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From Dreams to Reality, from Macbook to iMac

MacNessa — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:31:59 +0000

It’s barely real.

Or at least, it feels very unreal.

When I started this blog, I had dreams of one day upgrading from my little 13″ Macbook, to eventually getting my own iMac. The fact that I would forever remain a mac devotee, already well established, the only thing that remained ‘up in the air’ as it were, was the timeframe.

My Macbook had been the brilliant re-entry to the MacWorld for me, and took me from fledgling photographer, to full time professional, and I then further branched out into graphic design. To underestimate the role that my macbook played in this transformation, would be silly. It is the very thing itself which allowed me to believe in my abilities. To encourage me when I got tired, (by it’s sheer tenacity and will to keep my programs, projects and files safe from nasty viral harm), and to forever spark my imagination to strive for greater heights.

My Macbook, changed my life. Or at least, gave me the tools with ably assisted me to transform myself.

Then, the unthinkable happened. My back was turned for a few minutes, and little toddler hands, sent my Macbook smashing to the floor.

…

Thank god for insurance! For all risks, all damages insurance!! You always moan about your insurance, until the day you need it.

So…I checked out our insurance papers. The insured amount would be enough to cover a new Macbook, but since the majority of my work was now being done from home, I realised that perhaps the time had come to trade the mobility of the Macbook, for the more ample screen space of the iMac. Closer inspection of my local apple reseller’s website, set my heart pounding. The 20″ Aluminium iMac, was retailing for the same price as the new Macbook…

Several sets of paperwork later, and my insurance company obtained a quote to ‘fix’ my Macbook. It amounted to about 80% of the value of buying a new one, so they then obtained a quote to ascertain the cost of buying a new machine instead.

I thought disaster had struck when the sales guy went and quote them on old stock (that they still had on their shelves, but a newer model than my 3yr old Macbook nonetheless). But this would mean that I would simply have to pay in an amount of around ZAR1200.00 in order to finally get my desired iMac. I signed the insurance paperwork agreeing to them paying me out for the broken machine, and then set about the exciting prospect of buying my 20″ iMac.

One phone call to my local apple reseller sent my heart straight back to my boots again, when the salesman told me that they had NO stock of the 20″, and no date as to when stock was going to be replenished. He did however say that there was a rumour that Apple would be releasing a new model in the next few weeks and that it might be prudent to wait for that. About 20 phone calls later to every single Apple Authorised retailer in the COUNTRY, and it confirmed for me that there was absolutely no stock left anywhere (unless I wanted a low spec second hand educational model machine…which I did not). I wasn’t sure what to do, given that I did not have the additional funds for the 24″ which was still sporadically available, or to wait for the possible announcement. Thankfully most of my clients were totally flexible and understood my dilemma, so I decided to wait and see. The stress levels at this moment was proving to be the best fat burner a girl could want!

48hrs later, and Apple announced the beautiful new 21.5″ iMac with their perfect wide screen ratio of 16:9, brushed aluminum casing, and shipping with the wireless mouse and keyboard as standard.

A quick call to the very helpful sales guy confirmed that they would know in a day or two when their stock would be arriving…the only thing remained, would be the pricing…we would have to wait and see…

Continued tomorrow…

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New Computers: Laptop or Desktop?

MacNessa — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:59:13 +0000

When I bought my first Mac, I went with the Macbook. I would have loved to have had an iMac, but at the time I needed mobility more. Hence I went with the laptop computer instead.

Fast forward 3 years and that Macbook had become an amazing tool, that changed my life. I found that alongside my photography, I was almost enjoying the post production of my photographs more! I got into graphic design.

Then one day the unthinkable happened.

I turned my back for a minute, and the next moment I heard my four year old exclaim that ‘Mommy’s computer is on the floor’ and as it turns out he’d witnessed my 18mth old grab it and throw it to the floor.

To cut a long story short, the insurance company needed to be called, and I’m so grateful to them for paying me out to get a new computer.

Suddenly I had to evaluate the direction I was going with my work, and it turns out that the stability and screen real estate are more important to me now, than mobility, hence the reason, I eagerly await the delivery of my shiny new 21.5″ iMac in just two weeks!!!!

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Jobhunting: Where do you look?

MacNessa — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:26:04 +0000

When you make the decision to move into a new position, where is the first place you look?

That is, if you aren’t being headhunted that is, which of course, is what will happen first, because you’re cool enough to be reading this post.

Searching online used to be a total dud around these parts. People didn’t update their listings fast enough, and the jobs on offer were long gone.

Do you have a favourite online job advertising site? One that would help equally well if you were searching for jobs in philadelphia pa, or in New York City? Or Sydney, Australia? Addis Ababa, Ethiopia? Stonetown, Zanzibar?

Is there really one true global search engine, for job hunting that works? Is it linkedin? Is it Xing? Am I missing the best of the best?

What are your thoughts people!?

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Emergency Funds: What For?

MacNessa — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:24:50 +0000

Anyone knows why its necessary for you to have emergency funds in case of layoff/redundancy etc, but have you ever considered that you may need surplus funds, because business is going extremely well?

A sudden influx of cash may be required to upgrade existing premises, buy new computers for additional staff members, the business may even have need of a surplus of cash in the event of a travel emergency. Perhaps you’re shooting a wedding in some exotic location i.e. St Barts, but the weather takes a turn for the worse, and there’s a hurricane headed your way, and you need to upgrade your air ticket in order to change the flight dates to a few days earlier etc. Or perhaps a family member takes ill, and you have to fly back unexpectedly.

There are any number of reasons why your business should have emergency funds available, but hopefully all of them are good reasons!

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Building a House: Must have items

MacNessa — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:10:38 +0000

Have you, or are you planning on designing a house from scratch?

Is it your dream to build a house from the ground up, choosing every last nut and bolt? I must admit I find it a daunting task, and would probably be more comfortable with renovating an existing property, and then picking out new fittings for that, rather than designing one from scratch.

What are your must have items? Mine include, green power sources (so in other words, wind and solar powered ambient appliances with hopefully no need to draw from the national grid), a power shower, swish german kitchen appliances, although I’ve thought of going with the more traditional copper kitchen sinks, a smart home system that can be programmed to change the colour and type of lighting according to the various times of day/amount of available light etc. As well of course, as everything that I’ve listed in my Ultimate Mac Office series of posts…let’s not forget those!

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The Long Arm (list) of Suppliers

MacNessa — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:55:57 +0000

I learned a very valuable lesson today. If you find a great supplier, it pays to keep looking around.

You see, I have this supplier, we work well together, we often barter services to one another, complementing one another’s businesses. It works well for both of us, and if I have a rush job (for example) I know that without a doubt this person, will be there, to help me out, and get the work out on time, no matter what.

But I also learned a valuable lesson. Never become complacent, with the work you receive from people, even if they are friends. Ultimately, it is YOUR name that is on the line with your clients.

With that said, I recently had to go and find a new framer. I turned up at my old framers shop, only to find out that they had closed down! I desperately flipped through the yellow pages, calling framer after framer, to find one that could do the kind of framing that I needed.

I finally got someone on the line, who was not only very helpful, but just around the corner from my previous framer. (It’s not in what I would call a ‘great’ area, and is frequented with cars with custom paint jobs and too many spoilers! They said they could do the job quickly, quoted me a very good price, offered me a brokers discount (as I am re-selling their service) without me even asking, and promised to text message me when the job was done.

Now had I driven past their premises previously, I would not have even given them a second glance, but because of my desperate situation, I had found them via the yellow pages, and found an absolute gem in the rough. A business, run by three generations of the same family, experts in their field, who not only did the job at the price quoted, but offered me some very valuable advice on the thing in question that I was having framed.

So lesson no. 1, never rely on just one supplier for the same thing, no matter how good they may seem

Lesson no. 2 never judge a business by it’s appearance.

Lesson no. 3 friends are friends, but business is business

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The New iMac: Behold the Beauty

MacNessa — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:29:56 +0000

It is quite insane, just how gorgeous the new iMac is.

Its like trying out the so-called best eye wrinkle cream, and then waking up, the next morning, looking in the mirror, and looking ten years younger.

That is what looking at the new iMac is like. It is B-E-A-YOOtiful folks!

Don’t believe me?

Look at this…

Mmm. The last iMacs were already perfect. It’s hard to believe that a team of people would have looked at it, and said, “How can we make this better?” then actually making it better.

I think I would like to work for Apple. There is no end to their brilliance. I mean the mighty mouse looks like it has been designed by a technologically advanced alien super-species! Like recent visitors to Apple HQ were leaving in their flying saucer, dropped something as they were leaving, went ‘Doh!’ and decided that hey, it’s okay, because they were leaving it in good hands.

Seriously.

Good luck with your market share PC!! ((cackles maniacally))

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Freelancing: Don't forget the basics

MacNessa — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:33:19 +0000

An important lesson, when striking out on your own as a freelancer (in the non-baseball sense of the phrase), is to walk before you can run.

That, in a nutshell, means stick to the basics, lay the ground rules, and be absolutely meticulous in your planning.

If you lay the groundwork out in the beginning, and create the frame work within which you will begin to operate once you open for business, you will save yourself a lot of frustration in the long run.

Many freelancers simply begin taking in work (or more accurately, looking for work) without even having written a simple business plan.

I say, take it one step further and actually meet with a business plan consultant and really get your money’s worth. Set out your short, medium and long term aims, and then fill in the blanks on how you plan to get there.

This will make it a lot easier to find the necessary start-up capital if you haven’t already saved it, and will also keep you on track, instead of surprising you at the end of your first month, when you suddenly realise you’re nowhere near your intended target.

Think ahead, be smart, and enjoy yourself, it’s all part of the grand designer plan.

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The Only Thing Stopping You: is You!

MacNessa — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:15:35 +0000

I never finished my university degree.

I didn’t like what I was studying at the time, changed courses twice, and decided to call it quits. I realise in hindsight that at the tender age of 17 I was simply not emotionally ready to be facing university.

Nowadays one has SO many more choices than we did when I was leaving school. Had I had the opportunity to do an online degree I would have jumped at it! I have browsed many course catalogs, from numerous universities over the years, always tempted to return to my studies. I was really interested to find the online teaching degree offered by Western Governors University.

The number one point that really stood out for me, is that they are a fully accredited online education institution, and as a non-profit organisation they are much more affordable than other online universities. Now while earning a degree is an intense process, knowing that this one is more affordable, makes it all the more interesting.

One thing I have learned in the last few years is that if you want to take on a project like this, finish your degree, earn one from scratch, or develop your life by educating yourself, then the only thing stopping you, is you. If you really want something badly enough, then there is absolutely no reason not to give it your all.

Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, either way you’re absolutely right!

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Dream Car: What is Yours?

MacNessa — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:17:15 +0000

What kind of car would you buy, if money were no object?

I often have this day-dreamy conversation with my husband, the ‘if we won the lotto‘ chat. We had it again, the other day, on a lazy afternoon, when I was perusing some real estate websites check out our ‘dream home’, or at least a selection of dream homes! We found one that we really liked, and then I jokingly told one my husband that if we won the lotto, I’d surprise him, and buy him a GPS for Christmas. Pre-programmed into the GPS would be a mystery address, which of course would lead my husband directly to our dream house, which I’d already purchased and furnished, and then in the garage he would find his dream car.

He smiled, and then asked me, “What is in the garage for you?” Meaning of course, which dream car would I choose to put there for myself.

I was-completely-stumped.

I hadn’t thought about my dream car in so long, it’s actually quite ridiculous. Perhaps it is because I’m already happy with my car right now, even though it’s nothing particularly special. Perhaps it is because my priorities have changed since I became a parent.

Rather than a particular model of car, I have a ’set of requirements’ which I would like to have in a car, and it wouldn’t matter what brand it was, provided it met these requirements, which included things like: nice looking, fuel efficient, clean energy, zero toxic emissions, safety features for the kids, space for the dogs, space for luggage, comfortable to drive, awesome sound system etc etc.

Then I thought about it some more, and I thought I’d like to add a couple of features not ordinarily found on a suburban car! Like James Bonds car, it would be really cool if I could equip it with missiles (for blowing up those pesky taxis), or with an ejector seat for when I have unwanted passengers, or get hi-jacked, it should come equipped with an AED, in case I have my vodka martini poisoned by an money-laundering conman, during a card game in Montenegro, and I need to defibrillate myself before returning to surprise him with my resourcefulness.

Ha ha. Anyway, it was interesting to think about. How about you? What’s your dream car?

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