J. P. Is a Genius Just 'Cause I Say So!

Yesterday, J. P. Hearn of Bleu Chocolate and Big Red Lunchbox came to our house around 3:30 pm to help me transfer all my work contacts into my MacHell (That's Machell to you, Paige). I have an ungodly amount of contacts, because I am known as the “go-to” person in this part of the Oilpatch. I have put on quite a few non-profit fundraisers in my day, also serving on several boards, and over the course of time, I’ve accumulated a ton of contacts in my Outlook to mail out event notices, etc. So, now, when someone new comes in to the patch, their employers and peers tell them to contact me and get on my e-mail list. Thus, the 5000+ contacts. (I really wasn’t trying to be a smart-alec in my prior post!) Y'all really didn't think all those peeps were my posse, did ya???

Anyway, ThatManILove and I have been trying to move those same contacts over to my Mac for the past 2 weeks, to no avail. It has been a huge source of frustration, and many tears and sleepless nights on my part. So, I begged J.P. to help me. And he was sweet enough to do so. I will so owe him for the rest of my life.

I’m sure he thought he’d slam dunk it, but every.single.thing.we.tried.would.crash. I just had too much info to import. Onto my brand new MacBookPro that still had tons and tons of memory, so no, it wasn’t that.

Finally, about 8:30 p.m. (and yeah, J.P. was still hanging in there!) I booted up ThatManILove’s computer, and found a program on Little Machines that is called O2M. (Get it? Outlook to Mac. Duh.) I asked J.P. – want me to buy this program? It’s only $10! It says it’s seamless, then you can throw the contacts onto Mobile Me and it syncs everything up. After about 30 more minutes of trying everything in the book/Mac/J.P.’s brain, I decided to read him the O2M testimonials. You know, the ones that say:

Best $10 I ever spent!

Quick, Easy, Painless!

Even a dummy can do it!

J.P., frustrated with the sheer numbers of my contacts, caved. I mean, he is pretty much a Mac genius, and he couldn’t get it done. He looked at me and said, “Buy it. It won’t hurt!” We cracked up.

In less than 30 minutes, my contacts were transferring to my Mac, and simultaneously syncing to my iPhone. I kid you not.

We were elated, to say the least.

We called J.P.’s wife, Beverly, who had certainly by now given up on us, and told her we were all coming to get her for supper. Yeah, at 9 something p.m. And off we go to Johnny Carino’s, where we had a lovely, though late, evening.

ThatManILove is excited – because he can sleep better knowing that I can sleep better knowing that all my contacts are now on my iPhone and MacHell. I’m off to say that That Mac Prayer now, and a special prayer for J.P. and Beverly, who are now my forever friends for putting up with me. And a double special prayer for ThatManILove, who might buy me a diamond or something because we finally got this done and I'm ecstatically happy. While I’m at it, I'm gonna say a prayer for all of y’all who are supporting me, too! You’re the best.

XOXOXOXOXO

Do I Really Know This Many People?

We worked from 3 p.m. until the late hours of the night importing my 5000 + contacts into my Mac, so, oops, I may have missed a day of the 30 day challenge.

I’ll make it up to you later, I promise, with entertaining stories and lots of laughs.

Yeah, I've been laughing - a lot! And that, me maties, is a very good thing...

Pre-Contest Post!! Are You READY TO RUMBLE??

ThatManILove and my geek friend Mike have still continued to work on my Mac most of the day. The Genius appointment is tomorrow. That…should be fun!

Today was a good day. We met friends at Mimi’s in Grapevine for brunch, and laughed, and talked, and laughed some more. I needed that.

I won’t be writing much tonight, I have to spend all my time getting your James Taylor free tickets contest ready to go! Remember – you don’t have to live in Massachusetts, you just have to be able to get there for the August 29th concert! It will be fun, I promise.

If there are 3 or 4 of you that want to go, you can let me know when you win the contest – I do have additional tickets, but plan on selling those. However, if you win, and you need a couple more, well, I’ll be a good girl and sell those at face value. I never was much of a scalper!!

Have a good evening, and don’t forget…Contest Day is tomorrow!!! Come back and play!

PS – holy hot dogs, Batman! This is my 500th post! And no, I’m not going to take you through any of the 500 subject drills. Not tonight, anyway!!

Becoming One With The Mac - Part 2

We’ve spent a delightful couple of days at Mike and Pam's in the Fort Worth area. I needed a break!

Today, we went to the Apple store, trying to get some things situated with my MacBook Pro…and I realized the Apple people have a.t.t.i.t.u.d.e. Some young whippersnapper at the store ( and yes, he was a blue shirt) was pretty rude to us. He’s obviously never had to stoop so low as to have a Windows PC, much less utilize Outlook.

We made an appointment with an Apple genius, so maybe he can help us later on this weekend.
Then, off we went to the Fort Worth Best Buy, where the young Apple Solutions Consultant, Victor Robles, was just an absolute jewel. He answered all our questions (and yes, he was previously a PC user, who obviously repented) and told us just what we needed to run both Windows and Mac software on my MacBook Pro. I told him I was going to write a letter of commendation for him. His reponse? “Well, I just hate that you’ve had that kind of experience not once, but twice now.” Dude. The kid needs a raise, hear me, Steve Jobs? He needs a RAISE. Like maybe to VP.

I showed him my blog, where Captain Smack, who is a sometimes commenter, wrote this poem about my problems with my Mac being a spiritual problem, not a technical one. Victor thought it rocked, I could tell, but he remained professional and smiled. No comment. He knows where his bread is Apple Buttered.

So now, ThatManILove is busy working on backing up my Mac and getting it all fixed up for his darling girl (me) so I can operate more efficiently, utilizing both operating systems. Please keep up in your prayers.

Here’s the poem again for your review.

Dear Steve Jobs

Who art in iHeaven

Hallowed be thy apps

I giveth unto you

Thy heart

Thy soul

And thy credit card information

In hopes that you will show me

The error of my PC ways

And leadeth me from temptation

The temptation of using a much cheaper

And much more user-friendly product

For you are The One

And The Zero

And all the ones and zeros

The Alpha and Omega

Not to mention that iPhone thingy

Which really kicks ass

Though it is a bit pricey

But I digress

Anyway

Please give your commercially hip guidance

To me, my mouse, and my wallet

And show me The Way

The Way to copy a simple file from one folder to another, which really shouldn't be that hard, but for some reason is, like, a total freaking pain in the ass, what the hell???

*ahem*

I shall fear not

As I walk through the shadow of the valley

Of bad customer service

And confusing help menus

And toolbars placed in odd locations

For no apparent reason

For I know that at the end

Of this struggle I will learn how to copy/paste jpegs

And even install some freeware

And then it will all make sense

For I can brag that I have a Mac

I am one of The Chosen Ones

And all those PC users

Can kiss my ass.

Whatever and ever

Amen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't Forget! James Taylor Freebie Tickets Monday!

Becoming One With the Mac - by Captain Smack

Oh, yeah, I can hear the crowd roaring now: Be the Mac! Be the Mac! Be the Mac!

Holly, The Blue Ridge Gal and My friend JP of The Big Red Lunchbox and the photoblog Bleu Chocolate (go check him out!) all left Mac tips for which I’m very grateful. I will be trying them out. Brother Scott told me to call upon my nephews, which is a dang good idea, if I can possibly coordinate my calendar with their calendar. Lots of people told me to just go ahead and load my shotgun.

Captain Smack from the blog “This Is Your Captain Speaking” left a comment concerning my Mac I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up MacRant yesterday.

With his permission, I’m going to share it with you.

"If you're having trouble with The Mac, it is a spiritual problem, not a technical one. The Mac is not a brand, dear, it is a religion. Obviously, you are not believing in The Mac hard enough. To become one with The Macness, say this prayer:

Dear Steve Jobs

Who art in iHeaven

Hallowed be thy apps

I giveth unto you

Thy heart Thy soul

And thy credit card information

In hopes that you will show me

The error of my PC ways

And leadeth me from temptation

The temptation of using a much cheaper

And much more user-friendly product

For you are The One

And The Zero

And all the ones and zeros

The Alpha and Omega

Not to mention that iPhone thingy

Which really kicks ass

Though it is a bit pricey

But I digress

Anyway

Please give your commercially hip guidance

To me, my mouse, and my wallet

And show me

The Way

The Way to copy a simple file from one folder to another, which really shouldn't be that hard, but for some reason is, like, a total freaking pain in the ass, what the hell???

*ahem*

I shall fear not

As I walk through the shadow of the valley

Of bad customer service

And confusing help menus

And toolbars placed in odd locations

For no apparent reason

For I know that at the end

Of this struggle

I will learn how to copy/paste jpegs

And even install some freeware

And then it will all make sense

For I can brag that I have a Mac

I am one of The Chosen Ones

And all those PC users

Can kiss my ass.

Whatever and ever

Amen"