The Muhlestein Family

What would you do to get an iMac?

November 11th, 2007

I’ve been planning on getting an iMac for some time. Even before the latest models, which have a cooler sleeker design as well as a nice glass finish to the screen, I’d thought that an iMac would be a nice alternative to the PC sitting under my desk. Instead of a big clunky case with tangled cables crowding the floor around my feet, I’ll have my entire computer sitting up on my desk. In addition, I’ll be working with OS X instead of Windows. (That is another story entirely. I’d write about all the reasons Windows Vista is horrible and all the reasons why OS X is a far superior operating system, but it’s been written about many thousands of times already on the Internet and you just need to search a little on Google to find a very comprehensive number of resources on the subject.)

My plan originally, was to wait until we got a tax refund early next year and spring for the latest model iMac at that time. This last month however, another option was made available. Gayla’s parents have some very tall trees in their back yard. These trees rain branches and leaves all over their house and yard. In addition, the back yard is about to be overrun with roots, which has caused the cement to buckle in a few places and made for a very rough lawn. They decided the trees needed to go. They learned, after receiving a few bids for the work, that the process of removing the trees was not going to be cheap.

Back before I was married, I worked for the Forest Service for a couple summers thinning trees. Having a little experience with chain saws, and thinking that I’d like to own a chain saw anyway (you never know when one of those might come in handy), I said I’d take care of his trees for him if he’d go ahead and purchase the saw for me. After they considered that option for a while, they decided it was a pretty good deal. I had mentioned to Gayla’s dad, just the day before, that I was planning on getting an iMac for our next computer. He called back and said that have me cut down the trees would save enough money on the deal, that he’d like to purchase me an iMac as well as the saw. I got a little more excited to do the job at this point!

We borrowed a rappelling harness and I got some rope to hold me up in the trees. Then I used another rope to pull the chainsaw up. After cutting down the top branches, I worked my way back down the trees and cut sections off until the whole tree was cut down. It would have been a lot easier if there wasn’t houses and fences to worry about. In that case, I could have just cut all the trees down and been done with it.

I would have been a little more nervous of being that high up in the trees if I wasn’t buckled to them so I couldn’t fall off!

Getting closer on this one.

The yard is getting a little more cluttered.

Not a lot of room between the trees and the house. This is part of the reason the trees needed to go.

A few of the stumps.

Looks like I’ll be getting that iMac a little sooner!

Entry Filed under: Family, Technology