iWait

So, I finally took the plunge! When I made the decision, I knew my life would never be quite the same again. I had crossed over into a different world. A whole new society would welcome me, while the rest of the world would look down on me, as if I were some second-class citizen. As if this choice makes me different from the "norm". People fear what they don't understand, and so this move makes me a threat to everyday thinking.

I bought an iMac.

And while splurging, I also got an iPod. Luckily, I got a discount by purchasing it through my work's Employee Discount Thingie. In other words, I still paid through the nose, but it ended up being through only one nostril.

This was a long time coming. Ever since Joe (of http://www.fourhman.com/ ) started laying his Mac Superiority Propaganda (TM) on me a few years ago, I was getting curious. When he told me that Macs don't get viruses, I was intrigued. Then a lot of the "neato" simple built-in features started to sound like things I would love to use all the time. And then Tony and Melissa bought one and love the shit out of it. Then Joe got a new one for the office. The pressure was building, and I was looking forward to the conversion.

Then Tony gave me a tour of his, and let me get my hands dirty with it. Within the first five minutes, I was convinced. There were at least 3 projects that would be FUN instead of a hassle if I owned one of these fine machines myself....and the possibilities beyond that are astounding.

So last Friday (5/4/07), I finally realized that I could afford to do this. And so I did. At work, under the drooling supervision of The Master Mac-head and his fervent sidekick, I placed an order.

Someone suggested that I track the shipping progress. The iPod and iMac were shipping seperately. The expected delivery date for the iPod was Wednesday, I believe, and the iMac was to arrive the following Saturday. I had them both shipped to the office because it's a more secure receiving spot for valuable stuff than at my apartment.

So I tracked The Tauz Paud (TM) from when I ordered it on Friday until it arrived the next Tuesday. From China.



It arrived a day early! This brought me great joy, but that is a different (and upcoming) Blaug Post. It also instilled in me a great amount of hope. Hope that maybe my iMac would be as swift in its arrival. So I continued to track its progress with wide-eyed abandon.

I wasn't foolish enough to expect it on Wednesday. And I knew I was being a bit impatient when I thought maybe it would come on Thursday. But I was downright upset when it didn't show up by Friday afternoon. I was all pissy. I was like a whiny baby because I now had to come in on Saturday and pick it up. And because I wasn't sure who would sign for it. And...after pining over it all week, I wanted it like a kid wants a giant lollipop in the window of a candy store.



As I waited for it to arrive, I pondered the situation at hand; and the longer I waited, the longer I pondered...

The Paud came from Shanghai, China to York, PA in 4 days. A significant distance in an admirably short amount of time. An intercontinental trip in less than one business week. Over an ocean and through The Yukon, for fuck's sake. THE YUKON. Pretty snappy for a little piece of machinery, eh?



The iMac, however, had a much shorter trip to make, geographically: coming from San Jose, California to York, PA. A light-hearted jaunt in comparison to the super-trek its little brother just made. It was merely traveling across ONE country. An intra-continental trip, if you will. No ocean to cross, and certainly no Yukon fucking Territory to traverse. Not even anything Yukon-like. Just one measly little country. I mean...look at it in comparison to the one above!



That being said, I hope you understand the scope of my frustration.

But people had consoled me by saying that, well...at least you'll have ALL DAY Saturday to play with it and such. It'll be awesome.

And I fully expected it to be awesome.

So...I went in to work to pick it up. It was a nice, sunny day and I was going to get my iMac. ROCK. We'd gotten reliable intelligence that the FedEx guy is usually there by 10am on Saturdays. So I got up around 11, had some breakfast, and rolled to the station to retrieve it around noon.

Imagine my shock and disappointment when it wasn't there. I asked the two people at the station whether FedEx had been there today, and both said no. Grr. So I bummed around for a bit and then decided that I'd stop back in at 6pm, just in case the delivery choad was having a long and shitty day and was all backed up and late.

I spent the afternoon preparing a spot for it on my desk at home and other such nonsense. All the while hoping against all logic that it would totally be there when I got back at 6, but the storm clouds were gathering, my friends. The bright, sunny day was turning to a dark and stormy evening.

I returned to the station at 5:45pm. I walked into the lobby. There was no package. In the background, it started raining and lightning cracked across the sky. Thunder boomed. Either that or I shit myself in a rage. I honestly couldn't tell you which it was.

I stormed back out through the gigantic drops of rain to my car. I sat there, stewing; coming to grips with the fact that I was going to have to wait until Monday to see my new toy...