My MacBook arrived this morning, surprising me. After we ordered it last week, the first estimate on the website was May 31, and then May 26. But I was not expecting Monday May 22.
I was already excited today because our largest tadpole now has four legs, one of them emerging between 8:30 and 9:30 am (yes, when I first saw it at 6 am, it had three legs). Answering the doorbell to receive a package from Apple (“Apple!” I said to the driver, while forgetting how to sign my name) made the day amazing. Now I no longer have to be jealous of those who already have their MacBooks. It’s the end of an era, a time that taught me many lessons.
A year ago I unpacked my Powerbook, and more than three months ago, I lost that machine to thieves working the parking lot at the Vancouver Aquarium. Since February our lives have had an intense pace and I’ve been short on resources to give to blogging. Health and family issues have required more attention. However, I think I also lost some motivation when I lost my machine. Using Ted’s resurrected ThinkPad was certainly better than the two of us trying to share a Linux box. For that first month or so, from February to the arrival of Ted’s replacement machine, I would get up early, trying to get in some time on the computer before Ted started work. One morning I crashed Ted’s browser (and all the tabs). The look on his face when I told him at breakfast…well, let’s just say we had some marital tension due to our lack of laptops (I wonder how crimes affect divorce rates etc.?!)
We were waiting for Apple to announce the new iBook line. Although the old ThinkPad functioned for basic usage, it didn’t have audio or video. It wasn’t mobile. The keyboard couldn’t keep up with me. Using Windows again felt like learning another language. I grew frustrated, gave up, got restless.
Months later, I remember the laptop loss often, in little ways. I don’t sit around envisioning revenge or cursing the criminals. But as I try to describe to others why 2006 has been so intense, I begin in February with “our laptops were stolen…”. Reminders of the theft remain. Until last week or so Ted and I were sharing the same cable for both of our cameras. I didn’t make a list of the losses – Ted has that – but now and again I remember something else that is gone. Like my autographed copy of Naked Conversations from Robert and Shel’s fun party. I’ll search through the cupboards for a water bottle and then remember that it was taken too. I want to forget and try to forget, but then I remember.
Opening a drawer last week I took out a CD I hadn’t played in a while. A great CD I wanted to share. Phrases filled my mind. Oh yeah, didn’t I write a review of this CD on my blog? And then I remember that the review was in draft form, lost with my laptop.
Pictures have probably been the most precious loss, along with my presentations. Yes, we now have plans for better backups. I hope that anyone will learn from our loss.
Now is a time to make new memories with my new MacBook! I can’t wait. I have a train of thoughts and plans that ended in February, and a bunch of new ideas that have sprouted this spring. I’m standing at an intersection, figuring out how to bring the two together, the me who lost her laptop and the person I am now. The Julie who is blogging from her living room sofa for the first time in weeks is overjoyed tonight, playing videos, movies and typing into ecto.
It’s a time of transition. A time of excitement. I’m fascinated by the frog-in-process swimming in the tank of tadpoles. When I have a moment, I play a game and see if I can spy this awkward creature, with a frog’s eyes and flat back yet a tadpole’s tail. In the time that I’ve lived without my laptop, I’ve begun some transitions too. May this MacBook help continue the metamorphosis.
the best pictures I could take with my camera of our four-legged tadpole..
Thank you for continuing to read and comment during this transition time.
15 responses so far ↓
1 Morrie // May 23, 2006 at 2:46 am
Well done Julie. So have you named the frog yet. If not, what about Michigan J.
2 Katherine // May 23, 2006 at 5:32 am
Welcome Back!!! So great to read your words again. I am smiling with happiness for you about your delivery. 🙂
3 Nickie // May 23, 2006 at 9:52 am
Oh, Julie! I’m so glad you got your new MacBook! The feeling of being without technology you’re accustomed to is not fun and often frustrating! I am glad you have what you need and look forward to reading more from you. Thank you, also, for your comment on my blog this weekend, it really made me smile.
4 Maureen // May 23, 2006 at 5:21 pm
Julie!
Hello! I’m thrilled to read about your new “Apple” – too lacking in tech savvy to feel jealous (!), but maybe sometime in the future.
Enjoy. I’m so looking forward to reading more.
5 Lucy // May 23, 2006 at 8:19 pm
Blech! Frog-blogging!
6 Jen Zug // May 23, 2006 at 8:54 pm
I’m so excited for you! Sounds like your getting a second wind! I can relate to your loss of motivation in not having a laptop – they do spoil us, don’t they?
7 Kevin O'Keefe // May 25, 2006 at 2:02 pm
Welcome back.
8 Bob V // May 26, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Congratulations, Julie! I hope your MacBook lives a long and exciting life, but one uninvolved in crime.
You mentioned missing things that were stolen. It’s often fashionable to say our lives are cluttered with stuff we don’t need. At least I often think that. But when something is taken from us in such a manner, it suggests that our stuff isn’t necessarily a materialist obsession, but rather something meaningful. I haven’t decided if I believe that or not.
Take care! And I’m glad to hear about the new addition to your family!
9 chas Redmond // May 28, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Julie, I can sympathize with the lost items which keep being remembered. I had my backpack stolen – again a crime of convenience earlier this Spring. I keep finding things I thought I had which were in the backpack – I keep remembering yet one more thing I have to go and buy again. At least my camera and laptop weren’t in it. Have great fun with the new Macbook – I’ve played with them in the Apple stores and they are just that much better than the previous Apple laptops. Of course, guard your belongings when on travel – we all seem to have to re-learn that lesson every now and then.
10 Daisy // May 29, 2006 at 7:07 pm
I’m so jealous! So sorry you had a traumatic loss. I certainly know how that is, and if you’ve read my blog you know that I’m just beginning to read some trauma theory to help me theorize how the Internet responded to Hurricane Katrina. So many of the emotions you describe here are quite similar to mine.
Oh and I have a frog named Stella too, so I look forward to some frog blogging!
11 Lucy // Jun 28, 2006 at 9:57 am
I’ve decided to just comment randomly until you get around to posting new stuff. Thats either a threat or a promise 🙂
Lets get this party started!
Knock-knock!
Who’s There?
Boo-hoo.
Boo-hoo-who?
Don’t cry, its only Boo-hoo.
A knock-knock joke as told to me by Cassie, who ALMOST grasps the concept 🙂
12 Lucy // Jul 2, 2006 at 1:32 am
Whats the smartest bee? A spelling bee. Lol! Thats all I could come up with when left to amuse myself 🙂
13 Lucy // Jul 10, 2006 at 8:56 am
What do you call it when two computers talk to each other?
A disc-ussion!
(Bwahahahaha, computer humor 🙂
14 Walker // Aug 13, 2006 at 12:38 pm
I know Julie’s alive and healthy, cuz I see her running (looks faster than a jog) along the island streets from time to time. Imagine that! Paying more attention to her health than to entertaining her blog devotees.
Julie, I trust you’re enjoying your summer. We survived another Rotary Auction.
Still bloggin’ down the street –
– Walker
15 chas Redmond // Sep 16, 2006 at 8:52 pm
Looking forward to the day you start posting again. You have been on my “must check” list ever since you started. I miss your brash and yet seasoned outlook and comments. Hope things are going well. Have been by Bainbridge on the water a few times this summer and through the island at least twice – thought about you and a few other folks I know who live there as I was passing by and enjoying the enjoying the view and how truly wonderful Puget Sound really is.
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