writing “nearly every day”!  I do want to learn how to keep creating on this blog, sharing my thoughts, my ideas, and a bit of me, to whomever that might stumble upon these musings, and find them interesting.  My hope is that with working more with the blogging, on my MacBook Pro, & using Web 2.0 applications, I just might become proficient in all those areas, and attain a comfort zone that is mine alone, to share and relish!

We’ll see….

-cya

Filed under: Blogs & Blogging, General, MacBook Pro , Blogs & Blogging, MacBook Pro, Happy New Year, goals, Hopes, Second Life, 2009