I was just about keeping my head above water in my battle to effectively manage my ever growing image library when one of the memory modules in my ageing Mac Pro died.

Multi layer 16 bit versions of 21megapixel images which were already causing me to spend far too much time waiting for the computer, became virtually impossible to edit without bringing tea, sandwiches and a crossword puzzle to kill time.

Add to that the growing pile of external drives with their leisurely USB2 data transfer rate and a library split over multi gigabyte Lightroom catalogs and just replacing the duff memory module just wasn't going to cut it.

I bit the Bullet and picked up the phone to KCRS -

Now here in the UK, KCRS are a third party Apple dealer that I've found superior to Apple shops because its much easier to get face to face with someone that really knows the product.  Increasingly Apple stores seem to be staffed by young guys who can tell you all you want to know about an iPhone or and iPad, but who are only on nodding terms with anything not classed as 'mobile'.

Sadly the skill set of KCRS staff apparently doesn't extend to the task of picking up the phone, so reluctant to make the journey into KRCS Leeds without checking that they had what I wanted and after blowing half of Friday trying to get through to them, I braved the automated Apple phone system and their caller queue, eventually getting through to a real person who did a stock check and told me the name of apparently,  the only person in the store that knows what a Mac Pro looks like.

So it was that I found myself in one of the most ghastly predicaments that can befall a reasonable mature male.  Visiting a major shopping centre on a Saturday.

After easing my way through the solid mass of teenagers drooling over iPhones, iPads and Airbooks in front of the apple store I eventually got face to face with their 'Mac Pro man' only to be floored by his opening question.

"So is this a panic buy, getting it while you can?"

Correctly interpreting my blank look, he went on to say that as of March, Apple will no longer be selling the Mac Pro in Europe.  

Baffled, I asked him to explain the logic behind this apparently bizarre marketing decision, after all, half the creative studios in the country are running on Mac Pros.

Apparently, if you take the side off a Mac Pro while its running;
and you've got long thin fingers;
and you worm them into the cooler unit;
you can touch the spinning plastic fan, which;
if you have tissue paper for skin, might cut you.  

So it doesn't meet European Health and Safety standards.

Another blow against common sense struck by the Health and Safety mafia.

So, if you have made it all the way to the end of my rant, the message is simple.  If you are in Europe and likely to be in the market some time soon, for one of (if not the) best computer workstations in the world, don't hang about.

Get em while you can.