Wow, posts two days in a row… it might be like old times. Really, it isn’t. I’m just super excited to have received my very new laptop. I’ve been doing most of my writing for the past number of years on a 2011 MacBook Air. It has served me well over during that time, but it has started to get twitchy. Perhaps it could be made fresh with a total reinstall of the OS, which I’ve never done (not to mention the fact that I’ve done at least two OS upgrades over the years). It certainly needs to have some data removed, as the HDD is almost full. It may have new life with my mom or another family member, but I felt the need to move on. I’m currently typing on a new 12″ MacBook.
The keyboard is definitely totally different, but I already love it. I also love the retina display (not that it matters all that much when you are writing text in Scrivener) and the lightness of the machine. I have no need for a crazy amount of power. If I really want to play Diablo III, I’ll fire up my iMac, which mostly sits unused on my desk. I’m hoping that the keyboard will be a little easier on my hands. I am in the early stages of osteoarthritis. It’s something my mom has, and when I complained about the ring finger on my left hand, second joint, she said, “that’s the finger that started bothering me first too.” Oh great, I thought.
My mom’s osteoarthritis has been a long battle. Your joints develop bone spurs which break off from the bones and float around the joints causing grinding. I may be slightly off on the specifics, but dammit Jim, I’m not a doctor! Either way, the upshot is that she has had a number of the joints in her fingers permanently fused to prevent pain. Eventually, her hands may look like crazy claws, so that’s something I have to look forward to. So far, they have great technology to replace joints in hips and knees, but no such luck yet with fingers. So, my type of osteoarthritis at this point is not so much cured but managed through joint fusion and lots of aleve. It’s still in the early stages, but already my mom has been urging me to buy a special keyboard.
I haven’t yet succumbed to the special keyboard, but I do think that the new keyboard on the MacBook will help me slam the keys less, since there’s no need to push as forcefully. I’ve already been working on softening my touch, and the typing is super easy. My only problem so far has that my habit hands sometimes have problems reaching the delete key when touch-typing. I find myself hitting the “=” instead. I’m only about 5 chapters into Ocularum at this point, but I’m very much looking forward to finishing up the first draft. I already have all my Scrivener files moved over. Now it only my iPhoto library would transfer… it just conked out and I had to start all over again. Doh!
P.S. Bonus! They sent me gold stickers, since I ordered the gold MacBook!
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Alia Luria - BLOG 
Really want the new MacBook !. Every time I go into the store I run over the apple section and go “ooh look” . My boyfriend just smiles and shakes his head. I need one in my like ! My laptop is an old Acer , old in laptop terms .
I really love it. It’s amazingly quiet, never seems to get too hot, and the form factor is crazy thin. Also, the OS seems really snappy to me. Some others have complained it’s laggy, but I haven’t had any of that!