Yesterday I was up early (hungry cats, an eastern exposure, and waking up around 7 every weekday morning make it difficult to sleep late), and decided to finally go get my bike from Hyde Park. I had locked it up to a signpost about three weeks ago, after moving out of the5509, and hadn’t really had the chance or inclination to get it until yesterday. I figured I would take the 145 Michigan Express to downtown and switch to the trusty 6. And as it so happens, I would have to walk a few blocks between them. Down Michigan Avenue. Where the Midwest’s flagship Apple store is located.

Naturally, I stopped in; there were throngs of people surrounding the two iPhone display tables. I waited like everyone else, and finally someone relinquished one. I got my iPod out for comparison. The iPhone is slightly taller than the 5th generation iPod, but not quite as wide. It is no thicker than an iPod. I was kind of shocked by this; even though I knew the specs before seeing it, the pictures on the internet make it look so much bigger. This is in large part due to the extremely high resolution screen. The buttons are so crisp and clear in pictures that they look like they must be huge. In fact, they’re pretty small.

Everything worked as advertised. Flicking things around the screen is extremely gratifying, and easy to control with a relatively high degree of finesse. Small flick? It’s like pressing the spacebar on a Mac, which takes you down a single page. Giant flick? Quickly scrolls all the way to the bottom of whatever page you’re on. YouTube videos looked great. It was fun dragging Google Maps around. I wish I had one.

But I don’t. The moment that thought crossed my mind, I docked the iPhone (much to the delight of the next person waiting to play with one) and got out of the store. Got on the 6 (I HATE that fucking bus. I am so spoiled living next to the 135/145/146/151/156). Got off the 6. My bike wasn’t stolen! Got on my bike. See illustration.

Me on bike 

+

Adverse weather conditions

=

Pain and style

The bike ride was rather insane. The weather was great (except for the high wind that I was riding into the entire way). With such a perfect day, the bike path was unbelievably crowded. I now know what it feels like to drive in a third world country, where laws are only suggestions, dividing lines aren’t even noticed, and pedestrians roam the streets as if they were minor gods. The chaos was surprisingly manageable, though. Its like some magic force is keeping people from running into each other. The magic force of common sense, perhaps. All told, the ride took about an hour and a half, and now I have a bike again!

I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some chores around the apartment: laundry, dishes (they never end, even with Danny gone for the weekend), playing with the cats and trimming their nails (they’re so complacent in this–it’s amazing), and generally relaxing. Last night, Lars and Dan came over for a while, we played Wii and had some beer, got delicious Joy’s Noodles for dinner, then headed out for half-priced martini night. I had a lot of fun, but the night went too fast. We parted ways, and upon getting home I quickly passed out, only to be incredibly distraught this morning that it was another Monday.