Greeting Low End Mac friends! It's been a long time since my most
recent column - a little over six months to be exact.
This year has been filled with ups and downs, and just as life goes,
times definitely change with the technology. Besides the new
breakthrough innovation of the iPad, Apple has refreshed virtually
everything else (even Apple TV) during the last six months. It's a
great time indeed for Apple.
As of my last article, iPad Gaming Potential, I had
imminent expectations of my second child arriving and knew that it
would be very difficult to write for some time. I am now back and look
forward to providing many more useful, insightful, and memorable
articles in the near and distant future.
Life Goes On*
Where did the last six months go? Life can certainly take your for a
wild ride.
Here's the short version: On March 16, Courtney Olivia Bashur was
born to a proud family surrounding her.
Dad was there with his DSLR camera, ready for lots of great shots to
create some family memories on his newly acquired 14" 1.42 GHz iBook G4 that I
provided from a deal on a lot of 5 units that I captured on
eBay (Dad's aging 12" 600
MHz iBook G3 had seen better days). He was so stoked about creating
content on his (newer and more capable) Mac and displaying it on his
LCD HDTV that he needed to track down a mini VGA to VGA adapter right
away while we were all at the hospital. I found one on eBay for a
couple bucks and gave him mine for the meantime to tide him over. He
was quite grateful and promptly hooked up his Mac to his display that
evening.
Dad then came by and visited us a few days later, after we came home
from the hospital with our baby girl. He had some great pictures taken
with him holding Courtney. It was definitely one of those priceless
family moments.
Good-bye, Dad
Sadly, Dad would never have the chance to make a baby Courtney photo
album for us. The following day, I lost one of my greatest influences -
my father, who was my mentor, a PR solo act genius (George
Bashur, Accredited Public Relations), man of many other talents,
and fellow Mac Enthusiast of many years. Dad was a good family man who
led a very healthy and fulfilling life, but that life was abruptly
ended by an unexpected heart failure. My family and many others were
devastated by this great tragedy.
More Problems
Other blows would follow. The transmission went out in one of my
vehicles in July. I lost my day job a few weeks ago (in late August,
just before my birthday), and last week, Dad's 2006 Mac mini suffered a logic board
failure while it was in FireWire
Target Disk Mode and I was recovering some files for my mother.
As the Beatles once said, "Oob la di, oob la da (life goes on)."
Life Does Go On
I hate to get morose and even a bit off topic, but I thought it
would be interesting to provide a snapshot of an ordinary Low End Mac
family, what may seem to be the simple absence of writer to those of
you who frequent Low End Mac.
Although this year has proven difficult, I keep reminding myself
that my passion for writing is always there and that I have many riches
around me each and every day - a wonderful family, great friends, God,
and readers who care.
Thanks for your time; I look forward to providing some amazing
content in the near future. 
Dan Bashur lives in central Ohio with his wife and children. He uses various PowerPC G3 and G4 Macs running Tiger and Leopard. Besides finding new uses for Macs and other tech, Dan enjoys writing (fantasy novel series in the works), is an avid gamer, and a member of Sony's Gamer Advisor Panel. You can read more of Dan Bashur's work on ProjectGamers.com, where he contributes regular articles about the PSP, classic gaming, and ways you can use Sony gaming hardware with your Mac.
