Surprise!

This weekend I convinced myself I no longer needed my dual 1.25 Ghz G4 PowerMac. I set it up for writing novels using Microsoft Office 2004 and played with its Project Center. While I have always loved Jaguar (which is the operating system I am running on the G4 PowerMac), I started feeling that what I wanted was an environment where the sole focus was on writing fiction. I would have to rebuild the PowerMac to get there; it had inherited all the computer files associated with my everyday life. For some time, too, I’ve wanted my writing on something portable, so when I traveled or my house caught on fire, it would to go with me. (If I met with an editor, every project would be there to display.) I had initially thought a Mac mini might fit that bill, but I kept questioning why I wanted to go that route when I already had a PowerBook that was faster than any mini. So, I set up the PowerBook with a new user whose sole purpose in life was to write fiction and found I liked the setup even better than the one on the PowerMac. The PowerBook’s set up had its own minimalist desktop…only a few applications, directly related to writing, were on the Dock along with only my novel/short story/poetic folders, or at least their aliases. That was what I had been looking for; and it meant the only reason I was holding onto the G4 PowerMac was its ability to run Click 3D using Jaguar. But I had Click 3D running under Classic on my G5 iMac; and even if the up and coming Tiger unexpectedly ruined that, I still had the Windows version of the program on my Windows 98SE PC.

So, the question then became: what do I do with the G4 PowerMac?

Obviously, my first thought was I could put it up for sale on eBay. More than likely, I could still get $800-$1000 for it. That aside, I had been discussing with my wife’s sister a computer gift for one of her sons’ upcoming graduation. There was a slim possibility he might want the PowerMac, especially since he wanted a machine to edit video on. I also knew my oldest natural born kid, Michael, might want the machine but didn’t think he did because we had talked about it before and he just hadn’t seemed that interested. Still, his older brother Tim had gotten my last system; so Mike was the next in line. I put together an e-mail note and sent it from my job asking him if he’d like the machine; he responded back almost immediately he wanted it and seemed very excited to get it, talking about retiring his Windows PC. (Anytime I can retire another Windows PC, I’m in!) I was so gratified and grateful to be able to do something really nice for him I also decided to give him my spare 20 inch Apple ADC flat panel monitor. With that, I will have given my oldest sons a complete Apple system.

I went home from work about an hour early so I could begin reconfiguring the G4 PowerMac for shipment. I’m hoping to have his system ready to ship out in a couple of days. I’ll ship it via USPS or Fed Ex depending on what I hear from Max about his PC as well as what I hear from Mike about his preferences.