Man wasn’t meant, I’m convinced, to venture outside in this kind of heat. We apparently broke a long standing record today - 108 freaking degrees! Too damn hot!

On the other hand, we should probably be grateful. We could be stationed in Iraq in 130 degrees, wearing 40 pounds of gear and a helmet. 108? That’s refreshing by comparison, a walk in the park for our military guys stationed in the Middle East. So quitcherbitchin’, Doug! (Image via John at  RT Rider)

Grandson Dakota went kayaking with his mom July 4th on Lake Natoma. Looks like he’s racing his reflection. Wonder who won? Man, he’s growing up into such a fine young man. Ya’ can’t help but be proud!

I’ve spent a good deal of time, I suppose, trying to get the new blog off the ground. Maybe a little too much time. I ran across this old ‘toon which struck home, so I think I’ll be devoting a little less time to the learning curve and a little more time to fun with wifey…

We’ll be leaving on vacation Saturday with wifey’s sister and b-i-l (visiting from Chicago) to introduce them to Carmel and Yosemite. It’s unlikely I’ll be posting anything while we’re gone. See you in a week or so!

Another of the many things I cherish about our wonderful country is the patriotism Americans proudly and enthusiastically display in celebration of Independence Day. Flags fly as families and friends gather for neighborhood parades and backyard barbecues all across the nation. We’re proud of our heritage and, although our history is comparatively short by world standards, on this day more than any other we embrace and celebrate the birth of our great nation.

One such gathering is the “Fab 40’s 4th of July Parade”. Billed as the oldest continuing neighborhood parade west of the Mississippi, this East Sacramento event has become a tradition with us. Hundreds of neighborhood families get involved, decorating anything with wheels, themselves, their kids and even their dogs! It’s always a fun outing and I always bring a camera. I’ve posted a gallery of 40 images to give you a taste of East Sacramento Americana. Enjoy, and have a wonderful 4th of July. God bless America!

This is my final “official” Patriot’s Journey post for 2007 although I’ll continue to photograph and write about this great land of ours as the mood strikes me. If you’d like to re-read any of my previous “Patriot’s Journey” posts, click on “archives” in the navigation bar on the right, then click on “Patriot’s Journey” and you’ll be directed to all of this year’s related posts. And I’m sure my fellow journeyers, JimK, Scott, Larry, Drumwaster, and Cosmicbabe would appreciate a visit, too. I’ve enjoyed participating in this year’s journey with some terrific bloggers and hope to do it again next year. ‘Til then, God bless America!

Arden Faire Mall is just up the street from our office so, Friday after work, Dawn and I dropped by the Apple Store to see how the scheduled 6 PM official release of the iPhone was progressing. Sure enough, the “eagers” were gathered en masse, some having claimed their spaces in line the day before. The line stretched as far as I could see, well beyond Macy’s and, as the bewitching hour approached, I thought I’d capture a couple of photos. Enter the white-polo-shirted Apple rent-a-security-guy.

As I raised Dawn’s new pocket Canon to snap a photo of the front outside window of the store, I was accosted by the a.r.s.g telling me I couldn’t take any photos before 6PM. I politely reminded him that I was in a public place, the mall for crissake, and that neither he nor Apple could prevent me from taking pictures outside the store. Wrong thing to say to a rent-a-security-guy, I guess. He said that while that might be true, he would simply block my shot. I called him an ass and pointed my camera at the crowd. Once he became bored and moved on, we took our window shot.

The mall manager witnessed the scene and came over to profusely apologize and to assure me that I could take pictures anywhere in the mall, that it was Apple causing the problem. He gave me his business card and I thanked him for his concern.

Following a countdown that rivaled a space shuttle launch, with Channel 3 capturing the event for their news broadcast, the doors opened and Apple employees began metering the number of fans entering the store. I chatted with one happy buyer, Josh, who told me that he’d been in line 18 hours (since midnight) to get his iPhone. He was number 16 in line.

Now, I fully expected eBay to be inundated with marked up iPhones almost immediately. It was. About the only thing that would have had me standing in line for more than, say, an hour would have been the prospect of a huge payoff. And since Apple wisely limited iPhone sales to two per customer, the potential for a really big eBay killing, at least for me, wasn’t there.

Dawn and I were at the mall the following day and stopped by the Apple Store in the hopes of perhaps seeing - and handling - the new uber gadget. The store was crowded but we quickly sidled up to a pair of iPhones and fiddled to our hearts’ content. I’m not so good with crowds (crowdophobic?) so I went outside and struck up a conversation with a guy who’d been in Friday’s line for 12 hours and had returned to buy some accessories (an adapter so he could use alternative earphones - Apple uses a non-standard plug on their earpods - and an acrylic case.) While we chatted, Dawn emerged from the store, a new iPhone in hand! Seems she liked what she saw and, since they still had them in stock, bought one! She amazes me!

Fanboy issues aside, this single device, along with the campaign behind its launch, has again opened my eyes to what can be accomplished with an amazingly intuitive user interface and a terrific marketing plan. Beginning with the bag, the packaging detail is a work of art. And coupled with the intuitive interface and the clever ad campaign, there is absolutely no learning curve. When you pick it up, you can use it. I suspect one of these will join the Cube at the NY MOMA.

Of course, we still have to activate it and I understand there may be some issues doing so. And I’ll, of course, have to upgrade my aging Mac (Damn!) to synch with it…

A nice image by Preston Keres of Donald Rouse and Airman John Yorde making early morning security rounds by the radomes at the Cryptologic Operations Center, Misawa, Japan.

Have a photo you’d like to share? Send it to me.

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Another mashup in search of a caption. Any ideas?