This was my last flying, out-of-state trip on Apple’s dime for three days. Within a year of joining Servers & Apps, I had become an expert on Macintosh Manager (discontinued after the release of 10.5) so the bosses picked me to do presentations for two wealthier school districts: Paradise Valley and Deer Valley.
The first day was spent traveling and getting adjusted since Arizona was now two hours behind Texas. When I arrived at the airport, there was a guy offering a limo ride to my hotel near Camel Back. How much I asked? Ten bucks. I took it because I never had been in one…just didn’t get around to this when I was younger, namely the silly college drinking game. Three New Yorkers who just landed joined me. Later in the evening when I had dinner with the Apple sales manager coordinating this effort asked how I got to the hotel, I sheepishly told him by limo. He said, put it on the expense report. I replied, I couldn’t, it was a limo, a vanity ride, I could eat the $10. He chuckled and responded that I got a bargain over any cab.
Back to earlier. Boy did I get there soon. I ended up killing time wandering around the nearby outdoor mall, lunch at an Ed Debevics and finding a modem port in a kinko’s (Wi-Fi access remained rare). With the latter discovery, I checked it to keep the managers informed on my whereabouts.
The training sessions were rather route affairs. Basic troubleshooting and isolation on how attack the call drivers involving Macintosh Manager with AppleShare IP 6.3 as the foundation. Mac OS X Server 10.0 remained too new for wider deployments. The iconic white iBooks were announced during a break with my second day’s presentations at Deer Valley. Unlike the earlier iBooks, these had a “serious” design; people often made jokes of the color iBooks resembling gay clams or toilet seats.
Other fun events outside of working?
- Taking my future in-laws to dinner (Yvette and Lance) on night number two. I think Rad showed too. I hope he did.
- Enjoying the warmer weather was a coup; Austin was nice but Phoenix was much better.
- Getting grief from Somara over a phone call home; our new cat Miette went into heat before her operation at White Rock. Normally, Miette is quiet and only gets vocal when hungry, needy or harassed by Nemo. In her amorous condition, Miette was an utter, non-stop noise machine banished to the porch.
The last incident was a near-miss while we were heading toward Deer Valley. While driving through a rather patchy part of Phoenix, I saw a castle-like building with purple awnings. My immediate reaction was, cool, a Knight’s Inn, I haven’t seen one since the Eighties. I just about blurted this out and then spotted the dark windows and bars. It was a Castle Boutique, a regional chain known for selling, ahem, adult items and accessories. Dodge a major faux pas bullet with a major sales guy.
Overall, a great, productive and awesome time. It ended on the flight home…through a thunderstorm surrounding Austin. The plane made a couple dips and/or shifts on the approach. Many passengers made the collective “whoa!” noise, as if this were a roller coaster. I wish I fainted instead of the adrenalin rush I got. No clue what Somara gave me or I insisted on having after I hopped in her truck: steak? beer? Something to get the memory flushed before re-experiencing it on the mattress.
One time, I dozed off on the top bunk in college and right when I was on the verge of zonking out, the bed “dropped” a 100 feet making me clutch on to it for dear life. It wasn’t real. It was a weird replay in my mind of the turbulence my flight from San Diego encountered. Hence, I try to stuff myself with food or booze to pass out sooner, get into a deeper state to prevent any “simulations.”
In conclusion, Phoenix rocked again and I couldn’t wait to visit soon. I got my wish a year later with Rad’s wedding.