It was 1987 when I got my first Mac.  I was a freshman at Carnegie Mellon.  It cost $2,300 then and was impossible to succeed at CMU without your own Mac.  You lived on it.  It was the precursor to everything we do today.  I communicated via email, was sent my first IM asking me out on a date, checked status of items I needed at the library and stored my projects on our server.  There was no fancy GUI as we know it but thanks to Apple, I was off and running into my lifetime of nerd-om.

I remember my senior year when said Mac died on me.  I felt the equivalent level of nakedness as you feel today when you have lost your phone.  We had a max of two hours in reservation of systems in each computer lab so I would spend my days prior to graduation jumping from lab to lab trying to recreate all of my projects.  Those were sleepless nights but soon thereafter I graduated and of course, got another Mac.

Fast forward to today.  I have my fourth iPhone, an Ipad, two Apple TVs, a Macbook Air and IMac.  Before he met me, my honey didn’t own an ipod now he has three, and an ipad 2.  One of his sons now has a Macbook Pro and an ipod.  

It doesn’t matter if you even OWN an Apple product.  Thanks to Steve Jobs and his vision and tenacity, the way you interact with any computer, access the internet, send an electronic message was shaped by Apple.  It doesn’t matter if you are reading this via Windows and on your Android phone, the user interface on that Windows system and the aps on your Android area result of keeping up with the vision of Apple.  

I have always been a HUGE fan of Steve Jobs.  I have a great admiration of the infinate coolness he brought to being smart.  He worked with other brilliant people to push ideas that would make technology easier and more affordable.  He went so far that just a few days ago, Apple had more cash on hand than the US government.  I feel like one of those people that wants to vacation to Graceland.

Now, Steve Jobs has resigned from Apple.  I feel a great sadness.  Apple will continue to be a great company but Elvis has left the building.  

Wow, did we get lucky!  Barely a cloud in the sky today in Juneau.  Apparently it has been raining for days in this area yet today we got the perfect day to take a boat out and watch for whales.  We saw SEVERAL pods of humpback whales!  Additionally we saw Stellar seals!  Enjoy!

Look we got a wave!!!!!  

This morning I did a tour by air of a glacier area outside of Anchorage, AK.  I am afraid of heights but here I am:

Yes that is me sitting next to our pilot.  Quite brave of me I must add.  Fortunately visibility was wonderful and we only hit a few bumps.  Each bump of course caused my hands to sweat profusely while I held a death grip on my camera.  We landed in the water near a glacier so I was able to get a few shots from the water as well.  Please enjoy a vicarious experience of the day.  OHHHHH and BTW my unlocked, jailbroken iPhone that forces you to cut your sim card to fit is totally done, over, put a fork in it.  This means no phone calls for me for … 9 more days?  Annoying or divine intervention?  You decide…  But I will be checking email…