Shopping

 have a personal laptop that isn’t really performing very well. I am not sure I need an upgrade, but the new Apple computers are quite impressive and so, yesterday, I ordered one that was picked up today. I also added an Apple TV for the Isle of Wight flat because we’re going to get a very basic TV as most of our viewing is now using apps.

I know many people who are supplied with a laptop by their company and they use it for both work and personal things. Most companies don’t mind as long as the integrity of their software is maintained. I, however, have always preferred to keep them separate. So, although work supplies me with something that must be quite top of the range, I like to have something to do personal work on. In my last job, I more or less did the opposite and used my personal computer for work when I was sat in my home office because it was much easier to use the machine that was already on the desk. All the software I needed to interact with was out on the internet and accessible from anywhere on any machine. My new job locks down a lot more, and I need to be on their VPN for much more of my work, so I need to stick with the work machine. As it’s a powerful one, it powers the two screens I used to have and I can still use the laptop screen. I am very much getting used to having three screens to work from.

It was unusual that I had no meetings at all today. I could have popped out mid-afternoon to pick up the new machine, but I chose not to. Instead, this evening, I left the house at 6 pm to pick up my order in Kingston. The Apple process is super efficient. I placed the order yesterday—I had no special configurations—and got confirmation that the order would be available today. Earlier, I got confirmation that it was ready. I was out the house at 6 pm and back through the door at 7 pm. It was a very fast trip, with the end result that I spent a lot of money quite easily.

I’m impressed that Apple have ditched their plastic bags and come up with something almost as good.