The Macbooks weren’t my first brush with Apple computers, or OS X even. Back in 2001, I bought one of the cool iMacs that had recently come out. You know, the big ole CRT models. It had a whopping 450mHz G4(?) processor and 512MB of RAM, if I remember right. At any rate, it was my first attempt at switching, and unfortunately it failed. At the time, there wasn’t a lot of decent software that I knew of out for the Mac, and the 10.0 of Mac OS was sluggish to say the least. Long story short, I eventually decommissioned the machine and put it in a corner and went back to Windows and Linux.

That wasn’t the end of the line for the Mac, though. It’s true, I lived with my parents for a while after getting out of school and working in the real world. My dad had asked about a computer, and I knew I had the Mac sitting in a corner. He basically wanted something to play with and try to learn about computers with. The Mac was perfect for that, and since I knew he wasn’t gonna get a virus (I put OS 9 back on it), it meant little-to-no work for me. I sat it on his desk downstairs, ran a network cable to it and got it set up. I loaded some games on it, and showed him a few game websites and he was set. The smile on his face is something I still think back on and remember. He absolultely loved the idea that he could get on and play Bingo at any time he wanted. He also found a few other sites, and I had bought him a CD filled with a few more Mac games. Eventually I showed him some the word processor and spreadsheet apps, and I can remember nights of him organizing things and typing things up. Sadly, he passed in 2006, and with it went the Mac. My mom is not a computer person at all, so I came and picked it back up. Last I knew of it, I gave it to my friend Eric back in PA.

We also took in the PA Ren Faire, and unfortunately it was a hot and humid day. That made things pretty miserable, and the price of admission didn’t help either. All told, we dropped around 80 to 100 bucks between the gate fee and food. I think they’re going to price themselves out of business, as I didn’t really feel that it was worth the 28.95 per adult we paid to get in. *sighs* I was pretty let-down, as I was excited for it and had told Beth good things about it. It’s not to say that the day was a total waste, though.

The family was also happy to see us as well. I’m glad my family has taken so well to Bethany. She really does make me happy and they see that. There was some family-related drama while we were up which took away a bit of our enjoyment, but all in all it was a decent visit. I did realize that Georgia has been solidified in my mind as home. PA has changed a lot since I was last up, and some of the changes make me sad. The trip back was uneventful as well. Emma had a new car seat to adjust to, so she was a little cranky about that, but once we got home, things reverted back to normal.

I apologize for this being a bit of a downer, but I had to write it down. There’s really not a whole lot I can do other than deal with it and continue on life. He’s gone, and there’s nothing I can do to change that.