Everyone that knows us has become accustomed to the fact that we travel in the winter. We have been on the road during the month of December for years now. We mostly travel to the great southwest and photograph the landscape in snow and ice. This year was no exception. We spent thirty days during the month of December 2009 and January 2010 in Utah photographing in deep snow and temperatures that never rose above freezing. But, that is another story that we will get into later.
This is a story of ongoing frustration and misery. Specifically, the misery of getting that PC laptop computer to work. We threw out our PCs in the office late last year and replaced them with new Mac boxes. What a breath of fresh air! A computer that works!
So, this trip we made the conscious decision that maybe we could use that old PC laptop one more time. We record all of our film and field notes using small digital recorders and download them daily to the laptop. We also each carry a small digi-snapper camera to make record photos and snapshots as we work each day. The laptop is also used to access the Internet and e-mail, since most every place we stay has access these days.
After a couple of weeks of frustration with the PC laptop never wanting to work and just being a complete waste of time waiting for it to decide to work, we gave up completely. Susan painfully and slowly, since she had to use the old PC, found the nearest Apple dealer and we took a day off to drive to Colorado to purchase a MacBook.
The experience was again what I would describe as a breath of fresh air! The thing just comes on and works! Instead of spending half an hour, or more, waiting and wondering if the thing is going to work, the Mac just comes on and is ready to go.
If you have ever been curious or tempted to look into Apple computers, all I can say is take a look. Go online, find an Apple Store, make an appointment and let them show you with a hands-on demo. The only regret I have about all of this is thinking of all of the time and frustration I have had to deal with in the past with M$.
End of story. . . source of frustration eliminated. . . my rant is over. . . my blood pressure has once again subsided and I have time in the evening for my favorite activity. . . a quick nap before dinner.
And, if that was not enough to keep you busy, HERE is the link to the snapshots from our 2009-2010 adventures in Utah. . . Enjoy!!
JB
Time to start processing the film from the last trip to Utah. We spent 30 days on the road and photographed 20 days. That kind of working schedule generates a lot of LF and ULF film. Now comes the time to head to the darkroom for a little developing. Should take about 30 days to finish all of the film. Then we have to catalog and file, then proof to see what we have. Soon we will have some new film to start looking at with an eye toward making prints.
