July 12th, 2008

I do believe, that in Palo Alto at least, Friday, July 10th 2008, shall forever more be known as iPhone day.

The lines at the Apple store have been a steady fixture since Wednesday night, and have been showing no sign of letup. Even with all of the talk about email not working properly, and the AT+T network not keeping up with the rate of activation people have been cueing up to get there iPhones. 

I won't deny it, I even tried to get one on friday night by going to the AT+T store instead of the Apple store, thinking that the crowds would all be at the Apple store. 

However, one glance around the inside of that store, and the look of harried exhaustion on the faces of the employees told me what had happened. Sure enough, they had run out of iPhones by mid -afternoon, and were suggesting to people that they return on Sunday when they might have more. (All of the units that they expected to receive on Saturday were probably spoken for already. They were evasive on that subject. )

In the above picture, you'll see what the line looked like at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night! That's a full thirty Six hours after they started selling the phones. The line started inside the store and extended out and around the back of the building. The expectations here are that the lines will continue through Sunday evening. When was the last time you saw grown people behaving like this for something they want for themselves and not their children that wasn't either an essential commodity like food or gasoline, or an illegal substance?

All I can say is that I am very VERY happy that I own stock. Long live Saint Steve.

Uncomfortable reminders...

We got an Uncomfortable wake-up call this week. One of my co-workers, at 39 years old, had a mild stroke while in the break room. Needless to say,  we're all a little shaken up by this.

Now, due to the marvels of modern medicine, he's no longer doomed to a life as a quivering vegetable, and will most likely recover fully. (blood thinners...the forgotten miracle of modern technology.) 

I just got back from visiting him at the hospital, (Kaiser Permanente,  how is it that they can  make managed care look like a run down trailer park?) and he's already walking around and cracking jokes with not even an unexplained twitch of a stammer.

But something keeps tugging at my memories, drudging up long burried worries and attacks of panic from my sophmore year in High School, when a classmate keeled over and died in the middle of Spanish class. 

Sometimes, life doesn't just give you a gentle reminder that you are mortal. It kicks you hard, and usually in very painful places, to remind you.

We're all taking a giant, collective "Phew!" because he's going to be OK. 

July 4Th

Happy Fourth every one.
The Fourth has always been, and still remains one of my favorite holidays.
Remember, what this day means. It means that we "Doff our caps to no one" We celebrate the idea, that the highest position that one can attain in this land, is not that of congressman, or Supreme Court Justice, nor even that of President.
On that day, 232 years ago, we proclaimed, that the highest office in this land, is that of "Citizen" And in one fell swoop, we turned on the head, thousands of years of human history where kings, emperors, pharoes, and myriads of other titles were cast aside as being public servants. How odd, that we chose to compete for the lowest office in this land.

The Orange skies have gone away for the time being. We'll wait and see what becomes of the new fires that started overnight. But for now at least, the skies are somewhat clear and the color of blue has returned.
I'm on my way to Walnut Creek this ofternoon for a cookout. Sharing some barbeque and spirits with friends out there. I'll have more to talk about tomorow as I am still a little groggy this morning. I just wanted to make note of The Fourth.