Month: December 2022

Sorry, Apple

In early December, I ordered an Apple Mac Studio desktop. I loaded it up with a top-end processor, tons of memory and storage, and even though it would take a month to get it, I ordered it anyway. $6k all in.

Right in the middle of Chanukah, I got a note from Apple saying sorry, your order is being delayed for another month. No explanation was provided. A year after launching the device, it was still taking months to produce.

So I spent just a little time digging into the issue. While I found no official announcements, I was led to suspect that Apple was facing one or both of two issues:

• The COVID-19 outbreak in China hammered the Apple supply chain, and the company could not get the product out of the factories.
• There were undisclosed production or performance issues at the upper end of Apple’s homegrown silicon, the M1 Ultra chip.

So I thought about it for two days, went online, and canceled the order. This was not the right time to get a high-end Mac.

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I skipped my mid-life crisis: I was too busy at work.

Or, as it now seems, perhaps I was just postponing it for retirement.

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What’s Your Sign?

When we get together with a group of friends, often the conversation turns to the Chinese Zodiac and who is what sign. We talk about how Aaron is a Horse, like his grandfather, and how Sunny is a Goat, though also a bit of a Monkey. When it gets to me, I modestly note that I am a Dragon.

The last time we had this discussion, one of Sunny’s friends asked, “what kind of dragon: fire, wood, earth, water…” Sunny felt compelled to look over at me disparagingly and volunteer, “he is a Gas Dragon.”

Given how my digestive tendencies have evolved of late, I find myself unable to contest this.

Later, looking through my Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Monster Manual, I found one. Picture appended.

The good news is that the next time I run a D&D adventure, I have the perfect beast or NPC to drop in at level 12.

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Looking Like My Parents

I had to laugh at and share this shot, because in it I look like I textbook combination of my parents.

While this provides some assurance that my family tree is as advertised, it is also a bit frightening: I look like my parents did when I was a teenager.

Ah, well: aging beats the alternative.

Happy Hannukah, everyone! Chag Sameach!

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Kick-Back Stack

Sunny’s eyes just about came out of her head when the waitress at Kick Back Jack’s set these monster blueberry pancakes down in front of her.

My dear wife had her revenge, though: she made it through about 80% of this massive stack, then jumped back into the car and drove another four hours.

Never underestimate the ability of a thin person to make food just seem to disappear.

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Porta-Casa

If I can’t be on a train, I want to be in a tent.

Camping out with a well-run Troop, by about 10 in the evening the Scoutmaster can relax. The youth leaders are in charge: the Patrol Leaders have their patrols in their tents, and the Senior Patrol Leader has held a quick meeting to plan the next day before everyone else turns in. It’s now 10:30pm and totally quiet in the camp.

I change my socks, put my shoes by the tent door, tuck into my sleeping bag, zip up, set my alarm for 6:30, prop my head up on my extra sleeping bag, and turn on my Kindle.

After a long day and a superb dinner, the quiet forest and a warm sleeping bag conspire to shorten my time catching up with Fyodor Dostoevsky, and I am snoring within minutes.

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The Highest Standard

My favorite kind of eatery is one where I get both protein and spiritual fulfillment.

Jeff’s Gourmet Sausage in LA is a longtime favorite, and with Aaron settled on the West Side, I’m looking forward to more regular visits.

Everything is Glatt Kosher and amazing, but my personal favorites are the Italian beef sausage, the Polish, and the Spicy Chicken Apple.

Good Shabbos!

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