On Becoming a Mac

This pattern repeat was created using three of the motifs from yesterday's unfinished pattern along with an additional flower motif. Start to finish, this took about 90 minutes to complete. It would have taken less time if I hadn't gone wacko deleting programs from my computer yesterday. Like, half of the programs listed. So now my computer won't open images in Photoshop, Illustrator or any other program. I did this because Adobe Creative Cloud is a memory hog and I wanted to free some up. My 6 year old PC is perfectly happy running QuickBooks and Word. Photoshop and Illustrator? Not so much. 

I used my antique work computer instead of my shiny new Mac because lately, my Mac hasn't been very happy, either.

Back story: In January, I decided to learn surface pattern design and signed up for Jessica Swift's Pattern Camp. And since the entire design community uses Mac, I got the big idea that I needed one, too. So the plan was to learn a new operating system at the same time I was learning Illustrator. Totally Not Recommended. 

I purchased a 13" MacBook Pro and a seriously gorgeous 27" Thunderbolt monitor. Oh. My. God. Even the box the laptop came in is gorgeous. I set up the new system - which took minutes instead of hours. And had practically no cords. My PC is festooned with cords and wires. 

I was perfectly happy with my purchase until I started producing actual patterns in Ai. Shortly after finishing my class, I was introduced to the spinning Pinwheel of Death. A close cousin to Microsoft's Blue Screen of Death, the pinwheel is a candy colored, smiley faced warning. We became friends. Messages like "not enough memory to save/preview" began to appear. Not a good sign.  

Concerned, I lovingly carried my new MacBook Pro to my local Apple Genius Bar for a check up. And learned that running Adobe Creative Cloud used all of my RAM. All 8 gigs of it. There was nothing left for saving or any other command. And there was no way to upgrade the memory. 

Yesterday, while lamenting my dilemma, My Guido suggested that I return my laptop. Since I bought it nearly 4 months ago, the thought never occurred to me. I packed it up and drove to the mall. I can not tell you how impressed I am with Best Buy. They took it back and gave me full credit for it. I handed them an additional $1140 and brought home the biggest, baddest 15" MacBook Pro made. It's a sleek, shiny, low slung race car with dual exhaust. I can't wait to drive it.  

When I do, I'll need to rework this pattern to eliminate those holes. Because rushing almost always produces mediocre results, I'll take my time. Add some variety. Work on the colors. Or not. Maybe instead, I'll start researching the Mac that's going to replace my work computer. Since I spend all day on it, this one will be a rocket ship.