My Workhorse in better days |
A couple of weeks ago my Dell
Latitude D830 bit the dust. The video card on the motherboard died.
As an A+ Certified IT Technician
there wasn’t anything I could do to fix it. Once the motherboard is gone…the
computer is pretty much DEAD.
I’m gonna miss my old laptop. My Dell
Latitude D830 was my primary computer from October 2008 to January of 2015. It
was the computer where I started the SJS DIRECT imprint, the computer where I
learned how to format POD Paperbacks, design covers, and eBooks.
The Dell Latitude D830 was the
computer where I learned Adobe Acorobat and Adobe Photoshop. In the past seven
years I’ve become quite proficient. at using both software packages to create
.PDF book interiors and covers for all my titles.
It was also the laptop where I
refined my writing craft. On that laptop I learned more about screenwriting,
teleplay writing, the novel and the short story. With the help of online
friends I learned more about writing and writing techniques.
Cover design on the old Dell |
Thanks to all I learned about digital
publishing on that computer, I cleared the backlog of manuscripts under my bed
and published paperback editions of All About Marilyn, The Temptation of John Haynes, All About Nikki The Fabulous First season, The Thetas, The Isis series,
and eBooks in theThe Simp Trilogy. Over the last seven years using that computer I expanded
my catalog to almost 50 different titles.
The Dell was the computer where I
learned the ins and outs of book promotion. It was the computer where I learned
how to write press releases, and strategies for targeting readers with
promotional campaigns for books.
On the Dell I learned more about social
media and met lots of great people. In the last seven years I’ve met a national
bestselling author, models, actresses, lots of awesome comic artists like Terry
Beatty, Mike Williams (Artist on the AWESOME Deak Sledge strip) , and Bill Walko (artist and writer of the GREAT Hero Busine$$ strip), reconnected with classmates from CES
132, and met lots of great men and women all over the world on Facebook and
YouTube.
On that laptop I expanded the
audience for my blog from a hundred hits a day to over one thousand hits a day.
At one point the blog was averaging 5,000 to 6,000 hits a day! With the blog
now at well over a million hits, shawnsjamesblogspot.com has grown in
popularity and now has a growing following of regular readers.
While my old laptop was a solid
performer for the last seven years, it did have its share of problems. The DVD
drive died. But thankfully it was under warranty and I got a new one. Unfortunately
when the extended Warranty ended, the cooling fan died. And I went through FIVE
count em’ FIVE AC chargers. And finally both hinges that held the screen up
broke. For a time I had to literally prop the laptop up on pillows or my
briefcase just to use it to write.
As an A+ Certified IT technician I
fixed quite a few things on this laptop to keep it running over the last seven
years. I replaced the cooling fan. Replaced the broken hinges with new ones. Partitioned
and formatted the hard drive TWICE and reinstalled ALL the software TWICE. I’d
have to say I learned more about PC repair fixing this laptop than I did in my
PC repair class. I don’t know if that’s a testament to my skills or Dell’s poor
build quality.
I’d love to replace the motherboard
in this Latitude, (You can donate through the PayPal link to help me do that) but with me STILL being out of work, money is tight right
now. Even with me selling toys on eBay I’m still living day-to-day. And with
this computer being seven years old I don’t know if it’d be worth it to invest
in another motherboard.
For now I’m working from my Macbook
Pro, a computer I bought as a backup in 2011. I remember being in a jam in
August of 2007 when my first laptop, a Dell Inspiron 2500 died. And I had to
live without a computer for a year. I was right in the middle of revisions on
All About Marilyn when that laptop died. That was one of the worst experiences
in my life.
Living without a computer put my
entire life on HOLD. I couldn’t get e-mail, or communicate with anyone about
jobs, queries, or even access the budding world of social media. I swore I
wouldn’t be stuck like that again. Which is why I bought the Mac as a backup.
Living without a computer means you can’t do anything and these days. With most
of the job leads online and most of the business going on with e-mail and
social media having no computer is a death sentence.
My Dell Latitude D830 opened up the
world to me and allowed me to connect to a large international audience of
readers. It was a tool that allowed me to build a publishing imprint and an
eBook business. It was a tool that allowed me to reconnect with people and
build an audience of readers. It was a way to make friends with people all over
the world. If I had a full-time job I’d replace it in a heartbeat. Buying that
computer was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. It helped me
move my writing career forward.
R.I.P old friend. You helped me come a long way... |
I’d love to buy a new PC to replace
the broken Dell, but until I have a new full-time job I’ll have to make do with
my Mac. Thankfully I have Parallels Desktop installed on this Mac and Windows
XP with all my old software on it like Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Photoshop
Elements on its partition. So I’ll still be able to publish books like
Spinsterella this Halloween. I’m still persevering, still pushing and still
trying to keep going like God told me…
No comments:
Post a Comment