– Play Ball! –

June 17, 2002 – This isn't a typical DaDane of DaWeek composition, is it? Tisk, tisk. At first you hardly notice the Great Dane, right? (It's Lynda Dedrick's onyx brindle, Stormi.) Oh well, you'll have to excuse me for playing around. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I've been experimenting with a 3-D modeling program. This is my latest effort. Some of you might see it as an obtuse reference to the U.S. Open, which concluded yesterday with a win by Tiger Woods. Perhaps I am working my way up to designing Great Dane golf balls. Or something like that.

Tough lessons

I've learned two important things since I started dabbling with Bryce 5. First, I must be a lot dumber than the average person because I am having a devil of a time learning to use this new software. I even resorted to reading parts of the user manual – eeek! – and I still can't figure it all out. (I guess this means I am a slo-o-o-o-w learner.) The second thing I've discovered is that my trusty computer is even slower than I am. My three-year-old 450MHz Mac computer just doesn't cut it anymore. Rasterizing a simple 3D image, just to proof it, can take 20 minutes or more. Tick tock, watch the clock.

What's a person to do?

Well, I can't do very much to improve my intelligence – but I can do something to speed up my computer. Buy a new one. The time has come to replace "Old Bessie." I really want to order a 1.0GHz/Dual G4 Power Mac. I'm dying to get my hands on one. But I'm waiting for next month's Mac Expo to see if Apple will announce a newer, faster model. The suspense is killing me. If a new model is announced, the prices will drop on the current model, and I'll be able to save a little money – or hold out for a faster unit. I just can't decide if it's worth the wait. A month is a long time when you are itching to play ball.