After being out of my comfort zone at a new job and with a new computer, today just topped off this crazy week in a most appropriate way.
To start, this is the first place I’ve ever worked where I cannot wear jeans. My first big “office” job was 7 years ago and it was at a dotcom. I’ve gotten used to the open working environments, lots of internet access and casual dress.
Today was jeans day at the office, I guess I didn’t get the memo (no joke). At around 11:00 I went to the ladies room and discovered something rather shocking which made me look up and say, “you gotta be kidding me”. Apparently I had been walking around all morning with a hole in my pants. Not just a hole, it was a slit about 3 inches long and it was in a very… private place. My immediate reaction wasn’t panic, wondering if I’d be walking around the office all morning with my sensitive bits showing, it was just SERENITY NOW! Guh. Someone up there must be playing an awful lot of pranks on me over the last couple weeks.
I kept my wits about me and went into MacGyver mode, “how can I fix this” I thought to myself. I immediately removed the safety pin I had in my shirt (because I was wearing a chesty shirt today and thought I should pin it so that it’s more work friendly… but that’s another story). The safety pin came out, my sweater got zipped up and my pants got pinned. A real band-aid solution but it held out til I could visit the ONLY clothing store I could find on my lunch break to purchase a similar pair of pants.
I found pants, I didn’t care how much they were at long as they fit. I advised the clerks of my situation and I walked out of the store about 7 minutes later wearing my new purchase.
Now I just have to explain to my sister why the pants she lent me during our Victoria trip now have a safety pin in the crotch. This could be fun.
Once everyone recovers from daylight savings this weekend, they can then get completely outta whack next week when CelticFest takes over Vancouver.
From March 14th to 18th, 2007, CelticFest Vancouver will present hundreds of local and international artists at more than 60 events scheduled at dozens of popular venues and two outdoor stages along Granville Street [CelticFest]
It’s a 4-day long event with free concerts, street market, shows, and the grande ol’ St. Patrick’s Day parade downtown on Sunday the 18th. There are SO many events going on, I’ll just highlight the two that I’m most looking forward to.
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade – Sunday March 18th @ 11:00am. One of the main reasons why it’s at the top of my list? It’s free.
Dylan Thomas: A Profile of His Brief, Bright and Mercurial Life. The event features stories, poems and an Oscar-winning documentary about the Welshman, his works are very close to my heart.
The entire festival kicks off this coming Wednesday March 14th at the Yale, followed by free lunch time concerts in Pacific Centre and on Granville (@ Cordova).
We’ll be sure to consume many Guinness, especially since John’s no longer puzzled by the elusive ‘widget’ [RadioZoom]. Who knows, maybe we’ll even make it to the Canucks game vs Detroit on St. Pat’s Day. Now THAT would be a weekend from which to recover.
Being a Windows user since I was 10 and only having brief run-ins with Apple II GS’s and Macintosh when I was in school some things are completely foreign to me. Here are a couple things I’ve figured out (I suppose this is my non-video, non-witty attempt at the “I’m a Mac” and “I’m a PC” commercials).
The CTRL key doesn’t perform the functions you know and love.
Copy/Paste/Undo/Redo shortcuts are no longer with CTRL, you have to use the little Apple key along with the appropriate letter e.g. Apple (oops sorry, it’s called “command”) + V is paste.
This also applies for browsing in Firefox, it’s no longer CTRL + T to open a new tab, once again, use the Apple key.
There is no Backspace AND Delete Key. I am used to using the Delete key on a PC because it erases things in front of your cursor. I personally prefer this instead of always getting ahead of what you want to remove then ‘back’ spacing. On a Mac, the Delete key only back spaces.
If you want to install a dashboard widget, just point and click. When it’s installed and say, you want to uninstall, just remove it from the dashboard. There are not going to be 100 other files spread around the computer all related to it, and there is no “remove programs” option in “control panel”. The computer just does what it’s supposed to.
When you want to install a printer, you don’t have to install a printer. You just plug it in.
Wallpaper image used is property of
Sokazo on Flickr
I’m getting getting used to the look and feel of the Macbook and the operating system. I will need to get Office since all my files and archives are in Word (.doc) or Excel (.xls) and this reminds me, some of these filename extensions are completely new to me.
I even wanted to take a screen shot right now but I had no idea where the “print screen” button was. So I just Googled the “screen capture” keystroke combinations. This is where John comes in handy. But so far, on the bright side, all the pretty bells and whistles have left me feeling pretty warm n fuzzy and I’m not regretting my iDecision.
To do list:
– Get waterproof, inconspicuous laptop bag.
– Get Office for Mac
– Get cool stickers to “bling” out my Macbook. John got a lot of flack at Northern Voice for having a pristine system. I’m all about the stickers. Send me stickers.
Last night we dialed into Dave‘s cell phone while he was commuting across the seabus, so we were all on the line… sorta. We walked about the recent Alanah and I swear the bra wasn’t one of ours, but I’m not sure how many people believe us. Check The Crazy Canucks site for show notes and links.
The year was 1989 and my dad brought home a PC from work for us to use. We played Spacewars and basked in the orange glow of the monitor. Since then, I’ve always had a PC. From DOS to Windows 3.1 to XP I’ve always been a slave to Microsoft. I know it inside and out, I can troubleshoot with my hands behind my back, my eyes blindfolded and my legs crossed. Well, thanks to some unexpected fundage that was solely allocated to such things, I made the switch and am the proud owner of a 13.3 inch Macbook. John and Steve Jobs have won.
Yes, that’s the kitchen behind me in the photo. My frankenbox PC is taking up my workspace right now and the other desk-type furniture we have is occupied by John publishing the latest podcast episode. Although I supposed with a laptop I could be sitting anywhere in the house, really.
There will be a learning curve and everything isn’t as tikety-boo as it should be right now but I’ll be good to go soon enough, making blog posts from around the city and staying connected, as I should be. Hopefully this will help further my career path and pay for itself in the long run…
Update: John just showed me this on the Onion, too funny. I think I’m going to love this.
“In 1984, Apple introduced the Mac,” Jobs said to an overflowing crowd as an image of the first Macintosh computer was displayed on a giant screen behind him. “We changed the face of the music industry with the first iPod in 2001. And in January, we showed off the revolutionary new iPhone. Today, Apple is releasing a piece of innovative new technology that will forever change the way innovative new technology is released.” [TheOnion]
