Good news! I’m on a temporary new role at work for a while!

I got the great news pretty early in my workday yesterday in that I landed the temporary role with another division at my employer. I’m not going blather on about it in detail here, not because it’s top secret or something. It’s just difficult to explain and I’ll leave it up to you all to ask me in person by the various means you know how to reach me, if you’re interested. It was a pretty surprise too since today is also my Apple-versiary! Yup, I have been an employee of the “Fruit Company” for 23 years. I wonder why we human uses the quantifier “where” when we reflect upon time, aka, “Where did all the time go?” This doesn’t make much sense as we’re incapable of traveling through the fourth dimension (time) yet I do admit the phrase, “When did all the time go?” is awkward.

Looking back, do I remember my original plan? I don’t even recall if I had one! Back in 1999 Apple had turned the corner thanks to the success of the iMac but the corporation wasn’t out of the woods by a long shot. In my opinion, it would be at least another eight years before Apple transformed into the behemoth everybody knows today. The iPhone was the product to cement it after all those iPod, iMac and portable sales.

It’s pretty funny if you’ve lived around Austin like me. When I was an employee in the early years, you’d go to social events, bump into strangers, have small talk and practically every time people discovered you worked for Apple, you get this look of pity followed by a recommendation to work at Dell. About a decade later, these same people would ask you if you can get them a discount on an iPhone. Today, they’re looking for any help landing a permanent job. How the wheels turn. I don’t express any malice, I just giggle inside and remember that predicting the future is super difficult. After all these years, I figured Apple would carry on as a pretty well-regarded niche brand in the same league as Mercedes, Klipsch and Beluga. Even I underestimated the global success of the iOS-based devices which in turn created a halo effect for the products I continue to love, the portable line. I see more MacBooks in coffee shops than the competition today. A PowerBook 140 was my sole computer during my first year in Austin too. I did without one after I scored a desktop a year later but have always had one type or another since 1997. Apple portables, currently the MacBook line, are equal to a limb for me.

What’s next? I still have no clue. I do know this much. I will continue doing the best I can at this temporary gig one day at a time. I have no expectations of there being a guarantee on what happens next. I’ve found it’s the best way to live.