I drove over to have an outdoor lunch with my daughters. It was nice to drive my car again. I’ve missed it a lot.
The twins and I had a good lunch. I brought take-out from a local Mexican place. As good as Mexican food is from the one good place Chris and I have found south of the Twin Cities, this was significantly better.
It was fun talking with my college graduated daughters. They continue to seem more relaxed. They have accomplished a lot and I am in awe of how hard each of them have worked. I think I’ve been comparatively lazy.
I bought a new Apple laptop computer today. Mine upon which I’m writing this right now is about 7 years old. The fact that a piece of Apple hardware has lasted that long astonishes me. Sure the designs are great and innovative but in my experience Apple sometimes has issues with reliability. I hear BMW’s and Ferrari’s have some of the same issues.
I also want to point out that over 7 years, I’m still not bothered by any particular slowness to my current Mac. Try and show me a Windows computer that provides the same joy over the same time period.
Anyway, I ordered online and saw I could pick up at the local Apple store. I paid and scheduled a time for pick up.
Since the mall is closed, the Apple store is operating “alfresco”. You drive into the parking lot and there is a section roped off with apple signs. Drive in the entrance and I was asked if I was here for pick up or service. Ok, park over there. Everyone had masks and I wore my mask out of respect and safety. Then someone comes over and I showed them the email I received on my phone with the barcode. They scanned my barcode and checked my ID. Ok, drive over to spot A3. I drove over to the parking spot labeled A3. A few minutes later a woman walked over with an Apple bag and said “Mr. Helmke?”. I said yes and received my laptop through the window of my car. I drove away.
Given how busy Apple stores used to be in the old days, this was really the most painless Apple Store retail experience I’ve had in a very long time.
In other news, I spent far too long trying to write a marketing email I was unable to complete. Chris didn’t like the first version for good reasons. I tried to fix it. Then threw away the whole thing and tried to start something else. Probably 2-3 hours overall thinking and writing. Far far too long for one email. I’ll try again tomorrow…