To The Moon And Back

I’ve never had a Mac. I’ve played with my boss’ Macbook Pro before while he was having lunch. There was this one time when I spent two hours using my client’s while presenting a design. I’ve also touched the new Macbook Air from an Apple store. And on those three times, my need to have one increased tenfold.

I don’t just want it. I need it. As a graphics / web designer, owning multiple computers is a must for browser compatibility. I already have two but both of them are using the Windows platform so there’s no way that I can check what my designs look like on a Firefox, Safari in Mac. I always rely on my colleagues who use Mac so they can check if my websites are working properly on their browsers. It sucks, and not exactly convenient.

I won’t go for Macbooks since I already have my trusted HP laptop. What I really need is a high powered machine that can run multiple graphic applications while running a web server. It needs to have more than 2GB of memory and a minimum of 250GB hard drive. The monitor has to be very huge so I can check how my website looks like on all resolutions.

Having browsed through all the possibilities, it boils down to the perfect option - a 20 inch iMac.

At $1100, I can have all these and more:
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory (upgradable up to 4GB)
250GB hard drive1
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB memory

Slim, all-in-one design
Setting new standards for elegance and simplicity, the all-new, all-in-one iMac packs all its components — from processor to video camera — into an astoundingly thin, anodized aluminum frame.

Intel Core 2 processor
At speeds up to 2.8GHz, the advanced dual-core Intel processors that power every iMac are faster than ever — delivering greater performance for everything from enhancing photos to playing games and more.

Dazzling displays
Your photos, movies, and games will come to life in rich, vivid color thanks to the new glossy widescreen display on every iMac.

Should I continue dreaming or just go right ahead and ask my boss if he can buy me one? He was the one who introduced me to iMacs so I guess if I convince him how I really need it, he might just consider getting one for me. In fact, his old iMac will do. I will use this to improve my designs which at the end of the day, is really just for the company’s sake.

One of my hobbies when I’m not busy is browse through beautiful houses on the web. When I’m in a good mood, it inspire me to work harder so I can buy one and when I’m not, which is almost all the time, I get pissed off and hate the owners of the house for being rich and all. I find that what I like the most are houses with a huge garden wherein you can place a huge swimming pool yet still have tons of space for a playground or even a conservatory for entertaining or hanging out. There are also houses with landscaped gardens that can rival those from TruGreen brochures. And don’t forget Martha’s properties. Yesterday, I saw her farm on TV and was amazed on how huge it is.

So huge that it resembles a small jungle already. She commissioned someone to put up birdcages on her forest-like property to invite birds and other animals to live there. Must be wonderful to at least have one of her houses.

I’ve been a constant visitor of iVillage.co.uk since 2003. It started when we were moving to my mother-in-law’s house and needed to upgrade the other master bedroom for our own use. It was only my husband and I back then. No little girl to mess up the decors and furniture yet so I have full rein on giving the room a total makeover. I daily check websites about interior designs, makeover TV shows, paints, furniture, cheap deals, etc. This was when I got addicted to iVillage. The Home & Garden section is a wonderful resource for homemakers who are always on the budget like myself. It features DIY stuff, gardening tips, remodeling areas of the house, handling pets, pest control (though I have to say that issues like this should be left with professionals like Terminix), cooking, cleaning and maintenance, and my favorite - a huge photo gallery of design ideas. I noticed that DIY is all the rage now making me wonder if people in the States either have super powers or they don’t have much to do. I for one can’t even juggle my work from home gig and parenting my now 2.5-year-old toddler.

With the help of Internet, future homeowners can easily find their dream house simply by browsing through real estate websites. The real estate industry is taking advantage of technology to showcase their properties and receive numerous leads all over the world. Real estate companies and agents are now populating the Internet with their company websites and individual landing pages. Sites like Denver real estate lets you buy, sell, find a home without leaving the comforts of your house or office. The price for the properties are upfront, including detailed descriptions such as number of rooms, total size, year the property was built, amenities. Most sites use a photo gallery to showcase the areas like kitchen, bedroom, porch, and exterior design while some goes as far as providing a 360-degree virtual tour. Once you narrow your list, you can schedule a visit by filling out an online form or receive detailed proposals from live agents who are usually online 24/7.

Everyone’s going online now. I actually applied before for a company (with 150 employees) who specializes in real estate websites alone. They have web designers, programmers, seo experts, content writers to ensure that the website will reach their target audience and be able to convert leads into sales.

Still on the subject of Do-It-Yourself. There’s this notion that if it’s a DIY kit, it means it’s easy, a no-brainer. But it’s not. Just because someone said you could do it doesn’t mean you won’t encounter any problems at all. Take my friend for example; he thinks he can put up a bookshelf on his own after watching a “build your own shelf” episode from HGTV. He gave up after trying to piece the puzzle for 30 minutes with an added bonus of a huge splinter on his pinky. He probably didn’t watch the TV bloopers wherein the guy was hit on the head when the shelf that he was trying to put on the wall crashed. You can’t just be like Ty Pennington overnight, you know. At least, that’s the only thing that he tried to do. Other people I know, in hopes to save money, will try to fix their plumbing or refrigerator on their own. And that’s without the slightest idea on what they’re doing. I’d say go to American Home Shield and let them take care of your home problems. I’m not against DIY, in fact, I’m all for it, being a budget conscious mom that I am. But if your DIY is going to cost you more money because you don’t know what you’re doing and you had to start all over again, then what’s the point?