This week was an unusual one for me. I had a friend visiting from London the past five days and yesterday, I flew to Baltimore for my friend’s wedding Saturday. Being on the road a lot allowed me to work on making my business a bit more mobile. Here’s a little of what I did this week besides have fun playing tourist:
I got and set up my new laptop.
After hearing so much about Macs (and the fact that about half my clients are using them), I decided the only way to get proficient with them was to get one and learn with it. My MacBook Pro is quite slick and is allowing me to begin this first draft in the lobby of my hotel while I wait for my ride to show up.

According to my Mac using friends, I should be able to transfer files between my PC desktop and my Mac laptop with few issues. I guess we’ll see. Either way, I’m sure I’ll learn a lot.
I networked my desktop and laptop.
Well, to be fair I didn’t really do this. Phil, my visiting friend, did most of the heavy lifting while I said things like “I think that’s right”.
I purchased an Airport Express at the urging of some Facebook friends and before I left for Maryland, I was able to transfer files over the network from my desktop computer to my laptop for my trip. So there is now a wireless network associated with my apartment, and the possibility of things like wireless printing. Not such an issue in a 220 square foot space but in the future, I’ll love it.
I learned some time saving techniques from a smart friend.
“I can’t believe you still use Internet Explorer!” Phil said. “Oh, what should I be using?” I asked.
Just because I spend my day researching things online for my business doesn’t mean I know anything about computers. I know there are things I could be doing more efficiently and am not aware of. I appreciate that Phil took a few hours of his vacation to show me some shortcuts (like did you know control + E takes you to Windows Explorer?), talk about software, and let me in on his favorite automatic data backup solution (Mozy, in case you were curious, and this is after trying several other services).
Business owners should be happy to learn from those who have gone before them and I am no exception. Phil owns his own computer programming/consulting business in London so he knows a lot from experience…experience which I am lucky enough to profit from.
The more I think about it, the more my fun week has also been a learning week.
And in the effort of learning from friends, what is your favorite technological timesaver?
Fun fact: All week, people have been asking me how I even know Phil. I actually met Phil through this blog. I occasionally cross post on the newspaper website I used to work at, which is where he first read it. He subscribed and has been reading my blog for over a year. A few months ago, we became Facebook friends. When he told me he was making his annual trip to Maine in October, I suggested we climb Mount Katahdin. I met him in person for the first time this week and we got along great. When I started blogging, I had no idea that one of the fringe benefits would be friendships with people I would otherwise never get to meet!

Need marketing help?

X