I know, I haven't posted in a while, after a spurt of posts from Hawaii, I put down basically nothing for the rest of May. But, as always I have my reasons, mostly that I was really sick, really busy and really without a functional computer for the last 6 weeks.
So we had a blast visiting Neal, Terri & Kayla, Miller & Shauna, Ryan & Cameron and John, Julie and their kids in San Diego on the way back to New York. Neal & Terri's new daughter, Kayla, is a totally adorable blivet and it was a joy to get to meet her while she was so young.
As a complete side note - It was also great to get to spend more time with Cameron, see Shauna and Millers new place, and see John and Julies kids, who are getting huge. They are like normal people now ... I guess thats what happens when you live really far from someone, you just don't see the day-to-day changes. I never miss living in California as much as when I am in SD or SF and surrounded by a bunch of friends and family I don't see (and especially don't see together) that often.
Anyway, we were only in SD for about 36 hours, just as a way station on the way back to NYC. And unfortunately, once I got back to New York, I was stricken with probably the worst illness I have had in 15 or 20 years. No joke, there were several days where I could barely stand up, and I think going to work on Monday and Tuesday knocked me out for most of the rest of the week. I can't remember the last time that putting on my belt tired me out so much that I needed to lay down.
I recovered enough to visit the NIDA intramural research program in Baltimore the next week, although it took me about 4 weeks to fully recover - last time I skip the flu shot. That was a super fun day. Thats how we know I am getting old/professional/something, because spending the day talking about the effects of dopamine neuroimmunology and neurobiology constitute a fantastic time :) Huge thank you to Dr. Cadet for inviting me down and organizing the day, it was really a blast.
Anyway, none of this really explains why I have not blogged, I mean I was sick and busy, but that only covers the first two weeks - no, the true explanation is my malfunctioning computer. Its a long story, but basically my computer has been slowly failing for about a year, gradually crashing more and more. I done everything I could, but by May the computer was crashing 10 - 20 times a day and doing anything was a slog. I basically couldn't do anything with it, just making up a poster took me 4 - 5 hours, twice after my computer crashed and lost the file. I brought it to the Apple store just before starting the 11th ISNV in New York, and left it with Apple for a week.
ISNV, which was at the Hyatt during that time, was completely awesome.
I finally got my computer back after the conference, took it home - it was not fixed. Brought it back, the store took it for another 3 days to repair it, and gave it back to me. I set it up fresh again, and within 3 days it was crashing again.
And this is where Apple is completely awesome, and why I am able to blog tonight. After 7 weeks of consistently increasing crashes, several new installations, a new hard drive, a repaired set of internal cables and an enormous amount of attention, Apple declared my computer problem unusual.
And they gave me a new computer. Seriously. A brand new, top of the line Macbook Pro. Fully loaded.
Essentially the computer I would have purchased for myself in a year or two. It even has Apple Care.
I LOOOOOVVVVEEEEE Apple. Talk about the best warranty money can buy - they will work tirelessly to fix you computer as long as they need to, and if they can't, they will give equivalent value.
For all the crap I went through with my computer in the last year, particularly the last 2 - 3 months, for all the files, images and emails it lost or corrupted over that time - this response made it worth sticking it out.
I will be a loyal Mac customer for ever, and I will never buy anything computery thing without Apple Care - ever.
So, now that I am healthy, and not busy, and my NEW computer is working like a charm, I can get back to blogging.
Hope your last month was as eventful as mine, perhaps in a more positive, useful way :)
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