Apples on the Road

I am so lucky to have just gotten the Mobile broadband card from Sprint when I did!!

In the past preparing to leave for a trip of 2 months would have entailed making sure you had organised everything at home so that you could be away for several weeks. You might be busily writing lists of who you need to speak to before you go, organising your finances so that you had money for the trip and pay the bills at home, making sure you pet-care is adequate etc etc.

Not so in this New World..........

It began to dawn on me as I have been preparing to leave for New York in 4 days time...... oh this is different. I don't have to sort finance anymore than to have a linked PayPal account, I don't need to say my last good-byes to the lodgers as I will see them on iChat not long after I land in the States, I don't have to worry about what might come in the post because, Vic and David - the lodgers will just scan our post in everyday and upload it to my .Mac Account!! Superb!!

But most of all... I have never really contemplated an extended trip anywhere because I have dogs!! And I would find it very difficult to be away from my dogs for so long. (Don't worry - they are awaiting their Pets Passport!!) However, this time of course I will still be able to see them and hear them. I can check out in real time how their health is and actually see them as they go about their lives.

So for this trip, rather than put "this life" on hold for 2 months I just need to press a couple of links and it's all organised - here and there!!

And of course, there is also the people that are left at home. Now, instead of worrying if you are ok or not having any idea of where you are or what you are doing... there is iChat. Via iChat or Skype, our loved ones can share the trip with you and know what you are doing and that you are safe. You can send back data and information in real time as it happens.

Ummm... did I say that I think this technology is changing the world.

Well it has certainly changed my world. I have a completely different perspective about this planet now compared to even 2 years ago. Going to the USA would have seemed like something other people did - not me! The whole world now seems close and accessible, first through a video cam and then in reality! And the absolute wonder of this is that all you need is a computer a microphone, speakers, a web cam and a broadband connection....... the rest is free. The calls/connection over iChat is free!!



Who and where will be next after the US? Is it you and your home - where did you say it was in the world?

Our individual roads are going to converge very quickly. The two apples, Alix and I, are soon to meet in the USA!

Here is a picture of me on my first mobile trip for Apples on the Road!

The trip was from the store where Johanna bought the USB modem until we lost connection.

I videoed the trip and the video below is what I saw through my MacBook screen in Scotland.

This is amazing technology! It really is both mind blowing and revolutionary!

I mean....... think about it........ here I am in Scotland, driving down roads on the east coast of America...... - in real time - 3333 miles away.

So ok....... not so amazing for CNN or the BBC to achieve with all their resources........ but this is us.... two 50 odd year old woman each with a personal computer achieving connection and communication that 10 years ago was pretty impossible for anyone or any organisation, and only 5 or 6 years ago had been achieved only by the major TV stations...... and now...... in June 2008..... with just a couple of Apple MacBooks we have done this!

Now that is revolutionary!!

I'm back in Scotland!! I actually only was home (in NJ ) for 2 weeks,yet it felt as though I was away for much longer.

I learned a new phrase while I was here..to get something "sorted"....It is pronounced more like "sawrt-ed" and is used to convey getting something fixed, or arranged.and that was what I did when I was home. It felt wonderful to see my friends and my dogs, and to plan my return...and I could hardly wait to come back again.

While I was home, Alix set up both of her computers as as well as both of mine so that we could not only keep in touch with my friends in the US but also so that I could see into my house. Though it specifically watches the room with my desktop iMac computer, it allows me to hear my dogs.

It was so much fun watching her via my laptop, as she spent the day figuring out how to have my computer automatically open its video at our invitation from the UK. I went out shopping for gifts to bring back as well as some neccessary items for home. I left my laptop on my kitchen counter, facing my door. It was delightful to check in and say hi as I walked back and forth doing my fussing (scottish term is fettling) as well as having her there to say hello and welcome me home as I came in the door! It was like she was sitting in my kitchen with me, working alongside me to help me get ready to visit her.

Again, we delighted and were awed all over again, knowing that she was 3.333 miles away, setting up a computer in NJ, so that when I was in Scotland I could feel at home!
We are consistently amazed at the incredible capabilities these Apple Macs have and give us! By the time I was up in the air, Alix had created the links so that we also could activate our sharing and video to home as well as laptops, wherever we were! EXCELLENT!

The trip was fun. I was flying into Manchester UK this time, so did not have the change of flights to deal with in Edinburgh.

I love people-watching, and had ample opportunity during my 3 hour time period of waiting for my flight...I am chronically early when I fly!

I enjoy trying to figure out where everyone is from. There was one classic, elderly couple who I really enjoyed observing.

They were of the era when one dressed to travel. She was head to toe in bright red, with matching little red shoes. He had a waistcoat, starched collar and softly wrapped - over shoes, built for the comfort of a man of his age. She had accessorised with gold jewelry galore, and was very perfectly coiffed and made up. He carried a little bag that had books and snacks for both of them, and the polished air and accent of someone who was accustomed to traveling and being in control.

They were in delightful contrast to the tall, pony-tailed man dressed totally in Harley Davidson motorcycle regalia. His leather vest declared his home state as North Carolina. He had his own unique poise... not so much unlike the elderly couple's as one would imagine by the difference in their presentation of themselves.

He too was perfectly accessorised for his world. Some of his leather was polished, other bits were artfully worn-looking. His hair was perfectly twisted in a leather tie, and he had boots that declared him loudly as an American.

The flight itself was made more delightful because of my travel-mates. I had filled my iPod and was prepared to snuggle down for a bit of sleep as I had on my previous flight. This plane was much fuller than the prior one had been so there was no extra room to stretch out in. I am short so I tucked myself in and dozed all curled up in a ball. When I smelled coffee, I cracked open one eye and my lovely seat-mate asked if I was all right. She was somewhat amazed at how I had contorted to get comfortable!

We started to chat. She and her partner were from Liverpool, UK and on their way home after spending 3 weeks in the US, which they had loved!

I told her that Alix, and her (now mine too) friends Julia and Pam were going to be coming over for their first visit at the end of June. She told me to send them her reassurance of how much they would enjoy their visit! Our conversation started to roll all over, collecting topics that ranged from the reputation of Liverpool as the home of the Beatles, to the spiritual connection she had felt in Sedona, AZ. She wasn't at all shy to pull out her photos and I enjoyed a vicarious visit to Joshua Tree. We chatted the whole rest of the trip, which went very quickly. By the time our landing was announced, I was truly delighted at the depth of the connection we had shared. We hugged as we stepped away from the plane and back into our separate realities, acknowledging our time together, and the gift of having been 'well met'.

It was marvelous to race as quickly towards my friends as I could. I saw their faces and grabbed them into the biggest of hugs. I am back in my second home in Scotland......

b

From 3333 miles away!

I am consistently fascinated by the Apple computer... As Alix and I are working, I rerun my internal mental tape how we got to the place of working together. When we initially made contact, the first thrill was that of SEEING each other through the I-cam....not only visualising using a photo..or the combination of a photo and voice, but to be able to see another person's expressions, eyes, laugh...certainly brings them to life so much more completely.

As we chatted....and chatted....and chatted more and more, we began videoing some of our exchanges. It was (and still is) great fun to replay them. We were intending to use bits of the video as part of this project, and still may, although the time spent in reviewing the by now hours worth of footage to pick out what we feel are the gems, is a bit daunting.

We now have a video archive of ourselves and four of our very dear friends as we got to meet, bond through laughter and stories, and connect on very deeply personal levels.

We know that this intimate passage into friendship happens in 'real life' when like minded people are fortunate enough to meet. To experience this happening through the magic of a computer and over a vast physical distance is still mind boggling to us all.

We found ourselves spending more and more time connecting through the computer. Both Alix and I are people who spend a good deal of time online anyway, and it became our 'normal' to video chat as we did other work. Once I upgraded to the Leopard operating system, more and more was possible to do and share together.

I am out and about a good deal, and often in coffee shops with wireless access. I would invite Alix into whatever space I was in, delighting in showing off bits of my day to day American life. Her world is so lovely yet so different than mine. We love the connecting and marveling over the similarities and comparing what was not the same, as well.

Of course, a highlight to us both was when I would have my class at the Apple Store and was able to invite her to watch and comment. It is a 160 mile trek for her to get to an Apple Store.
I am spoiled.. I have two within 20 minutes of my house. Since she is physically in Scotland, and I am in the USA, in NJ, we connect with a 5 hour time difference, which I often forget about since there is such immediacy in our connection.

One of my favourite memory-moments was when I was taking a class, and invited her to video chat, forgetting about that time difference. She was in her bed! I was introducing her to the fascinated Apple staff and she blithely commented that she had never had so many men in her bedroom at once! Her humour spiraled through the store, and another, very immediate friendship-connection between Alix and the wonderful Apple Creative staff was born!

Alix just reminded me of another silly story. It is often late in the evening in Scotland when we connect. Alix and several friends were sitting in her living room cuddling in around her lovely fireplace, chatting with three of us in my living room in New Jersey. As the light waned in Scotland, The NJ crew commented on them needing a bit more light to let us see them clearly. They scurried around, moving furniture and lamps. Without really realising what I was saying , I offered to hand her friend Julia one extra lamp I had here! Time, space, distance... electrical current...all of it had not even occurred to me as I reacted literally as though they were all in the same room as I was., and was about to hand it to her....that's how real the connection had become. It has heightened since then.

We are truly inhabiting an alternate yet very real reality of our own, and Apple's creation.

And so it began...(smile)

It has been a most amazing journey.... In living in the world, connecting with like minded people is a gift I never take for granted.

Several months ago, I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life, and found myself prowling all over the internet, instead of sleeping.... much more fun, anyway, when you never know what lay behind that next web site. I was reading emails on one of the lists that I particularly enjoy, and found myself connecting with the writing of one member of the group, who posted frequently. I consistently read "something" I liked, and when checking out who was writing, it was again that same person. One of the emails had a link to her website... whew... LOTS of her websites. This person, who like me, was ALL over the internet, was interested in spirituality, photography, connecting with people, personal development... and of course, Apple's Macintosh marvels.... She was not only a good writer but quite creative. As I prowled further into discovering her, via her websites, I found myself really liking her...what fun!

Life took over. Two weeks later, my grandfather was very ill and I found myself in a hotel room in upstate New York State. I couldn't sleep and once again connected with yet another of this woman's sites, where she encouraged contact if the reader liked what they read. It was great fun to send a note as I was still reading, and knowing it was going to the United Kingdom....

Sympatico energies, separated by such a great distance felt wonderful.

I received a response very quickly. She seemed happy to hear the positive response I had had to her writing, and after a few emails,suggested that we connect via Skype or iChat... what fun! I hadn't done much of that before, except with my teenage cousin. That evening, I had time again, and we connected via the webcam in our MacBooks. My life has not been the same since!

There she was.... very real, very much more alive than even a voice, or certainly any email could ever be. There were a few moments of incredulousness on my part.. she seemed very comfortable almost immediately. We started talking, discovering who we each were.... and haven't stopped since...

Weeks later, she has been with me almost everywhere I wander! She, Alix, lives in an amazingly beautiful and rural part of Scotland. I live in a suburban, once rural but sadly becoming increasingly metropolitan space, in Southern New Jersey, in the USA.

Distance and differences have disappeared between us, as we explore each other's realities, friend's homes, Apple Stores, and relationships. We have had space disappear and a deep and incredible friendship take over. As I write, we are writing this together, literally together through the magic of Apple's screen sharing capability, although we are sitting 3,333 miles and 5 hours (in different time zones) apart. We share the time zones as much as humanly possible, me getting up at 4 AM and Alix not getting to sleep until 4 am her time.. so that we can maximize our time and work together.

We are forming a company to promote personal development, a passion we share, and have passionately determined to share our lives with all of the people we can show what a magical vehicle Apple has given us, to transcend time, difference, distance, culture, and energy.

We would like to share our travels and experiences with you and include you in our wanderings.

Watch for us.. we may be in the Apple store as you have your One To One session..... and hear laughter coming out of the computer sitting on the counter next to yours.

We may be giggling in a coffee shop, or I may be carrying the computer, with Alix as my "Buddy in the Box" seeing the people I am having coffee with.

Watch for us... we may be right next to you.... watching and sharing your amazement at the ability to be together despite what once was seen as imposssible distance.

Thank you Apple..the credit goes to you..now let's see who else we can talk to.....