Roaring Good Times
Posted on Tuesday, August 27th, 2002 at 12:00.
Forty-eight hours post my Florida trip and I feel fine. Mark invited me to attend his niece Rachel’s wedding. The 12-hour drive passed quickly (relatively speaking) when a traveling buddy helped you stay awake. Mark and I arrived at his mother’s house around 2:30 A.M. and awoke 9 hours later.
I read that Apple planned Mac OS X version 10.2 release parties at its retail stores. Who could resist enticements of Scott Kelby, a free Mac Design magazine subscription, a free Jaguar t-shirt/mouse pad/sticker, a chance to win an Apple computer, an opportunity to use my Apple Store gift card, and a burning desire to be an early adopter? So Mark and I arrived at Tampa’s International Plaza at 10:10 P.M. Friday night and discovered a line of over 1,000 people stretched to the opposite end of the mall where the Apple Store resided. We almost bailed three times but we made it into the store two-minutes before the 100 Minutes of Jaguar expired, with around 300 people behind us in line.
I grabbed my one copy (of the 100,000+ copies Apple claim it sold nationwide during the release) and headed immediately to the check-out line. Mark headed to the Genius Bar to ask about his finicky HP digital camera. While in line, I chatted with a rad Texan lady who wrote for Mac Design. She arranged for me to meet Scott Kelby, who signed a copy of his hysterically truthful book, Macintosh… The Naked Truth (which I just finished reading today). Mark and I headed back to New Port Richie with Wendy’s food in our bellies and Jaguar in my possession around 3:00 A.M.
Rachel Lamb’s 2:30 P.M. wedding came too soon. It was short and sweet. The country club reception’s club music, mad dancing, and tender food made not having my wallet and ordering a $3 iced tea a forgettable moment (just like the drunk 90-year-old guy sitting beside me who wanted to give the groom “love making” tips ::shudder::).
The night ended with a trip to Clear Water Beach. Jamie (Mark’s niece), Jesse (Mark’s nephew/Rachel Lamb’s brother), two friends, Mark, and I splashed around in the water of the deserted beach and sang praise songs to God until 1:30 A.M., when we realized that man does not live on lack-of-sleep alone.
Jamie and Jesse are around my age and fun peeps to hang with. Jamie invited me to ride in “the lady’s phat ride” back to town while the guys rode back in Mark’s monster diesel Dodge. The incident of Jamie falling on me, getting us stuck between her bed and the wall, and then blowing it off with, “Again, I’m not getting fresh with you,”; the good-bye kiss on the cheek; her psycho cat named Oreo; and fun dancing were good times. I also cannot overlook the Mac-fan versus PC-loyalist conversations or the semi-formal clothing shopping adventure with Jesse. Ah, memories…
With little sleep and a 9:30 A.M. departure, Mark and I drove through unceasing thunderstorms and arrived back in the ‘Burg just in time for The Dead Zone.
Monday = taking Joshua and Jonathan to the dentist; installing Mac OS X v.10.2 after reading early, early adopters discovered.
Tuesday = me going to the dentist for an 8:00 A.M. appointment; transporting Rachel from work to the dentist office for a 12:20 P.M. appointment; lunch at Bull’s with Rachel; a productive meeting with a client; the discovery of the Hill Street shortcut to Tait Springs Road; a quick stop at Lamb Custom Countertops; a spiritual accountability meeting; and a massive blog update.
