Tony Walla's Random Ramblings

Ed. note: I was only trying to write a quick answer to the “Who are you and where are you from?” question on the Welcome to Macintosh Network. Little did I know that I was going to write a short story. It was a good exercise to write something that just flowed out of my head, but then also have a little bit of sense to edit some of it. This certainly knocked some of the rust off. This really doesn’t have anything to do with the interview with the film makers… if everything works out, you’ll see that soon. What you see below is a reprint, warts and all, of what I posted on the WtM Network forum.

Who are you and where are you from?

I’m new to this game but not really.  I’ve used Apple products since the IIe in 4th grade. Our computer lab had 30 Apple IIe models and a few color Imagewriters.  In 5th grade, we were lucky enough to be part of an experiment in the state of Indiana where they put 10 Apple IIc computers in our classroom.  I have vivid memories of Lemonade Stand, Oregon Trail, and Number Munchers.  I was one of the few students allowed to use a real robotic “turtle” that would plot out lines on a large sheet of paper with various colored pens which would mimic my Logo commands on the screen. Jr. High and High School gave me limited access to Mac labs mainly for word processing.  That stuff was boring.  The cool stuff was the mini recording studio at Harrison Jr. High School tucked away in a repurposed storage closet.  I had exposure to MIDI sequencing on an Atari 1040ST my dad bought for us at home, but it was never this elegant.  Merrillville High School had a Mac lab dedicated to music theory, sequencing, and production where I had exposure to early versions of Pro Tools and MOTU software… and who could forget Band in a Box!

After high school, I didn’t have any direct exposure with Apple products unless I saw a Mac pressed into service as a sequencer for a band or at the heart of a Vari*lite lighting rig.

I bought a refurbished 3rd generation 30Gb iPod that I still use every day.  I used to carry large folders of CDs (about 300 CDs total) but now I could fit them all into my pocket.  This was an amazing product! I wish I could say this was my gateway drug because that would sound cool, but it was a turning point.  From that time, I followed Apple, waiting for the next product announcement.  My dad liked my iPod, so I convinced my mom to buy him one a few years ago for his birthday… another refurb 3G 30Gb model. Christmas that year, I bought yet another refurb 3G 30Gb for my girlfriend, Geri. That led to my mom conspiring with me to upgrade my dad’s iPod to a 5G 60Gb model.  His old 3G 30Gb went to my sister with my help.  Then dad bought mom a 1st gen 2Gb Nano that she loves for her workouts. Geri’s 30Gb iPod started showing signs of wear after many drops and a few car accidents, so for Valentine’s day, I upgraded her to a refurbished 5G 30Gb model.  Fortunately I was able to save Geri’s old iPod, and my aunt is enjoying it today.  It would be an understatement to say that the iPod had the halo effect on me.

On the third day of Geri and my honeymoon, I used the work laptop to connect through the Disney World guest network and ordered my new computer, the 24″ Aluminum 2.8Ghz iMac. I convinced Geri that just the iLife suite alone would make our wedding photos and video easier to manage. (Rob and Josh heard the real story.) I’ll be honest, it wasn’t an easy transition. I had to unlearn old habits in order to learn a new way of seeing things, but I’ll never look back. 

I convinced my father to switch to Mac as well. He was true to form… he had to one-up me. As soon as he ordered the same iMac that I had, he put in his order for 4Gb of RAM.  Now his transition was no where near as smooth as mine. I must say the Leopard’s screen sharing features just work. That feature alone has saved me hours of troubleshooting and training over the phone.

I have recently joined the ranks of the iPhone owners and I am eagerly waiting the next batch of announcements about the product in June.

Sorry for the short book. I started writing and kept on going…

Thanks Rob and Josh for bringing the film to Madison and not only allowing me to interview both of you, but for also entertaining Geri and I for over two hours with your stories.

(ed. note: More like mental dump day.  This is coming out of my head in the wrong order.  Further proof I need this day.)

First of all, I see that I need to update the blog more often.  I should set a more realistic goal of once a week.

So there are many reasons for the mental health day today.  Geri was in the hospital Thursday thru Saturday for what must have been a nasty bacterial infection of her GI system.  The doctors still don’t know exactly what the problem was but she’s feeling better.  She made it back to work today and I’m happy for her.  I know she’s been itching to get out of the house.

Since I spent the night with her in the hospital Friday and Saturday nights, I was very tired and behind in getting the lighting up for the production of Guys and Dolls.  I finally got things up while rehearsal was in progress on Sunday night.  That is normally the first night of tech and I start programming the console for the show.  Monday we only got through the first act.  Also on Monday, Mickey pointed all the dark spot on the stage to me.  So Tuesday’s rehearsal started with Mickey and I refocusing a few fixtures.  Got through the 2nd act at the beginning of rehearsal so I thought all was well.

I moved over to the sound board for the full run-through of the show where I will be for all performances.  Mickey was running the lighting console. (ETC Express 24/48)  We very quickly realized that all of the blackouts were not recorded correctly.  It’s a quick fix but annoying to not get it right the first time.  A few hours later, it was 11:30 and we were done with the run-through.  Grabbed all the mics from the actors and started to go through my notes to correct lighting cues.

I left the church at 12:30am this morning.  I really couldn’t get to sleep until 2am.  I kept thinking of bills to pay, roof to fix, car to jump-start… too many things to allow my mind to settle into sleep.

I slept in until 10am.  I NEVER do that.  I guess all that lack of sleep over the weekend caught up to me.  I started going though iBank this morning to make sure all the bills are paid.  I’m still trying to get used to this program… not as intuitive as Quicken, but I feel less dirty using it.  Quicken really doesn’t have a good reputation on the Mac, but that’s another discussion.

I just came in from jump starting the classic Topaz which was pretty easy.  The hard part was getting is out of the pool of ice that formed around it.  I couldn’t rock it out.  There’s a hard chunk of ice under the right rear tire that is holding it back.  I need to get some ice and sand to take care of that.

Lots more to write about, but I can’t keep things organized in my head as I write.  Looks like I’ll save some for later.

So it has finally come.  Something I look forward to every Christmas season… snow.  Unfortunately the local meteorologists are predicting that the snow will be closely followed by sleet and freezing rain, turning the roads into skating rinks.  Management at work is on alert for any weather issues.  My cell phone is on and ready in case I’m needed for anything.

Hopefully today will bring the erection (yeah… I said it!) of the Christmas tree.  We have some minor cleaning to accomplish before the tree can go up.  There was some debate as to switching to newer LED style white and blue lights but I decided to save the $45 it probably would have cost this year.  I think it’s worth waiting until we move into the next house and get a new tree.

Geri is currently working Pampered Chef show #2.  That leaves me here alone to do housework.  Laundry and dishes are on the agenda as well as some rebate paperwork for all of the electronics and software purchased over the Thanksgiving holiday.  You would think I would be more enthusiastic about claiming $235… I think the whole thing is a scam.  Why not just give me the discounts when I buy the stuff?  Oh yeah… its because they’re counting on people that don’t even bother with the process to make a little more profit.  I’m sure there more to it than my simplified view, but I’ll stick with my reasoning for now.

Now I just realized why I’m having a tough time getting going this morning.  It was waking up at 1:50am for some maintenance work online.  Got back into bed at 2:30, but I never really slept well after that.  There’s no NASCAR race to help me take a nap this afternoon either.

Geri’s dad should be coming by soon to drop off the Christmas wreath that we usually hang on the chimney.  With the snow and conditions as they are, I may just wait to go up and hang it though…. we’ll see.

I think its time to try out my new boots and get the shovel out of the garage for the first time this season…