You guys are so cool...

Wednesday, October 17, 2007 -- The hard drive on my Macintosh computer had been making a tick-tocking sound every once in a while and the day before yesterday it locked up completely. I tried working on Mom's eMac but it just didn't have the internal memory for my graphical-artistical whiz bangery. So, it was off to San Antonio at the crack of dawn to visit my personal mecca - that is the nearest Apple store. I was greeted by a friendly, yet aloof, young man dressed in black jeans and tee and sporting five-day chin stubble. In fact, every male in the store seemed to have simultaneously misplaced their razors for the week. I'm guessing it's supposed to be a part of the Apple slacker/genius mystique. The young salesman regarded me condescendingly. I was suddenly painfully aware of my collared shirt and a complete lack of the color black in my wardrobe. Oh well, I was probably a Mac addict when he was still in diapers. "No, I don't want to pay extra for Applecare, a printer upgrade, or an extended dotMac membership," I said as he fixed me with a cold stare. "Very well." Thankfully the Apple guys didn't intimidate me to the point of forgetting to ask for my educational discount - one of the few perks of being a school board member. I walked out of the store poorer, but toting one bad-to-the-bone, 20" monitered, multi-gig Macintosh.