And The Process Officially Begins…

Today began early this morning. Well, at least early for me as I slowly staggered out of bed at 8:00 am. Because of a few issues at the post office yesterday (on top of the fun I was having at the office) I had to get out the door early, stop by the post office, and see if the Saturday morning shift could find the invisible package that eluded the staff yesterday. So, following a few grumbles from my wife for my alarm cyclically sounding, I was out the door with plans to meet her at Barnes & Noble in Montgomeryville for our weekend activity, our regularly scheduled program.

Surprisingly, when I got to the empty post office, there wasn’t a single issue getting the mail as somehow overnight the packages had rematerialized. With mail in hand I headed across the street to the lodge and got the couple hours of work done that was about a week overdue at this point. Still, it didn’t take as long as I was expecting so I was on the road and heading north with about an hour to make the 30 minute drive. Thirty minutes if I didn’t miss the turn(s) and the large bookstore in front of me. With that said, I was still about 10 minutes early.

After grabbing a quick coffee and a horrendous quiche (never again) we made our way to the first apartment on the list where my mother in law was waiting to show us the space. It has been over two years since we last seriously did some apartment shopping and I can’t say that I missed the process. While I do enjoy seeing the different spaces and attempting to envision how it might work for us, it is still a lot of effort with no guaranteed outcome.

We saw four places throughout the day. The first was the second floor of a duplex situated next to a library with a young owner living on the first floor who seemed to be in over his head. While it is more space than we have now you could tell that it was the second story of a converted single family home. On top of that it was a little way from the main road so, while a decent start, it wouldn’t work for us.

The second stop was at a single family home in the next town over. It was a quirky little house with double the space of our current apartment (including an extra half bathroom) but there were a few things that didn’t really work for us. First and foremost, there was a commuter SEPTA line running right behind the house (maybe 10 feet away) and, like I said, the amount of usable space was far less than the square footage due to low ceilings and odd walls. The property was also much further from the highway. If it were in a different location it would have been perfect but, as it stands, it doesn’t work. Next.

The final two stops of the day were in the same development. Both apartments were mirror images of one another with the first stop having not been updated in some time with the second seeming like there were newer fixtures but still dated. The second was, overall, in better shape but it was also more expensive and the previous occupant had a cat which does not bode well for my wife’s allergies. The first apartment of the two, while it had a few issues, is a great space for what we need. With 50% more space than our current rental, faux hardwood floors throughout, and all the ancillary aspects that we have in our current building this place was clearly our first choice and the one we will pursue a bit further. Clearly it wasn’t my mother in law’s choice but it was the decision that my wife and I made and we will see how things progress.

After a few hours, it was time to call it a day so we all went out for a late lunch and discussed what we liked, what we didn’t, and the things that we would like to see in future showings. The quick lunch behind us, we headed back out into the rain and headed in three different directions. I guess we will just have to wait and see how things progress on this front over the next month. I will keep you posted and hopefully have a few pictures the next time around.

Musings About Mobile Monday

Yesterday was a long day but, fortunately, it didn’t feel like a case of the Mondays. It wasn’t about what had to be done at the office it was simply being out of the apartment for so long and all for business purposes. A day that began at the office ended at a Mobile Monday Conference in Philadelphia (right next to 30^th Street Station at the Cira Centre).

With the exception of running around like a mad man right before leaving the office, testing the limitations of the speed limit on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and having my patience tested when I missed the earlier train from Wynnewood by a matter of seconds, it was a great night that offered a lot of insight into the future of mobile in retail. Having recently delved into this space head first with my clothes on last month it really is a fascinating field and one that was interesting to hear multiple perspectives on during this event. It’s always fun to wade around in a pool of ideas.

During the evening it was also nice to simply get out and talk to people whom I may not have had the chance to meet during the usual course of my day. Of course, it was also an opportunity to run into a few people that I normally don’t run into during business hours including a fellow Rotarian whom I have met on a few other occasions at Rotary events along the main line. I guess if you get out and meet enough people you are bound to have some overlap here and there.

While meeting people is a great part of any gathering, the event really is only as good as the subject matter and speakers. The speakers may have seemed a bit dry to some but I found the discussion and audience interaction fascinating and the statistics definitely give you something to think about. Of course, leave it to me to be distracted by the fact that the panel moderator looked a lot like Robert Sean Leonard (Wilson from the television show House).

The idea of mobile in retail was not just something that got me thinking about the current applications and future implications (especially with the recent death null of Blockbuster) but it all got me thinking about how much things have changed in the short span of my own life. What once was advanced to play Oregon Trail on a green screen is not HD and 3D televisions and virtual gaming; what once involved taking an imprint of your charge card at the register is not a simple app that allows you to order ahead of time and pay with your phone.

It really is an amazing transformation that we have gone through in the last 20-30 year. Heck, even over the past 5-10 years. It makes me wonder what could be around the corner; what could be the next big breakthrough in technology. But, I think the main questions to be considered are whether the current technology (mobile retail included) is making our lives better/easier and whether the next step forward will, effectively building on the current innovations, will improve our lives or exacerbate our problems?

Day and Dusk Meditation

I have spent the last few days looking over all the pictures that I have taken over the summer. Some are pretty good and, overall, I am happy with the way they came out. Others not so much. Taking a second look this morning there were a couple of the photos that stood out from the rest. Not because they were anything special individually (the same can be said for all the photos I have taken) but because I happened to take the same photo twice without noticing it until now.

The first time I reached for my cell phone I was focused on the red rust of the beams and the angles of the wires as they stretched along the train tracks that run behind our apartment building. I always find angular patterned and geometric scenes interesting. It was early in the day and, as I recall, one of the few clear days we had in some time so I took the shot and I was pretty happy with how it came out. It was just one of those times when it was one spontaneous picture with my iPhone.

Months passed when I found myself in the same exact spot in the parking lot. Walking back from taking the garbage to the dumpster I happened to look up and see the rich colors saturating the sky. As usual, I had my phone on me so I pulled it out and tried to find the right angle where I could get as much of the cloud laced spectrum in frame. As it turns out, I am now looking back and I can see that I was in almost the same exact spot from when I took the first photo.

Making this discovery now instead of weeks or months ago, I have better appreciation of the play between the two photos. Perspective is everything in life. Sometimes you can see the big picture, the sky burning at dusk, while other times your focus is on the things that are much closer to you, things you can touch and understand like the structure that surrounds the SEPTA line. It is all a matter of perspective and time.

If you take the time to see not only what is in front of you but what awaits you just behind it allows you to be open to what G-d has in store for you and the beauty that the future brings beyond the confines of your immediate surroundings. Give it time and things will change for the better. Life isn’t always cold rusted steel in front of a cool pale blue. There is fire on the horizon that no matter how brief the colors may flow through the sky, it is a brilliant sight to behold and one that change your perspective for the following day. It is the fleeting, but also cyclical, beauty of this life and this world that elevates the sometimes monotonous tasks of our everyday lives. It is the daily gift that is waiting for us if we open our eyes and look to the horizon for hope.