Caught in a Web

Remember waaaaay back in October when I wrote that I would be taking action to conquer my fear around computers, and I would be learning how to set up a website, post pictures and be on the verge of total technical domination? Yeah, I remember. Here is my report.

First, can I just say how much I love my Mac? And I now have several new best friends at the Apple Store. For my birthday, Mike and I signed up for the One to One tutoring program at the Apple Store. I am not one who likes to participate in shameless endorsement, but here goes - THIS IS THE BEST PRODUCT SINCE DISPOSABLE DIAPERS - SINCE ADVIL - SINCE SCUBA DIVING IN HAWAII! I could go on, but you get the idea.

Here is how it works. When you buy a Mac from the Apple Store, you can sign up for One to One. This lets you make an appointment each week to meet with a tutor at the Apple Store and get personal instruction on how to get the most out of your Mac. I had no idea that it could do so much, or so easily. Then in addition, you can sign up for help with projects. You can be there for a 3 hour session, working on a project, and able to get help from an expert at any time. I think some of them are trained to sense panic, and they step in before things get out of hand.

So we went in for our projects session last week and set up our Mac. I looked at the others who were there for help and wondered why there were so many old geezers around us. My soon to be best friend "Angela" (name has been changed to protect her anonymity) came out to work with us. All my anxiety left when I noticed the glowing, apple shaped halo hovering over her head. In less than half an hour, because of her calm, patient coaching, we had my new web site up with me having a rudimentary understanding of how to keep adding to it. We also learned how edit photos for additional web work, as well as other less glorious, but still essential tasks. Just imagine what we could do in 7 days.

It only took the deadline of submitting a class proposal, and having another art piece being published in Somerset Studio. The pressure induced by a deadline produces quite a result. I have been adding something to the web page everyday. It will always be under construction, I have only begun posting images and class info, but the essentials are there. Please go check it out at jodyenglandhansen.com. I would love your suggestions.

Okay, so it is still not intuitive, and sometimes I try to do something the same way Mike does and, instead of results, I hear a soft evil chuckle coming from the screen. But I no longer tremble in fear. My new best friend with the apple halo has got my back.