I bought a MacBook Pro this last Fall after starting my new job. The original intent was to use it for writing. And I have. I've written quite a bit, as a matter of fact.

I'm a Windows user primarily, but I did use a Mac when I worked for Pearson School Systems some years ago. It wasn't my preferred OS, but I don't really have anything against Macs. Naturally, this begs the question: Why buy a Mac now?

Well, my favorite writing and publishing applications are native to the platform, and that's a pretty big deal. Anything that makes writing easier is a big plus in my book.

Anyway...

Every time I boot into my Mac, I get this friendly little offer to take a tour. To get to know my not-so-new Mac, if you will.

I'm a fairly savvy guy when it comes to technology. It's kinda what I get paid to do until this writing dream of mine starts taking shape.

But I still can't bring myself to completely dismiss the offer.

I mean, what if there's something in the tour that I don't know... some morsel of information I've been missing out on this whole time?

I can't just sit down and go through some tour of a computer I'm already using. Who has time for that sort of thing? I've got too many things to do.

There are too many words yet unwritten.

I have to check and see how many free copies of The Itch were downloaded off Amazon.

Maybe I should polish my resume?

I need to study. This MBA isn't going to finish itself.

You get the point...

More than anything, I'm tired. I want a decent sleep schedule. I want my old job back. I want access to the headspace I've filled up with stuff that doesn't seem to matter. There are so many things that frustrate me to no end, but this isn't really a good venue to discuss them.

Besides, I've written about the job situation before, so I'm not going to go over it again today. The important bit is that something needs to change. The new job isn't going to, so that means it's up to me. Either I'm going to have to adjust, or I'm going to have to find something else.

Both of those options will take time.

And it's true: I didn't have to sign up for a second Master's.

It won't help me write my books any faster. Not in a traditional sense. I suppose there's something to be said for tackling classes on an accelerated timeline. I tell myself that I'm practicing for producing my stories at a faster rate.

The only problem is that I'm smart enough to know I could have accomplished the same thing much more effectively if I'd just started writing to an intense publication schedule in the first place.

The good news is that, while I haven't managed to take the Mac tour yet, I've still been working on my writing.

I haven't given up.

Second Chance is now at over 112,000 words and I only have a few more chapters to write before I do a round of edits. Then it will be time to get it publish-ready.

It's pretty exciting.

I'm really looking forward to getting this book done. And I've already started working on an outline for the next in the series.

If you didn't catch it, I even put up a first read-through of the first chapter of Second Chance on Facebook. There is a weird video artifact issue at the very beginning of the video, but it goes away fairly quickly.

I'm tired, but I love writing and I love how Second Chance is shaping up. When it comes down to it, I know I'm capable of doing a lot and my MBA will be done in a few more months.

There's light at the end of this tunnel.

And, hey! Maybe one of these days I'll get around to taking that tour.

Or maybe... do you think you could just... I don't know. Could you remind me tomorrow?