Ok..It's finally over. I almost feel guilty for saying it. Yep, MacWorld New York 2001 ended today for me when I walked out of the Jacob Javits Center at around 2:00 PM. The reason I say "finally over" is because, well, I guess I'm Macworld-ed out. But don't get me wrong: I enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. I suppose my only complaint with the whole experience was a couple of the sessions that were a little boring.
So, after my first session today, I went upstairs and enjoyed the compliamentary lunch provided everyday to the "Pro" conference people. Then, I headed back out to the exhibits area to Microsoft's booth. My intent was to sit through their demonstration, but not for the explicit reason of learning more about their products. Rather, my goal was to win one of their spiffy prizes from drawing names out of a hat. The prizes included Office:2001 books, an Intellimouse Explorer (laser mouse), and a copy of Office:2001. I don't think I would've sat through the entire schpeal if I didn't have a weird hunch that I was going to win one of those cool prizes. And, when the time came to draw names out, my hunch was correct. I won a new Microsoft Intellimouse. I'd always secretly wanted one, but could never see paying $30 or $40 for one. So, i can't decide whether to keep it or sell it on eBay and get some cashola. It really is a cool mouse, but from my experience playing with Mike and Brian's similar mice, it feels a little uncomfortable to hold anf move.
After leaving the conference, I met Olivia at 11th and 45th and we went over to the Sea, Air, and Space Museum. Those of you who know me know that I don't really like museums that well, but the fact that they had a big ole' aircraft carrier sitting in the middle of New York City interested me. So, we took the walking tour around the the USS Intrepid, an airsraft carrier that has been retired since about 1983. By the time we finished looking around the carrier, I was dead tired. So, we walked back up to our hotel and I took a much-needed three-hour nap. When I woke up, I felt much better.
We walked no less than 10 blocks to find a Taco Bell and had dinner, and then came back to the hotel. We decided to stop on the 8th floor and grab a seat in the little bar area and look out the window and watch traffic and people. After a few minutes of sitting at a little table, a lady came up and (very snottily) asked us if we had figured out what we wanted. I bluffed and told her that we hadn't decided yet. Olivia had gotten a slushy drink at a little shop outside the hotel and brought it in with us. The snotty waitress was quick to tell Olivia (also in what I would consider a very rude fashion) that she needed to put that out of sight. When I picked up the menu, I noticed that their 3grams of caviar was only $65. We decided that it was time to leave. As we left, I thought to myself how similar this was to the resturaunt scene in Ferris Bueller. If only I were the sausage king of Chicago..err, New York.
So, here I sit. Twelve stories up. Watching all of the crazed taxi drivers and limo drivers (all of them named "Geoffrey") honking their horns wildly in an attempt to make traffic move along faster. It's not working.
Tomorrow, we're going to take a look at the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.
Posted by Jeff at July 21, 2001 12:38 AM
Comments
We're thinking that you did not get in to see Dave since you have noy mentioned it since Wed. Have fun with Lady Liberty and the ESB Saturday.
Posted by: Mom and Dad at July 21, 2001 9:34 AM
Glad to hear you got to see a taste of everything New York has to offer... the TGIFridays, the Taco Bell, etc.
hehe.
Sounds like you had a good time overall. I hate when conferences get boring too. But congrats on the mouse! I'd say go for it and keep it. I never have understood why you'd want to sell something you've been looking forward to getting. Bask in it man-- you won it! It's yours! It's in your hands! :) Enjoy it. I don't use mine often because it hurts my hands. But that's just exposing a problem I already have. I don't blame the mouse. It's quite comfortable. --And handy that it's a USB mouse.
If I didn't have a need for the Sony Memory Stick mouse, I'd use mine with my laptop.
Anyhoo- I'm sure you've got lots of exploring to do in NYC. Glad your'e doing the touristy thing. That's important. I used to think it was dumb, but now I'm finding things like museums a lot more interesting. I'd love to see the statue of liberty sometime myself.
Take care J (and Olivia)
Posted by: Brian :) at July 21, 2001 2:48 PM
Just for the record, I did not take a three hour nap. I walked 5th Avenue while he slept. Sheesh..I mean, come all the way to New York to sleep? What was he thinking? :)
