Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Desperate Times

Route 3 - Windsor Road

Since I've been otherwise preoccupied for the past year several months; and since last week was spent out of town; and since all I've done this entire week is drive and work and drive and work work, there's been no spare time to focus on what I really like to do, which is dillydallying photographing the county of Mathews.

Out of desperation, however, I snapped a few photos on the drive home from vacation last Sunday.

For the time being, we won't discuss the utter and complete lack of quality of these photos. I'd also like to state for the record that taking photos from a moving vehicle is ridiculous, among many other things less than ideal.

No, for the moment I'd like you to focus on the beautiful sea of green in the soybean field in the top photo.

And the ocean of green corn in the bottom photo which would have been more visible had I zoomed in, but that's hard to accomplish when you have all of two seconds to whip out a camera and focus properly while stopped at an intersection with cars patiently waiting behind you.


Where Rte. 3 meets 198/Soles

Another thing I'd like to focus on is a question, which is this:  If a very technically naive individual, who struggles on a daily basis with everything technology, were forced to very quickly purchase something to satisfy her computer needs since what she has is dying a slow and excruciatingly painful death, what would you recommend based on the following:

1. The individual is way behind the times, ridiculously averse to change, but once she gets used to something will stick with it forever.  As in until it becomes obsolete.
2.  The individual's only first jaunt into technology was 1987, and it was a manual typewriter Wang word processor.  
3.  The individual has never purchased her own computer.  Ever. She has relied on the kindness of friends and hand-me-downs. She panics when she enters a Best Buy and would rather die than talk to a sales person about her technical ineptitude needs.  
4. The individual takes lots and lots of pictures and does not back anything up--except to the C: drive.  
5. The individual also needs some degree of portability, however she's mortally afraid of relying solely on a laptop, since she's practically killed one in less than a year based on her heavy usage. (Or the magnetic field which her children claim surrounds her, causing everything to blow up or break shortly after contact.)  
6.  Refer back to #1 above.  Repeat, three times.

Laptop, PC, netbook, netflix, or what, and what brand, what sort, how much memory, how many gigawhatevers, and what else?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions, which no doubt will require my teenager's interpretive skills; a flood of follow up questions; and many months for me to actually act upon. 

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I say laptop, and a jump drive or dvd to store photos on. I want a MAC but they aren't cheap. I love the portability of my laptop even though I leave it pluged into my modum when I'm at home. I still have issues using my router. anyway, good luck and I'm sure you will get better technical suggestions. Take CB son with you to Best Buy.

Kay L. Davies said...

I want to get a large-capacity external hard drive so I can back up everything from my iMac in one handy little gadget.

Take CB son with you. The experience might make you pull out your hair, but eventually you'll be glad you took him, and hair grows back.

— K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Ann Marie said...

you need ask no further.. I have you covered. WE.. as you and I are going to Best Buy.. we can take the kids along make it a evening out so you have something to look forward to. We are going to buy YOU a Mac Book pro... Large harddrive... great for pics I got you covered here.

Country Girl said...

If you can afford it, I'd get the Mac.

However, this is what I have and it works for me.
I bought a Dell laptop online for about $850. A co-worker and I watched a certain one for a month or so until it went on sale and then we each snatched one up. They have some on sale now:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/laptops#facets=55846~0~5930681&p=1
I bought one with a 17" monitor and upgraded the memory a bit. I bought something to carry it in as well and purchased on a payment plan and got it paid off within 6 months. I also have an external hard drive where I store nothing by photos. I bought it at Staples for about $100.

Please note that I am also technology challenged, sorry to say. When the laptop came, I had our computer guy at work transfer all the stuff from my old laptop into the new one and then show me how to use the damn thing. If you have someone like that in your life, it's really helpful.

For the record, the Mac I wanted was twice as much. I was sad about that.

Mental P Mama said...

MacBook Pro. You will be so happy you did.

Jamie said...

If I could, I'd get a Mac... my cousin is a graphic designer and photographer and that's all she uses for photos. I'd also get an external hard drive to backup/store photos and other important documents on. Go with Re and CBSon, they'll hook you up. (I currently have a Dell laptop, it works fine for now, but if I had my druthers, I'd get a Mac)

Daryl said...

I would get a MacBook .. and relax because they are so easy to use, your Dad could use one without any help. I would however make sure I got the largest memory available ... photos and music take up a lot of space .. and while its pricier than a PC its worth it .. Apple help is free for a year but you should buy the Apple Care Plan so you are covered for 3 yrs ..

Meg McCormick said...

My main laptop is a work-issued Dell that is a fantastic workhorse of a machine. It's 3+ years old but works great. I've had bad experiences with two Gateway laptops we purchased new, for home use, and don't even want to tell you about the failure that was the refurbished Dell we bought for one of the kids.

My oldest son saved up and got himself a Macbook and he LOVES it. I have never heard of anyone NOT loving one. As long as you promise not to become one of those annoying Apple evangelists, and you are prepared to pay a little more up front, I am sure you will be so happy you did.

PS, stop telling people about the Wang. You're dating yourself. ;-)

growing wild on waverly lane said...

Give CBS some money and send him to buy it. If something is trouble free for most people who have one, pay more and be happy.

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Linda said...

Adding my mark to the Mac column. Me & Mac? We think alike:)

~Ashley~ said...

My daughter was looking at your blog just now and said your son is in her English class. =)

Unknown said...

After years as a loyal Dell customer I jumped ship and bought a Toshiba Satellite ($580 from B+H Photo) and I couldn't be happier. This is absolutely the best purchase I have made in my 19 years of computing and this from a man who built all his own systems until laptop prices dropped to the point where it was cheaper to buy than to upgrade. Here's the link: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/795686-REG/Toshiba_PSK40U_00R003_Satellite_L775D_S7220_17_3_Notebook.html