A Weekend in Blue Ridge

I've recently become a member of a group of friends who have an investment club and each month we meet at a different place, have drinks, dinner, and conversation, and, oh yes, talk about the investments we make as an incorporated group. This past weekend, we met at the Blue Ridge mountain home of friends and had a blast.

I drove up on Friday with a friend who is also a member of the group and we stayed in our host's home. Other members either have mountain cabins near by or stayed with friends who had mountain cabins.

The weekend was bliss: beautiful weather, great foot, fun conversations, laughter and friends. S&B's home is gorgeous and has a beautiful two level deck overlooking a small mountain stream. The weather was just warm enough to enjoy, and other than the pollen count which was very high, it was perfect.

The group values fun as much as profits from the group investments, so next month, it's a visit to the Lady Di exhibition in Atlanta, followed by dinner in a restaurant and a short business meeting and in June a trip in a rental van to Columbus for the Miss Georgia pageant. And, already, even though it's a half a year away, a discussion of where our annual meeting will be. Top contenders include Destin, Savannah, or Memphis.

And, did I mention, we discuss our investments, too.

iPATience

Anticipation is making me wait! (and making me crazy). When the iPad was announced, I knew I wanted one and placed my order for an iPad 3G on the first day. That seemed logical (and still does), but since WIFI iPads have been available since Saturday and there is still no shipping date for the 3G (sometime in "late April" according to the Apple web site), I'm reliving some of the same feelings I had as I anticipated Christmas as a child.

And to complicate matters, I made the mistake of stopping by the Apple Store today and actually "touching" and "using" an iPad. They almost had to snatch it out of my cold little fingers. And Apple sent the iPad case to me early and so I have an empty case for a few more days/weeks!

Just from my brief involvement with the iPad, I can tell it's great. I've been an Apple customer since 1984 when I worked at the Ringling School of Art and Design and set up the admissions program on a Lisa/Mac and networked other original Macs to the first model LaserWriter. Throughout the years, I've had nothing but Mac computers for my personal use, and even managed to incorporate Macs at the state job as well.

The simplicity of use, the elegance of design, the lack of ongoing problems -- all of these things have made me a big fan. But I don't think I've ever been as excited (or anticipated so much) the iPad. "Anticipation...anticipation is making me wait, is keeping me waiting!"