iPhone at last

I waited in line today at an AT&T store to get an iPhone. I was #11 in line at this particular store. By the time the doors opened, there were at least 50 people in line. I'm pretty sure the store sold out.

One funny thing I saw was there was a Verizon Wireless tech waiting in line with us, with his truck parked right in front. Here's a picture of when his truck was still in the parking lot.





Some people were camped out since early in the morning. I only waited about 3 hours, but boy I should have brought a chair or something. My ass, despite its cushiony structure, hurt like hell.

Just as the line started moving, the guy next to me starts chatting me up. He's a little shorter than me, Indian, and looks slightly more nerdy than I do. He starts asking me questions like, "So are you excited to get the iPhone?" "Which one are you going to get, the 4GB or the 8GB?" and saying things like, "I heard that the AT&T network isn't 3G."

Now, being a nerd myself, I knew exactly what he was talking about. However, I felt this overwhelming urge to keep my nerdiness to myself. So I played dumb. "3G? What's that?" (3G? Hell yes I want 3G!) "I saw the commercials and thought the phone looked pretty cool." (I've been following Apple and iPhone news for the past six months)

It was very strange. Even though I was probably a bigger geek than he was when it comes to Apple, I felt a need to hide it. The guys in front of me were even worse, discussing things like the future of Apple notebooks and how cool David Pogue's iPhone video was.

Even though I love nerdy things, I feel this need to hide it as much as possible. I guess I just don't want to be the stereotype. Which is why I chose engineering, but not computer or electrical engineering. Which is why I chose biomedical engineering, but did not want to be a doctor. Which is why I decided to teach instead of consult. I asked my friend what I look like to her. She said that I look like an ABC. But that's exactly what I don't want to look like. At the same time, I don't want to look like a FOB either. So where does that leave me?

The hunt is over

I finally got my hands on a Wii. Not for me, mind you. It's more for my parents. They are completely addicted to Wii Sports. When a game system has a following from the 50+ crowd, I'd call that a success.

I got a heads up on the weekly ads for today, and Best Buy had them advertised. I arrived at the store one hour before opening, thinking that would be more than sufficient. Turns out, when I arrived, there was already a huge line at the door. Fortunately, I got a voucher for #20 out of 23 available. Five more minutes, and I would have been SOL.

While I was waiting for the store to open, I headed to Sears to get a replacement part for a lawn tiller. I couldn't find the lawn and garden section, so I tried to find someone to ask for directions. Since it was early in the morning, most store employees were stocking shelves. I approached a young black man dressed in a shirt, tie, and vest.

"Do you work here?"

"Uhh... no."

I had made an embarrassing mistake. Did I approach him because he was black, and that meant he was more likely to be an employee than a customer, or did I approach him because he was dressed up and looked like he was at work?

I'd like to say that it was 100% the latter, but I can't be that certain.

Anyway, if anyone else is looking for a Wii, Best Buy says they may get more in on Monday, and Target is rumored to be getting some in for next Sunday.