MAC vs PC

In December 2007, I decided I needed a new computer, and because of my artistic pursuits, Jet convinced me to get a MAC. I had trained in graphic design on a MAC computer, so I wasn't unfamiliar with the way it operated. I was so excited when I got my laptop and Jet and I became like the MAC vs PC ads on the tv! I was totally pro MAC and he was pro PC.

I never thought for a minute that the MAC ads and the sales people were portraying anything but the truth. "They never freeze or crash" they said. "They never get viruses". "They are made for last for 8 years" they said. About 2 months ago, my MAC started to run slowly so I downloaded Onyx which is a software that cleans up your hard drive, but before I did that, I bought an external hard drive to back up my files. Onyx needed me to do something with the start up disk, so it was my intention to go into the Genius Bar and get their help.

Last Thursday, when I had just finished my first writing assignment for my new teacher, and the day that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away, my MacBook hard drive died too. It was so fried in fact, that it wouldn't even boot up from the initial white screen. I thought these things only happened when Mercury was in retrograde?

I called the Apple Store to make an appointment and the earliest wasn't until the next day at 1pm. I took it in and the guy was pretty much like "there's nothing we can do except replace your hard drive". Hmph. They did so within a day, and I made another appointment with the Genius Bar to reinstall my back up from Time Machine. An hour later, it still wasn't loading, so I checked my MacBook in again for them to do it and find out what was wrong with my Time Machine back up. It's been 2 days, and I haven't heard back, but they said that I should hear back within 3 days.

This post was not just intended as a rant, but also a warning to other MAC users! They are not bullet proof - don't believe all the propaganda that they feed you. They do crash, they do freeze and mine had a faulty hard drive at only a year and a half old. Back up your stuff! I am going to invest in a Time Capsule which backs up our entire network (including both PCs and MACs and also my iPhone) every hour so that if anything ever happens again, I have everything up to the last hour. It wouldn't have helped my assignment, but it would have saved me a lot of work.

Daisy in Action!

Jet's cousin Vanessa came to stay with us last week, and she took some videos of Daisy in the rehab tank! Daisy looks much happier than she did when we first started taking her. The first video is her running on the tready, the second is of her swimming!

Horses and such

In a bold attempt to fill up my days with activities that I enjoy, I now have so much to do that I am constantly busy! Not long after I arrived in Vegas, I googled "horse rescue" and found a place in Sandy Valley, not far from here. But when I put the address into Google Maps, it said that it would take me 1.5 hours to get out there and that was just too long a drive for me at the time. I didn't know whether my car (and I) would hold up to the desert drive.

Then earlier this year, there was a pet show called Pet-A-Palooza which I went along to, out by the UNLV stadium, and low and behold, Shiloh Horse Rescue had a booth! So I asked them first-hand how long it would take for me to get there and they all said "about 45 mins". Google Maps obviously assumes that everyone sticks to the speed limit!

So in May, I did my first trip out to Shiloh and when I got there, Elisa (the riding instructor) asked me if I wanted a lesson! Did I? I was so confused, excited and overwhelmed, that I said yes! And so began my step back into the equestrian fold.

I had a serious horse accident about 8 years ago and have only ridden once on a trail ride in Wales about 4 years ago. So although I was not nervous or fearful, there was definitely some trepidation there. Elisa leant me a pair of boots and a helmet and I rode Orlando in the arena for an hour or so. It was great. I didn't realize how much I had missed riding until that moment! But I also think that if I had started again when I wasn't ready, I wouldn't have had such a positive experience. 

My first lesson on Orlando

Since that first week, I've ridden Dude, Priceless and Cedar, and with each lesson, I get a little better and a little more confident. I have been riding Western, and I discovered after my last lesson, that for all the years that I rode in a Western saddle, I was using it like a dressage saddle! My seat was dressage but my saddle was western, so I am in the process of "retraining" to ride Western as it should be ridden. I would like to get to a point where I can do both Western and Dressage. Baby steps...

Last week I had my first horse related injury! I was tying Cedar up at the wash bay with a quick release knot, when she pulled back and my knuckle got pinched by the rope as I was tightening it. I iced it immediately, but it was sore, bruised and swollen for about 5 days. I'd rather have a many small injuries than one big one, that's for sure!

My second ride: out on the trail with Dude (I am in the middle on the chestnut horse)

Jill Curtis, who owns Shiloh, and her mom Sally both work out there every day. They are such kind people - they try to rehabilitate every horse they have; even the seemingly un-fixable. If magic wands existed, these ladies should have one. They rely on donations and kindness, and I don't know how they do it. They have hundreds of horses on the property, just living out their lives in comfort and only a handful of adoptable horses, that they train and sell on to good homes. The horses come from all over the country but mostly from feed lot auctions, where buyers are there to purchase horses for slaughterhouses and the horse meat export market. Jill bids against the people she knows are buying them for this purpose and gives these animals the chance to live out their lives as happy horses.

For more information about Shiloh Horse Rescue and Sanctuary, check out their website.