What’s on your mind?

[Scepticalscribe]

Yes, at previous job: had a wonderful boss and team at one site and a decent team at the other. If this current job taught me anything, it’s keep my personality and good humor. I’d forgotten how a negative work environment can impact me.

Hailstones...wow.

@Apple fanboy indeed.

Hope you and everyone else are okay.

I have found that I will trade a lower salary (a higher salary is nice, but not necessary if other factors are brought into play) for a better work environment; once, over twenty years ago, I stayed with a boss I liked, and an excellent, supportive, congenial work environment, at a lower salary rather than moving elsewhere, simply because I loved my work and loved working with those people.

 

[kazmac]

I have found that I will trade a lower salary (a higher salary is nice, but not necessary if other factors are brought into play) for a better work environment; once, over twenty years ago, I stayed with a boss I liked, and an excellent, supportive, congenial work environment, at a lower salary rather than moving elsewhere, simply because I loved my work and loved working with those people.

That is very important. I knew early on this was not the job for me and I am grateful to be at the front of the line for my previous jobs.

Also, it is important to be happy right now regardless of the situation. So I am applying this too.

 

[Septembersrain]

Is it an LED light? They are unlikely to cause a fire as the voltage is pretty low. If it’s an old strip light it’s probably just a starter motor. They cost very little and a doddle to change.

I want to say it's an LED but I'm not sure. It looks like this. Not that this photo helps much.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Job hunting... my last day with this job is December 4th. That I was at this job for 8 months is five months longer than I expected and the reduction in force reasoning looks much better for me. Grateful to work during this pandemic.

Reached out to my previous job at the library outsourcing company and applied for Part Time work there while I wait for my previous sites to reopen [One site may reopen in February but it’s Part Time: need two PT jobs to equal Full Time job there to get benefits]. May consider something sister suggested too.

Also looking at jobs at Apple retail > Getting up to speed with iOS 14, Big Sur, Pages and maybe iMovie. I have the rekindled enthusiasm about their hardware (Bouncing Baby M1 MBA arrived last night - okay, not bouncing 😋) and certainly know enough about being a wonderful and frustrated customer to deal with situations. Will write MBA off as business expense.

So working on being positive, keeping myself and mom healthy, and knowing that our needs are covered and money keeps flowing in.

@yaxomoxay thinking of you and your relatives. Will wish for health and good news.

Hope everyone else is okay.


...and breathe...

I truly wish you luck in your job hunting... it's not fun but it might lead to great rewards.

Thank you for your nice words; sadly, the older relative I was talking about passed away last night. She didn't suffer, and knowing her I am pretty sure she's up in heaven having some coffee and Italian cake with her husband.
My brother is getting slightly worse, but they say he's away from a danger zone. His family is now asymptomatic. Another relative finally tested negative for Covid, but still has cough attacks, so he will be tested a couple more times before being released from quarantine.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Thank you for all the good thoughts. Update is that my brother has been hospitalized due to complications from Covid (O2 levels are good thankfully), doctors already told him that full recovery - if things don't get worse - could take months. Older relative is still expected to pass away, although we can pray that things will get better.
Obviously the best thing I can do is to not panic, be steady, pray, and help for whatever I can (not much).

I truly wish you luck in your job hunting... it's not fun but it might lead to great rewards.

Thank you for your nice words; sadly, the older relative I was talking about passed away last night. She didn't suffer, and knowing her I am pretty sure she's up in heaven having some coffee and Italian cake with her husband.
My brother is getting slightly worse, but they say he's away from a danger zone. His family is now asymptomatic. Another relative finally tested negative for Covid, but still has cough attacks, so he will be tested a couple more times before being released from quarantine.

I had meant to respond to your earlier post, @yaxomoxay; my condolences and deepest sympathies on the death of your older creative; I hope that the passing was as gentle and easy as is possible in these troubled times, and I also hope that the people who were closest to that person were able to be with them at the time.

The very best of luck for the recovery of your brother, and try to be kind to yourself and offer such support as is possible at this time.

A stressful and exhausting time, I don't doubt.

That is very important. I knew early on this was not the job for me and I am grateful to be at the front of the line for my previous jobs.

Also, it is important to be happy right now regardless of the situation. So I am applying this too.

Agreed.

I have worked in exceptionally well remunerated positions; while my bank balance was exceptionally healthy, (and I could afford to help generously support my mother's care costs, something I am very glad about now), sometimes, the environment (and some atrocious bosses) meant that every single penny/cent was earned in sweated blood and labour and whatever measurement one can apply to stress.

So, yes, professionally happy, recognised and respected - working with congenial colleagues and a supportive boss - in an interesting and rewarding environment, the sort of place where you are actually happy heading to work - (virtually, or otherwise) do matter.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I truly wish you luck in your job hunting... it's not fun but it might lead to great rewards.

Thank you for your nice words; sadly, the older relative I was talking about passed away last night. She didn't suffer, and knowing her I am pretty sure she's up in heaven having some coffee and Italian cake with her husband.
My brother is getting slightly worse, but they say he's away from a danger zone. His family is now asymptomatic. Another relative finally tested negative for Covid, but still has cough attacks, so he will be tested a couple more times before being released from quarantine.

Sorry to hear that. It’s tough for a lot of people right now.

 

[Apple fanboy]

That is very important. I knew early on this was not the job for me and I am grateful to be at the front of the line for my previous jobs.

Also, it is important to be happy right now regardless of the situation. So I am applying this too.

Hope you can be happier in your new role.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I want to say it's an LED but I'm not sure. It looks like this. Not that this photo helps much.

Well could be LED. Hard to say from the image.

 

[kazmac]

I truly wish you luck in your job hunting... it's not fun but it might lead to great rewards.

Thank you for your nice words; sadly, the older relative I was talking about passed away last night. She didn't suffer, and knowing her I am pretty sure she's up in heaven having some coffee and Italian cake with her husband.
My brother is getting slightly worse, but they say he's away from a danger zone. His family is now asymptomatic. Another relative finally tested negative for Covid, but still has cough attacks, so he will be tested a couple more times before being released from quarantine.

My deepest condolences about your relative.

I hope your brother improves quickly and the relative who tested negative continues to test negative.

Thanks for the job hunting well wishes, just sending you a virtual 🤗

Ditto @Scepticalscribe - always appreciate your thoughts.

@Apple fanboy thank you.

 

[Clix Pix]

I truly wish you luck in your job hunting... it's not fun but it might lead to great rewards.

Thank you for your nice words; sadly, the older relative I was talking about passed away last night. She didn't suffer, and knowing her I am pretty sure she's up in heaven having some coffee and Italian cake with her husband.
My brother is getting slightly worse, but they say he's away from a danger zone. His family is now asymptomatic. Another relative finally tested negative for Covid, but still has cough attacks, so he will be tested a couple more times before being released from quarantine.

So sorry to hear about your older relative's passing..... It must be reassuring to know that she didn't suffer, and I, too, hope that her loved ones were able to be with her at the time. I'm not sure what the current protocols are for that; for a while, no one could have visitors in hospitals or nursing homes, and then by implementing strict precautions and such, eventually some nursing homes permitted one or two close family members to be with their dying relative, as of course in some of those situations the issue was not COVID-19 but some other cause. That is encouraging that your brother is managing and away from a danger zone -- whew! Good, too, that his family is asymptomatic. I assume that you are staying far, far away from everyone throughout all this? Are they in Italy while you are here in the US?

 

[Clix Pix]

Thanks. Seeing myself as working and money coming in.

😍 the M1 MBA....

Good luck with the job-hunting and it sounds as though you've got a positive attitude, and that's important! That's not a bad idea, thinking about applying for a position at Apple Retail, or even as a remote Customer Service Rep working from home.... The retail store would be fun, albeit busy as heck (well, during normal times, anyway). Some years ago a friend of mine lost her professional position when the company she was with folded up and she had a son who was a senior in high school, already accepted into college.....her husband was working, so they did have money coming in but had planned on her income helping with the upcoming college expenses. She had always loved Apple products, had been using them for quite a while. One day she went into the Apple store to pick up something, a small accessory, and kind of impulsively thought, "hey, this could be a cool place to work!" and put in her application, was interviewed and was hired. She's still there today, loving the job and has been promoted within as they began to realize what all she had to offer beyond working on the sales floor. She's very creative, she's very outgoing, quite detail-oriented and quite techie, all at the same time -- a perfect combination for working in the Apple store!

Mmmm....the new M1 MBA!! Enjoy and let us know how things are going with it. Is it as fast as everyone says? I am trying to resist the siren song but my thoughts keep going in a certain direction and my 12" MacBook is getting more and more nervous, especially every time I go online to the Apple store and start looking at tech specs and pricing info, etc......

 

[kazmac]

Good luck with the job-hunting and it sounds as though you've got a positive attitude, and that's important! That's not a bad idea, thinking about applying for a position at Apple Retail, or even as a remote Customer Service Rep working from home.... The retail store would be fun, albeit busy as heck (well, during normal times, anyway). Some years ago a friend of mine lost her professional position when the company she was with folded up and she had a son who was a senior in high school, already accepted into college.....her husband was working, so they did have money coming in but had planned on her income helping with the upcoming college expenses. She had always loved Apple products, had been using them for quite a while. One day she went into the Apple store to pick up something, a small accessory, and kind of impulsively thought, "hey, this could be a cool place to work!" and put in her application, was interviewed and was hired. She's still there today, loving the job and has been promoted within as they began to realize what all she had to offer beyond working on the sales floor. She's very creative, she's very outgoing, quite detail-oriented and quite techie, all at the same time -- a perfect combination for working in the Apple store!

Mmmm....the new M1 MBA!! Enjoy and let us know how things are going with it. Is it as fast as everyone says? I am trying to resist the siren song but my thoughts keep going in a certain direction and my 12" MacBook is getting more and more nervous, especially every time I go online to the Apple store and start looking at tech specs and pricing info, etc......

Thanks for that story about your friend. That is wonderful.

As a long time Mac user/owner, I was the unofficial iPhone troubleshooter at a former job and inspired several staff to go Mac. My former supervisor said ”You should work there.” So while I quickly ramp up on some tips and software, I intend to resubmit my resume (I accidentally did resubmit a couple of weeks ago) for a couple of jobs. As a wonderful and cranky customer, I know both sides. Time to write Tim Cook again to thank him for the great hardware this year.

Yes, the M1 MBA is as fast as everyone says. The Magic Keyboard is awesome (I feel a difference from the 16” MBP version), the screen is nice, the speakers are fine. The overall responsiveness is impressive. I had to use Rosetta 2 (You download that) to use Citrix workspace for this current job and it took under 3 minutes - if that - to download and set up both.

Used about 22% battery in 4.5 hours (It started at 74% this a.m.) - running Citrix and remoting into my work PC while running mail and searching in Safari. I think the machine is indexing though, and I like having control center on the Mac.

I cannot wait for the beefed up M2 ? Macs so I can finally replace my 2013 iMac (Though the M1 Mac Mini might be plenty for me).

 

[Apple fanboy]

Thanks for that story about your friend. That is wonderful.

As a long time Mac user/owner, I was the unofficial iPhone troubleshooter at a former job and inspired several staff to go Mac. My former supervisor said ”You should work there.” So while I quickly ramp up on some tips and software, I intend to resubmit my resume (I accidentally did resubmit a couple of weeks ago) for a couple of jobs. As a wonderful and cranky customer, I know both sides. Time to write Tim Cook again to thank him for the great hardware this year.

Yes, the M1 MBA is as fast as everyone says. The Magic Keyboard is awesome (I feel a difference from the 16” MBP version), the screen is nice, the speakers are fine. The overall responsiveness is impressive. I had to use Rosetta 2 (You download that) to use Citrix workspace for this current job and it took under 3 minutes - if that - to download and set up both.

Used about 22% battery in 4.5 hours (It started at 74% this a.m.) - running Citrix and remoting into my work PC while running mail and searching in Safari. I think the machine is indexing though, and I like having control center on the Mac.

I cannot wait for the beefed up M2 ? Macs so I can finally replace my 2013 iMac (Though the M1 Mac Mini might be plenty for me).

Glad you are enjoying your Mac. I’m still waiting to hear if I’ll get an Intel MBP I ordered or an M1 one. Probably the Intel. It’s due for delivery 06/12/20

 

[Clix Pix]

Kazmac: Glad you are so happy with your new M1 MBA!! I, too, am looking forward to when Apple releases the rest of their line with even more powerful M chips and also more ports and such..... Whenever they come out with the MBP that is more the equivalent of the 2018 one I have now, the timing will be about right, as by then this machine will be three years old and going out of AppleCare. My 2017 12" MacBook is already out of AppleCare now. I'm so, SO tempted to go with a 13" M1 MBP or MBA......

AFB, I would think that they'd ship you a new M1 rather than the Intel 13" MBP since it seems to be taking rather a while.... I'd think that since you ordered it a couple or three weeks ago and yet it won't be delivered until December that it is likely they'll be sending the M1 version. Just a guess! I hope they do, as it could be really fun for you to enjoy the newest tech while not having to pay for it out of your own funds!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Kazmac: Glad you are so happy with your new M1 MBA!! I, too, am looking forward to when Apple releases the rest of their line with even more powerful M chips and also more ports and such..... Whenever they come out with the MBP that is more the equivalent of the 2018 one I have now, the timing will be about right, as by then this machine will be three years old and going out of AppleCare. My 2017 12" MacBook is already out of AppleCare now. I'm so, SO tempted to go with a 13" M1 MBP or MBA......

AFB, I would think that they'd ship you a new M1 rather than the Intel 13" MBP since it seems to be taking rather a while.... I'd think that since you ordered it a couple or three weeks ago and yet it won't be delivered until December that it is likely they'll be sending the M1 version. Just a guess! I hope they do, as it could be really fun for you to enjoy the newest tech while not having to pay for it out of your own funds!

I’m easy either way, but it’s a CTO one so the lead time is usually a few weeks. We order through an approved reseller as we get a discount.

 

[Clix Pix]

Ah.....well, then if it's a CTO you probably will wind up with the Intel version, then. That's nice to get a discount, too!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Ah.....well, then if it's a CTO you probably will wind up with the Intel version, then. That's nice to get a discount, too!

Well given I’ve bought over 200 16” MBP’s through them this year and 20 odd Mac Pro’s they should have given it too me for free!

 

[Clix Pix]

LOL!!!!! Wow, that's a heckuva lot of MBPs and Mac Pros!!!!! Mmmm..... Those Mac Pros and the fancy monitor are gorgeous!!!!

 

[Apple fanboy]

LOL!!!!! Wow, that's a heckuva lot of MBPs and Mac Pros!!!!! Mmmm..... Those Mac Pros and the fancy monitor are gorgeous!!!!

Oh no! We don’t supply those nasty Apple monitors. We like the ones we sell!

 

[kazmac]

Just typing 200 16" MBPs and 20 Mac Pros is fun. @Apple fanboy whatever MBP you receive, I hope you enjoy it. 🤣 And what monitors do you sell?

@Clix Pix I imagine Apple may tease or release a couple more M chip Macs leading up to (or during) WWDC. So glad I waited this long. As badly as I want the M1 Mac mini (🤣 Autocorrect will not let me capitalize Mac mini), am glad I bought the Air to start.

Well, I hope everyone is okay.

 

[AngerDanger]

How hard would it be to put a battery in the HomePod Mini…

 

[Apple fanboy]

Just typing 200 16" MBPs and 20 Mac Pros is fun. @Apple fanboy whatever MBP you receive, I hope you enjoy it. 🤣 And what monitors do you sell?

@Clix Pix I imagine Apple may tease or release a couple more M chip Macs leading up to (or during) WWDC. So glad I waited this long. As badly as I want the M1 Mac mini (🤣 Autocorrect will not let me capitalize Mac mini), am glad I bought the Air to start.

Well, I hope everyone is okay.

BenQ and Eizo.

 

[MacBH928]

People complain too much about Apple computer prices. I think they understand computers are like cellphones where you upgrade yearly. Computers is more like a car. You spend a lot on it, and use it for many years until its out of service.

$1500-2000 is average for a computer, just as $25k-$35k is average to a car.

I want to say it's an LED but I'm not sure. It looks like this. Not that this photo helps much.

you can tell if its LED if you can touch it. LED is cool to the touch, anything else will burn you (afaik).
LED tends to flicker or behave unregularly if the connection to it is the same as the conventional bulbs. An electrician can fix this easy.

 

[Apple fanboy]

People complain too much about Apple computer prices. I think they understand computers are like cellphones where you upgrade yearly. Computers is more like a car. You spend a lot on it, and use it for many years until its out of service.

$1500-2000 is average for a computer, just as $25k-$35k is average to a car.


you can tell if its LED if you can touch it. LED is cool to the touch, anything else will burn you (afaik).
LED tends to flicker or behave unregularly if the connection to it is the same as the conventional bulbs. An electrician can fix this easy.

I also think people compare Mac prices to the wrong equivalent PC’s. Don’t compare a MBP to the cheapest Dell out there. Compare it with there thin one with a similar SSD, RAM Chipset (although harder to do now!) and graphics. Then the prices are somewhat closer.
Always makes me laugh when we have meetings at work (before COVID). Mac users bring their laptop. PC users bring there laptop, mouse (because their track pad is awful) and charger because the battery won’t last an hours meeting.

 

[MacBH928]

I also think people compare Mac prices to the wrong equivalent PC’s. Don’t compare a MBP to the cheapest Dell out there. Compare it with there thin one with a similar SSD, RAM Chipset (although harder to do now!) and graphics. Then the prices are somewhat closer.
Always makes me laugh when we have meetings at work (before COVID). Mac users bring their laptop. PC users bring there laptop, mouse (because their track pad is awful) and charger because the battery won’t last an hours meeting.

When I went to shop for PC laptops I was horrified to see the options, things don't seem to have changed much since 2001. The quality is seroiusly lackluster. There are like $500 laptops, I mean thats like the price of last year's smartphone. There is some serious gap of quality.

I also remember Apple competing on prices, Steve Jobs always introduced lower prices and competitive prices in the keynotes. Apple should address this false image of expensive computers. I think people have this impression because the price of their accessories, which can be multiple times more expensive than the competition, but not the computers.(or idevices)