Both of my computers are dinosaurs

I’m writing this post on my desktop computer. No special reason, I just fancied using this today instead of the laptop I usually use to write my posts. The two are pretty much interchangeable, do all the same things and are lovely to use.

So why am I telling you about them?

Well, I realised today that my desktop computer is 5 years old. A couple of weeks ago I realised that my laptop is actually 6 years old. In the world of tech that’s a lifetime. Most people would be looking to buy a new machine about now because their machine just stopped working or was slower than a teenager having to admit they were wrong about something. People who worship at the altar of gadgety-goodness? More like 3 years ago, possibly 2.

Hold on, I hear you say, you’re a techno-freak that reads all the gadget blogs and gets excited about the next big thing coming out, so what gives? Why are you 2-3 years behind? Are you tapping away on machines that struggle to do the simplest thing? Are you not the tech wizard we have all believed you to be? Who will advise me the next time I need a phone upgrade? Why am I asking so many questions when really I have little interest?

I’ll tell you, my fabulously inquisitive friend.

Both of my machines are Macs.

I’m not here to try to sell you anything or get you to jump ship from Microsloth, but I felt the need to share because when I realised how old my computers were I was genuinely surprised. 

In my experience of computer buying and building over the years I have never before been able to resist the latest technology and have often tweaked what I have every few months. I had one machine that within two years had been physically upgraded in every way possible bar the motherboard (yep, processor, case, power supply, drives, etc.) and was getting software updates whenever it was switched on. But these babies just work, so besides the yearly operating system upgrade and a RAM upgrade about 2 years ago (didn’t need it, but I had space) it’s not been on my radar to do anything with them. Until now.

Where the magic happens. Well, the writing. And some procrastinating.

My macbook still looks pristine with it’s aluminium body and illuminated keyboard, but it was starting to struggle with some tasks. For the first time I had to think about some remedial work and upon investigation found that I had very nearly filled up the 250GB hard drive. I don’t propose to give you a full breakdown of how a computer works right now, but, on any device, if it’s nearly full you will notice a drop in performance.

My first thought was new machine. My second was no chance, I can’t afford it. My third was I could always go back to a Windows laptop. My fourth was hahahahahahaha. A reasonable Mac would set me back around £1,000, a Windows machine possibly around £500, but I could never go back now, so I set out investigating the possibility of replacing the hard drive.

Now, I like Macs. I think Apple have made some lovely hardware and the software integrates flawlessly, but the prices are enough to make your eyes water. I looked at buying an official upgrade kit. Nope.

I then looked into buying a third-party SSD (solid state drive) as I’d read so much about how much faster they made everything. I considered selling a kidney. But, nope.

I then found a hybrid drive. I read a bit about hybrid drives. I was convinced. For less than £100 I bought a 1TB drive (4x the size of my existing drive) and an external USB enclosure and I was set.

Hybrid drives are a thing of genius. Your average SSD gives you silent running and blistering speeds but also burn a very large hole in your wallet for not much storage space. Normal hard drives (the ones that make all the grinding noises in your machine) are very cheap and come in some very large sizes. Hybrid drives combine the two. A large, cheap, normal drive is supplemented with a small portion of SSD goodness and a bit of software trickery goes to work. The software determines what files you use most frequently and directs those to the SSD portion to speed things up. The drive itself looks to the computer like one drive and nobody is the wiser. Vast storage and SSD speeds. Lovely.

I set up the new drive in the enclosure and firstly cloned my existing hard drive (saves starting from scratch, having to reinstall everything, and realising you don’t have the product keys for any of your software!). This took about 4 hours (on it’s own, I didn’t have to be there). I then put in the new drive and held my breath as I powered the machine on.

Success! It took a few reboots for the SSD software to learn what files it needed but suddenly my macbook was flying along, and upgrading to the latest OS X Yosemite has made it feel like new. How often can you say that about a 6 year old piece of technology?

Don’t get me wrong, there are some nice ultrabooks and spiffy laptops out there, but you will never again get me owning anything other than a Mac. Sure, not all of the programs you use are on the Mac, but the chances are there’s something that’ll do what you need if you take the time to look and have a play.

They’re expensive, but if you’re in the market take a look. If you can make them last as long as mine then you’ll be saving money in the long run…

Take a breath

I’m back. Sort of. I’ve been away, and getting back into real life is proving to be a struggle, including talking to you fair people. This was meant to be a long post about something completely different but I couldn’t get going, so I decided to share with you a poem that I wrote during my time off…

I’ve had some time off as I was busy converting nearly-wife to really-wife, and then we went on holiday as the conversion process can take a lot out of a person. Some people may call this marriage and honeymoon, but I say tomato and you say tomato (a sentence that makes no sense at all in print).

We decided to go off grid to really get away from it all, to spend some time just being together, and the place that we found to do it was perfect. We stayed at a little cabin in the woods of France, about 200km from Bergerac. It is an eco-cabin, which means it has minimal impact on the surroundings. There is a composting toilet, a wood burner to keep you warm and to provide warm water, and a few LED lights charged from a solar panel. No other electricity. There is no internet, no television and pretty much no phone signal. What there is is nature and all the time in the world to chill out, read and share some quality time.

Woodsman's tool on the left, witch's tool on the right - all fairytale folk welcome

Hand-built staircase - a work of art

The cabin is well-built, just big enough for two, with lots of homely little touches to make it feel cosy. It is full of things to do, with a well-stocked bookshelf, board games, painting materials, fishing equipment, a tandem (now there’s an exercise in communication), binoculars, walking maps, and a visitors information book with a wealth of places to visit. But the pièce-de-résistance (look, French!) has to be the setting. The cabin looks out on it’s own private lake, with a sturdy raft and a little boat provided, and to get to it you have to amble past the hammocks strung between the trees. 

The view from the veranda - a natural playground

In the whole time that we were there we didn’t see another soul (unless you count carp and frogs), apart from the owner, Diane (lovely lady), when she delivered fresh bread and pastries, along with some other select goodies, for our breakfast every day. We ate so well for breakfast each day we didn’t eat again until dinner. There is a food market in the nearby town that can provide some fabulous bread, cheese, and of course, wine. What more could you need?

The tranquility was amazing, especially drifting on the raft in the middle of the lake. The busyness of day-to-day life melted away and I, as so many visitors to the cabin before, was inspired to creativity. I crafted a poem, as is my way, and I share it with you below, but the sheer number of paintings, stories, poems and anecdotes in the visitor’s scrapbook was humbling. We looked at and enjoyed every one, and they all showed what an amazing find this place was.

If you ever have the chance to visit I would heartily recommend it. We left feeling refreshed, recharged and relaxed, and we were still talking to each other in spite of the Scrabble scores!

http://www.covertcabin.com (we were in Woodsman’s Cabin)

This is the poem that I left for my contribution to the scrapbook:

Take a breath

Take a breath

Inhale the tranquillity

Inhale the calm

Cover yourself

With the soothing balm

Of the peace of the cabin

Beside the lake

The perfect place

For a relaxing break

Take a breath

Switch off your phone

Leave the grid

Embrace nature like

You did as a kid

Cast off the raft

And float for a day

Let your troubles

Drift away

Take a breath

Look at the stars

Look at the trees

Build up a fire

As tall as your knees

Listen to the ‘bloip’

As the carp come to feed

Lay back in a hammock

Take time to read

Take a breath

Get to know the person

You love most in this world

Let your love blossom

Like a rose that’s unfurled

Re-learn what’s important

What’s precious in life

Remember why you

Became husband and wife

Take a breath