Being a true geek, I photographed the unboxing of my newest, most expensive possession. Unwrapping each cable was an intricate ritual. I saved the best for last, unwrapping the impossibly light aluminum monolith almost obscenely.

I put it on the desk in front of me, almost afraid to touch it, marring the beauty like a five year old stomping through freshly fallen snow.

But this pinnacle of technological design feeds off of love, so I carressed the lid, feeling the cool metal beneath my fingers before snapping another picture.

My MacBook Pro had arrived.

Of course, I soon got down to the business of using this Divine Device, copying some data over, installing a few programs. The Apple advertising department was spot on- the thing Just Works. And ooohhhhhh, this thing is a dream to type on- it's like each key is a puffy storm cloud.

I had barely had time to play with it before the boss came into the office, where he spent the next four hours with me, having me sift through hundreds of digital pictures from his camera.

A friend and fellow member of his Club (Think 'Loyal Order of the Water Buffalo's' from 'The Flintstones') had passed away awhile ago, and he wanted to find all the pics of him for an anniversary tribute. It all made perfect sense. Organize photos, and touch em' up a bit? iPhoto!

After that was taken care of, he wanted to know if I could make some sort of Slideshow out of it. I used the included remote control to activate Front Room, went to Pictures, and Boom- instant slideshow, with music to boot. I toyed around with it and got it to play "I will remember you" by Sara Mclaughlin

So after that, he gave me twenty minutes to get ready for a fancy dinner party at the Club, where I used a DVI cable I had lying around to hook it up and play the Slideshow on a TV. Big hit, and I got a free gourmet dinner for my 'troubles'. And there was an open bar! I even chatted a bit with a cute waitress.

Yeah, I could have done the same thing with my old PC. But it's like this is what the Mac was BUILT for. It felt like I partook in fulfilling this machine's DESTINY, a destiny that would shape humanity for eons to come!

Well, maybe that's a little crazy- such is the Gift and 'Curse' of being a Mac Owner.

It's not all roses, of course. I get the internet in my room thanks to a PCMCIA Sprint broadband card. The PCMCIA slot is old tech, so the MacBook comes equipped with the newer ExpressCard slot that's smaller, faster, and incompatible with older cards.

It's very new. So new, there's not that many cards for it yet. The closest solution at the moment is a USB version that I could 'upgrade' too, but since I haven't quite had my broadband card for a year yet, I'd have to pay a premium for it. Plus Apple hasn't released any drivers for it, so I'd have to go third party.

I'm looking into other solutions. There are tons of wireless signals around, all with WEP keys (Passworded, basically). So, maybe I can sweet talk someone into letting me into their little network.

There are illegal alternatives, of course, but I'd never do anything like that.

'Till than, I'm satisfied to just learn the ins and outs of OS X. I'm learning a lot of keyboard shortcuts, and even venturing into the Terminal thanks to some nicely written tutorials.

This was money well spent, I believe.

And this thing is so freakin' quiet. My old laptop is like a leaf blower by comparison.

K, enough Mac zealotry for now. There's actually some non-Apple related stuff going on in my life, but I'll save that for next entry since I'm sure everyone has stopped reading by now.