Lean and Mean!
Warning: This is my geeky post.
Several months (a few years?) ago when I first heard about Microsoft’s new Surface, I had written about it with much excitement. Then, when Version 1 shipped, the general reaction appeared to be “meh”. I was sorry to hear that. Then I forgot about it.
I was reminded about it again when a colleague was using the second generation of this device in one of our meetings recently. It looked awesome. He said it was awesome. And I was hooked again.
The timing was right because Version 3 was about to ship. Whatever flaws it had earlier with the design and machine had reportedly been fixed. So, as soon as I could, I pre-ordered it.
This week, I received it – Microsoft Surface Pro 3, and what a sweet, sweet thing it is! The tablet that can replace your laptop. Heck, yes – they got that right!
It is everything I had raved about before I had even set eyes on it. And more.
I don’t need a laptop, I don’t need an iPad (still can’t figure out how to use one for real work!). As I write this using my new Microsoft Surface Pro, I know it’s all I need – it brings both together into one piece of awesomeness.
BTW, in case I need to clarify, I have no affiliation whatsoever with Microsoft; I don’t even own a single share of its stock. I wish I did. And while I admit Bill Gates is my hero, this post has nothing to do with that either. It’s just my happy, geeky side showing off. Are you jealous yet? You will, once you get a chance to touch and feel this lean, mean, bad machine!
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Whoa, Alaska!
I hate cruises. The thought of sharing a floating city with five thousand or more people simply does not appeal.
Nor did my first cruise experience change that sentiment. We were supposedly on the newest, grandest, largest, baddest cruise ship ever built, which would sail the eastern Caribbean seas for a week. The ship was truly over the top, typical of super-size, super-everything America.
By the middle of the cruise, for whatever reason, people began suffering from some kind of gastroenteritis maladies and by the end of the journey most of the passengers had been sick or were well on their way to being sick. I don’t think anyone was spared, including the crew.
So, I swore never to travel that way again.
Until an opportunity to see Alaska by cruise came my way. I made an exception and am tremendously glad I did.
As a further testimonial, I met a woman from Anchorage, Alaska on the cruise, and she told me that this was one of the best ways to see her state.
“Seward’s Folly“, so named because of the large sum of money ($7.2 million!) that the then American U.S. Secretary of State, William H. Seward paid the Russians to purchase Alaska, which became the 49th state of the Union. And possibly the most spectacular state when it comes to nature’s bounty. Absolutely no one thinks it’s a folly now!
If an urban-dwelling, urban-loving person can extol this state’s glorious natural beauty, I can just imagine what the nature freaks think of Alaska. For those who are choosing where to travel, I would definitely consider this as one of the places to see before you die. A must for your bucket list, in fact.
Here are some pictures taken by an amateur that provide a taste of the beauty and the bounty of Alaska –
Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska
Alaskan Sunset
Glacier Bay, Alaska
Simply. Alaska.
A word about cruises…this second cruise changed my mind. I don’t despise cruises any longer. I merely dislike them. The beauty of Alaska balanced out the distaste of being on a humongous, hedonistic floating vessel.
There’s something about the decadence of these cruises that is unhealthy for mind and body. Any longer than seven entire days must truly suck. Also, for those who can’t help but indulge during this journey on a massive, “all-inclusive” boat (unfortunately I’m one of them), a word of caution to you – I’m finding that it’s very easy to start resembling one of those hump back whales you will most likely see on the trip. Fair warning.
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The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 