Gone in 30 Minutes - Apple M3 Event

I had thoughts that I was going to write about yesterday’s Apple M3 Event, but the damn thing left me a little “meh” and was over in 30-minutes. Everyone was wearing black or dark clothing, they recorded the presentation video at night (spooky!), introduced three versions of the new M3 chip (M3, M3 Pro & M3 Max), spec bumped the MacBook Pro and iMac 24” to use the new M3 chip and introduced Space Black for the upgraded MacBook Pro. That’s it. Meh.

I was hoping for a spec bump on the iPad mini, or other innovations in the iPad line. Which is probably why I had dreams about losing my iPad on both Saturday and Sunday night… yikes. My attitude might also be influenced a bit because there were two or three job openings at the local library that looked interesting. I submitted an application for a library assistant job, that I’m overly qualified for, but would be a low stress way to restart the income stream with minimal muss or fuss. There was a management job that I saved but am less interested in and an electronic/online media library job that I was very interested in. Alas, when I went to submit my application for the online media position I was booted out of the system because I don’t have a library science degree and haven’t worked as a librarian before. That second one I had hesitated about because I’ve obviously done and taught students how to do research, which was how the question was phrased, but decided to check the NO box and was told by the system that I wasn’t qualified for the position, “thank you for your interest.” Ack. So, I’ve been a bit bummed.

Not knowing what my revenue prospects are going to be going forward, or at least not feeling great about my prospects, definitely influenced my attitude about new shiny computer hardware. Ugh. So, I’ve been spending the last couple days looking at non-teaching job openings at CCSD, UNLV and other organizations that I’ve thought would be interesting to work for, like DRI (Desert Research Institute) because they’ve sponsored several robot training events that I’ve attended. I even looked a LEGO… but they are seasonal minimum wage and that isn’t the kind of income security I’m looking for. Ack.

I wish I could be more excited about Apple’s new gear (and the way more expensive Vision Pro that’s coming out in the Spring), but it’s a bit tough to get enthused when I’m becoming all the more aware of how little runway I have to work with before I have to commit to living very cheaply on social security OR stepping up the job search game. Last time I faced this dilemma I went from October to May before I found a job and went from a nice professors income to essentially a camp counselor income with no benefits (and I had to dip into my 401K moneys… I’d rather not do that again).

So, new Apple M3 chips and upgraded MacBook Pros and iMac 24” machines. Yay. Too bad purchasing new tech is probably not in my immediate future (yes, I know I spent a ton last month… ack).