So the shinny new computer arrived today. Well, let's be more specific here...I went and retrieved the shinny new computer from the bowels of Arctic Express. Having grown frustrated with calling both UPS and Arctic Express and getting nowhere, I decided a more direct approach was required. So I went to their office and spoke with the person manning the desk and told them that UPS said my package should be here.
And lo and behold, there it was. I've spent most of the evening tweaking and setting up different things. Obviously I'm liking it quite a bit right now. The keyboard is amazing and I'm liking lots of the little things I'm seeing so far. It'll take another couple of days before I have it broken in and set up the way I like.
Two more bits of surreality with regards to the computer. First was a conversation I had with UPS yesterday. This is exactly how it went.
UPS: That's strange. You should have your package by now.
Me: Well, I don't.
UPS: Well, I'm not sure where it is, but you should get it by tomorrow.
I just love that. There's something completely surreal about that statement. About not knowing where it is, yet have the utter certainty that I will get it, not soon, but the very next day. And hey, she was right, so maybe she's onto something.
The other bit was the shipping information on the side of the box. There was a sticker attached to the box saying when it shipped from Montreal to Iqaluit. It was November 7. Now, someone can correct me on this, but that means it was in Iqlauit since last Thursday at least. That means, and here's the point that had me fuming today, when I called on Friday and Tuesday at Arctic Express and asked for my package, it was there. They said they'd call back if it was, but they never did.
So that means they not only didn't get around to delivering a package that was in their warehouse, they couldn't be bothered to go and check to see if it was there.
Now, I could be wrong and if I am I will own up to it. But I don't think I am. So let's make this perfectly clear - if you are shipping something into Nunavut and it has to get there in a hurry you should absolutely never use either Fed Ex or UPS. Because both contract out to Arctic Express, which doesn't seem to be able to deliver items in a timely fashion. Need something shipped fast, use Canada Post.
Anyway, that's the vent. I am now going to go and enjoy my new toy some more.
Edit: Ooops. Forgot to put in my last five last night
Last Five
1. When loves comes to town - U2 and B.B. King*
2. Mari Mac - Great Big Sea
3. Barons of Suburbia - Tori Amos
4. Kiss on my list - Hall and Oates (I know, I know...)
5. I'm so tired - The Beatles
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Waiting for the Mac
So it was two weeks ago yesterday that I put in the order for my brand new MacBook Pro. And I'm writing this on my...same old iBook.
I know I shouldn't be surprised. It's the north and this is the way things operate. Patience is the watch word. If you're not patient with the way things work up here, then you won't last.
Still, it's a touch maddening. I think the tracking information that UPS gives you actually makes things worse. For example, it left the factory in Shanghai on the 29th of October. After some shagging around in China, it finally made it to Hamilton, Ontario after stops in Anchorage and Louisville on Nov. 4. According to a little distance calculator I found online, that's still roughly 12,500 km in about five business days. Not great, but not too bad. I mean, there was a time when you would have to wait months to get something shipped from China. Now five days is considered a bit on the slow side.
But the maddening thing is how long it's taking to get that last few thousand kilometres. Two days to get from Hamilton to Montreal. Where it has been sitting since last Tuesday, the 6th. Neither UPS nor Arctic Express can really tell me much other than it might arrive on Tuesday. But, you know, don't be surprised if it doesn't. As for why it takes a week to get a package From China to Montreal and another week to get it from Montreal to Iqaluit, well, welcome to the north.
sigh I just want my toy. This weekend would have been nice. Cathy's busy with report cards, so I would have plenty of time to play with it, transfer files, install programs and whatever.
Anyway, listen to me whine.
On an unrelated note, Mireille asked me to bring back an old thing I used to do on the blog, that being listing the last three to five tracks played on my iPod. I got out of the habit of doing that, but now, why not. As a bonus, I'll put an asterix next to the song that is my favourite of that bunch.
Last Five
1. Sucker Row - Mark Knopfler
2. Know it all - John Rouse
3. Tried to rock - Lloyd Cole
4. Controversy - Prince
5. Elegy for Elsabet - The Weakerthans*
I know I shouldn't be surprised. It's the north and this is the way things operate. Patience is the watch word. If you're not patient with the way things work up here, then you won't last.
Still, it's a touch maddening. I think the tracking information that UPS gives you actually makes things worse. For example, it left the factory in Shanghai on the 29th of October. After some shagging around in China, it finally made it to Hamilton, Ontario after stops in Anchorage and Louisville on Nov. 4. According to a little distance calculator I found online, that's still roughly 12,500 km in about five business days. Not great, but not too bad. I mean, there was a time when you would have to wait months to get something shipped from China. Now five days is considered a bit on the slow side.
But the maddening thing is how long it's taking to get that last few thousand kilometres. Two days to get from Hamilton to Montreal. Where it has been sitting since last Tuesday, the 6th. Neither UPS nor Arctic Express can really tell me much other than it might arrive on Tuesday. But, you know, don't be surprised if it doesn't. As for why it takes a week to get a package From China to Montreal and another week to get it from Montreal to Iqaluit, well, welcome to the north.
sigh I just want my toy. This weekend would have been nice. Cathy's busy with report cards, so I would have plenty of time to play with it, transfer files, install programs and whatever.
Anyway, listen to me whine.
On an unrelated note, Mireille asked me to bring back an old thing I used to do on the blog, that being listing the last three to five tracks played on my iPod. I got out of the habit of doing that, but now, why not. As a bonus, I'll put an asterix next to the song that is my favourite of that bunch.
Last Five
1. Sucker Row - Mark Knopfler
2. Know it all - John Rouse
3. Tried to rock - Lloyd Cole
4. Controversy - Prince
5. Elegy for Elsabet - The Weakerthans*
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The waiting game
Apparently we're at the age when you're supposed to have babies. Much to the occasional frustration of our parents, we're in no rush to produce an actual human offspring. Instead, we keep adopting substitute babies.
I believe you've met Cathy's baby. Here's a reminder.
OK, not one of his cuter moments, but they can't all be cute. Plus, we're still reeling from how big of a nuisance he was last night. Seriously, you could have had him for fresh fruit last night.
My babies tend to run more to the....non-living side. I order my baby last Friday. Here she is:
A 15" MacBook Pro, with 2 gigs of RAM, a 200 gig Hard Drive and I bought Aperture, a photo management program to go along with it. It is very pretty and I can't wait to get my hands a hold of it. My little iBook has served me well the past three years, but even when I bought it she was a low end laptop from Apple. This is one of their high end laptops and ought to serve me quite well for years to come.
Now I get to play the stalking game. Little did I know when I ordered it that it was going to ship from Shanghai, China. I have friends living in Shanghai, so that's weird. They can pop down to the Apple factory and pick one fresh off the line if they want.
So now I'm watching the tracking information to see where my baby is. Right now, it's somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Apple is telling me that I should have it by Monday, November 5. We shall see about that. Courier companies operate weirdly when it comes to getting things up north. The computer is being shipped through UPS, which I pretty certain has no office in Iqaluit. That means either Arctic Express (God help us all) or First Air will be handling its arrival in Iqaluit.
If I get it before November 9, I'll be happy and pleasantly surprised. But regardless, I want it soon. I want to play with my baby.
I believe you've met Cathy's baby. Here's a reminder.
OK, not one of his cuter moments, but they can't all be cute. Plus, we're still reeling from how big of a nuisance he was last night. Seriously, you could have had him for fresh fruit last night.
My babies tend to run more to the....non-living side. I order my baby last Friday. Here she is:
A 15" MacBook Pro, with 2 gigs of RAM, a 200 gig Hard Drive and I bought Aperture, a photo management program to go along with it. It is very pretty and I can't wait to get my hands a hold of it. My little iBook has served me well the past three years, but even when I bought it she was a low end laptop from Apple. This is one of their high end laptops and ought to serve me quite well for years to come.
Now I get to play the stalking game. Little did I know when I ordered it that it was going to ship from Shanghai, China. I have friends living in Shanghai, so that's weird. They can pop down to the Apple factory and pick one fresh off the line if they want.
So now I'm watching the tracking information to see where my baby is. Right now, it's somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Apple is telling me that I should have it by Monday, November 5. We shall see about that. Courier companies operate weirdly when it comes to getting things up north. The computer is being shipped through UPS, which I pretty certain has no office in Iqaluit. That means either Arctic Express (God help us all) or First Air will be handling its arrival in Iqaluit.
If I get it before November 9, I'll be happy and pleasantly surprised. But regardless, I want it soon. I want to play with my baby.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
No iPod for you...
I'm a well-known Mac snob, but I haven't gotten around to talking about the new line of iPods that were announced last week. I had a few people ask if I was going to buy one of them.
Nope.
Don't get me wrong, I'm surely they're lovely toys. But I bought a (then) top of the line iPod last year. It has about 80 gigs and it more than enough for me. I don't really use the video function to play movies or TV shows. I don't store my photos on it. All I want is something with enough memory to hold all of my music. I have about 30 gigs of music on my 80 gig iPod, so clearly I have a lot more room for music.
That means the Shuffle, Nano and the newly dubbed "Classic" would do nothing for me. Two of them don't have enough memory. The Classic is essentially what I own right now.
Which leaves the iPod Touch. Which is a lovely machine. I imagine it's going to be a big hit, especially in Canada, where the iPhone is not yet available. The Touch is essentially the iPhone without the phone.
But I'm not really interested in one of those either. At least not right now. Two reasons. Well, three. At $450 Canadian, it's expensive. Secondly, it only comes in 8 gig and 16 gig models. Not enough memory of what I need. And third, the wifi if completely useless for me here. There's only one free wifi in town, and it's that slow that e-mail is about all its good for.
Granted, there are several unsecure wireless networks in town (including one in my building, but I'm nice and don't take advantage of the person), but the main draw for that iPod is the wifi.
Granted, that might change in a few years time if we move down south. But for now, I'm quite content with what I have.
No, my next purchase will be a 15 inch MacBook Pro. The only question is do I buy it at the end of October when Apple comes out with its new OS, or do I wait until January, when Apple will likely upgrade their notebook line. Decisions, decisions...
Nope.
Don't get me wrong, I'm surely they're lovely toys. But I bought a (then) top of the line iPod last year. It has about 80 gigs and it more than enough for me. I don't really use the video function to play movies or TV shows. I don't store my photos on it. All I want is something with enough memory to hold all of my music. I have about 30 gigs of music on my 80 gig iPod, so clearly I have a lot more room for music.
That means the Shuffle, Nano and the newly dubbed "Classic" would do nothing for me. Two of them don't have enough memory. The Classic is essentially what I own right now.
Which leaves the iPod Touch. Which is a lovely machine. I imagine it's going to be a big hit, especially in Canada, where the iPhone is not yet available. The Touch is essentially the iPhone without the phone.
But I'm not really interested in one of those either. At least not right now. Two reasons. Well, three. At $450 Canadian, it's expensive. Secondly, it only comes in 8 gig and 16 gig models. Not enough memory of what I need. And third, the wifi if completely useless for me here. There's only one free wifi in town, and it's that slow that e-mail is about all its good for.
Granted, there are several unsecure wireless networks in town (including one in my building, but I'm nice and don't take advantage of the person), but the main draw for that iPod is the wifi.
Granted, that might change in a few years time if we move down south. But for now, I'm quite content with what I have.
No, my next purchase will be a 15 inch MacBook Pro. The only question is do I buy it at the end of October when Apple comes out with its new OS, or do I wait until January, when Apple will likely upgrade their notebook line. Decisions, decisions...
Monday, October 16, 2006
Mixed weekend
It's warm in the arctic tonight. I'm actually sweating a bit in my apartment and resisting the urge to crack open a window to cool off. Environment Canada says it 2C as I type this with a high in the next 24 hours of 4C. There was some snow on the ground in the higher elevations around town today, but I doubt much of it is going to survive this evening, especially with a nice layer of fog hanging over the town.
So yeah, this is slight weirdness. It's the 15th of October and there is no snow on the ground. The ground itself is muck and needless to say there is no ice to be found anywhere in the harbour. And by the forecast, there isn't going to be much snow on the ground for the next week. Winter was well along this time last year.
As for this weekend, it was one of mixed results. There was a lot of stuff we needed to get done. And we got a nice chunk of it done. Funny thing is, the stuff that was related to work or school managed to fall by the wayside.
Cleaning the apartment? Done. Doing the laundry? Done. Cleaning up and backing up my computer? Done. Playing with my new iPod? Done. Well, it was work to an extent. I had to back up my music and load up stuff onto the new iPod. I have learned the lesson of a year ago when I didn't back up my iPod and when it crashed I lost about 3500 songs. So that's work-ish.
Oddly enough, the school work that I needed to get finished is not complete. The work work that I needed to get done remains unfinished. However, I'm in good company as Cathy brought work home and it magically didn't get completed.
Ah well. I guess I'm just out of practice. I used to bring home work all the time when with the Express, but I haven't done much since I've been here. And I haven't done school work in years. So I'll have to get back into the habit.
But hey...at least the new iPod is fully loaded. Five thousand songs that I can listen to while at work. That's the important thing...
So yeah, this is slight weirdness. It's the 15th of October and there is no snow on the ground. The ground itself is muck and needless to say there is no ice to be found anywhere in the harbour. And by the forecast, there isn't going to be much snow on the ground for the next week. Winter was well along this time last year.
As for this weekend, it was one of mixed results. There was a lot of stuff we needed to get done. And we got a nice chunk of it done. Funny thing is, the stuff that was related to work or school managed to fall by the wayside.
Cleaning the apartment? Done. Doing the laundry? Done. Cleaning up and backing up my computer? Done. Playing with my new iPod? Done. Well, it was work to an extent. I had to back up my music and load up stuff onto the new iPod. I have learned the lesson of a year ago when I didn't back up my iPod and when it crashed I lost about 3500 songs. So that's work-ish.
Oddly enough, the school work that I needed to get finished is not complete. The work work that I needed to get done remains unfinished. However, I'm in good company as Cathy brought work home and it magically didn't get completed.
Ah well. I guess I'm just out of practice. I used to bring home work all the time when with the Express, but I haven't done much since I've been here. And I haven't done school work in years. So I'll have to get back into the habit.
But hey...at least the new iPod is fully loaded. Five thousand songs that I can listen to while at work. That's the important thing...
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Sigh...
A mostly relaxing weekend that went AWOL down the home stretch by:
1. Switchpod giving me small headaches by not doing what I want it to do.
2. A security update from Apple killing my wireless signal which meant considerable screwing around to get it going again.
3. Some anonymous git accusing me of plagerism in the last post (don't bother to look, it's been deleted).
4. Cathy not feeling the best (her cold has gone down into her lungs) which kept us up the night.
5. Having to go back to work today.
So yes, there is crankiness this morning. I'm sure it will pass. I'm just saying, not the happiest houshold in all the land right now.
By the way, just so I make this crystal bloody clear, I love people commenting on my blog. It makes me immeasurably happy that people take the time to read what I'm writing and feel the urge to comment on it. And I allow anonymous comments because, for the most part, they're benign and it's people without Blogger accounts and can't be bothered to get one (fair enough). But if people are going to take shots at me, insult me or accuse me of plagerism of all bloody things, then you're going to sign your name to it. Otherwise, the anonymous function disappears.
I'm a benevolent dictator. To a point. And this really isn't the morning to piss me off...
1. Switchpod giving me small headaches by not doing what I want it to do.
2. A security update from Apple killing my wireless signal which meant considerable screwing around to get it going again.
3. Some anonymous git accusing me of plagerism in the last post (don't bother to look, it's been deleted).
4. Cathy not feeling the best (her cold has gone down into her lungs) which kept us up the night.
5. Having to go back to work today.
So yes, there is crankiness this morning. I'm sure it will pass. I'm just saying, not the happiest houshold in all the land right now.
By the way, just so I make this crystal bloody clear, I love people commenting on my blog. It makes me immeasurably happy that people take the time to read what I'm writing and feel the urge to comment on it. And I allow anonymous comments because, for the most part, they're benign and it's people without Blogger accounts and can't be bothered to get one (fair enough). But if people are going to take shots at me, insult me or accuse me of plagerism of all bloody things, then you're going to sign your name to it. Otherwise, the anonymous function disappears.
I'm a benevolent dictator. To a point. And this really isn't the morning to piss me off...
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