The thing is that I rarely take time for myself because I feel guilty about the cost in time and money. Bonnie insisted that we go ahead and do it this time since we are not under a huge time crunch and it is something I have wanted to do for so long. Navigating through the foothills between Sacramento and San Jose went well, and we arrived to find the Apple logo on all sorts of buildings. It seems that they have really expanded beyond their original campus of years ago.
On their campus they have a company store for visitors to buy Apple merchandise if they want to. They also have the unique opportunity of buying clothing that is Apple branded. They don’t have a huge selection, but these are somewhat unique items that cannot be found at their regular Apple stores. True, I could have easily shopped online with many of the knock off companies and bought some Apple clothing, but I really wanted to see their campus, or as much of it as security would let me see.
Upon arrival, both of our younger kids were grumpy, of course. I ended up having to lug Ethan around and Bonnie was carrying Aeron. At the store, she encouraged me to spend $100. I didn’t want to spend that much because she wanted me to get clothing and such and I still really want a wireless keyboard to use with my iPad. In the end, I found a shirt that I can wear to work, a wallet (it’s really supposed to be for business cards) and an Apple keychain. We also ended up getting Rebekkah a T-shirt for her birthday that is coming up. Bonnie wanted me to buy another t-shirt that reads “I visited the mothership,” but I chose not to do that.
We then went into the front lobby, but they don’t let visitors in without an appointment. They do have this really cool multi-display just past the lobby, however, that shows in real-time the apps being downloaded around the world from the iTunes app store. Bonnie had to use the restroom and the kids were having a meltdown, so we waited outside for her.
She came out to the car grinning like the chesire cat and whispered in my ear that she had something extra special for me. After buckling up Aeron in his car seat she showed me a sticker that demonstrated the proper washing of one’s hands after one has used the facilities. She had stolen the sticker from the restroom for my classroom because she felt that the phrase “employees must debug” was pretty funny and corny enough that I would appreciate it. I did appreciate it, once I had read it twice and finally understood what it said.
As we were leaving in the car, we had a choice to make. Get back on the road like good little boys and girls, or follow Bonnie’s desire and head to San Francisco. As usual, I caved in to her desire hating myself as I was doing it.
An hour later and after a few minor irritations with traffic and such, we parked near fisherman’s wharf. We then headed over to pier 39 where the sea lions come and bask on the floating platforms that the city has decided to set up for them years ago. It was cold and the kids were still complaining, but I was trying to make the best of it and counting the minutes until we could leave. We almost ate a restaurant there that overlooked the sea lions, but decided that their service was to slow and their prices too high. Before leaving, we did manage to stumble across this amazing photography gallery where the artist has been taking nature shots for years with a custom old fashioned camera that shoots with film on an 8 x 10 negative. Yes, I am not kidding, 8 x 10. I don’t even know what would be the equivalent in megapixels if it were digital, but the prints were beyond amazing. We loved several of them but certainly could not afford any of them. They also had a beautiful picture book with all of his work bound in coffee table format, but it was also $200 and not something we can afford.
Then it came time to find our way out of the city. Bonnie bought some clam chowder and sourdough bread for us to enjoy as we searched for a restaurant. We decided it was best to just get out of the city and get back over the bridge into Oakland so that we could more easily find a restaurant and get back on the road for home. Unfortunately, Bonnie and maps are not friends. This is not the first time that the restaurant she chooses is nowhere near the freeway and I am afraid that her impatient husband was really beginning to let his anger and frustration show. After finding that the restaurant she chose was closed, we went across the street to Church’s Chicken and had a nice meal together. By this point it was 9 pm however.
Since I was angry (although I didn’t cuss or flip out) I managed to contain my comment to something like, “It’s my fault too. I caved in to you just like I always do.” Talk about a hateful comment for me to make! Bonnie got really quiet and decided to put her headphones on and listen to her audiobook so that the kids could have the Rear Seat Entertainment system playing the sound to their Harry Potter movie that they had brought along. Because I don’t know Oakland, and my iPhone’s compass doesn’t work well in our car for some reason, I got turned around twice and wasted 20 more minutes before I figured out which street, direction, and freeway entrance to use. By this point, I was positively seething inside. Anger is a really terrible thing that can truly feed on itself while the person who chooses to feed it feels sorry for himself.
Anyway, I stayed angry for far too long (probably an hour and a half, which is for me an eternity) and was finally only able to let go of my anger by thinking about the temple. I realized that if my dear sweet wife and I were in the temple right now, I could not worthily go and stand in the prayer circle with her because I had way too much anger in my heart.
Thoughts of the temple led me to mentally sing inside my mind the lyrics to “A poor wayfaring man of grief.” I only know the words to the first verse, but still it helped me to open my heart to the holy ghost once again. Then, I mentally sang to myself the words to “I Stand All Amazed.” This hymn has always managed to get my heart in the right place and it didn’t fail me again tonight. The chorus has always been dear to my heart. “Oh it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me. Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me.”
After that, I mentally recited all thirteen Articles of Faith, making sure I recited the thirteenth at least three times. It teaches that “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” Yes, there is a cost for choosing to go to San Francisco when we have so much further to travel. It is not Midnight as I write this, and we will likely not be home until 5 AM, but that is okay. The artwork was beautiful, the scenery was also, and it made Bonnie happy. The kids enjoyed seeing the Sea Lions and also going over the Bay bridge.
When we stopped for gas and Bonnie took a turn, at last my heart was healed once again by the Prince of Peace. His Holy Ghost, the comforter, was able to help me let my anger go and I embraced my wife near the gas pump and apologized for my anger. We are whole once more.
