"It'll make your jaw drop" Steve Jobs

The sun was high and the weather was gorgeous for February in Western Canada.  Nothing out of the ordinary had happened.  A typical Wednesday…work, get snapped at by the boss, fake smile, work out, back to work…but then it all went awry.

I opened the door to freedom and began hurriedly walking towards my car.  Gym bag and purse over one shoulder, keys dangling expectantly from my finger, phone & iPod clutched in my hand.

Then it happened.  It was like the sky opened and a Godly force came and struck me from above.  Everything changed in that instant.  My heavy gym bag pulled me to the ground as I slipped, the contents of my purse spilled dramatically onto the frosted concrete…then time slowed. 

I felt it happen before I saw it happen.  I heard the crack in my mind before the sound registered in my ears.  My fourth generation iPod touch…my calendar, my camera, my boombox, my internet browser… fell. 

I picked it up as quickly as I good, hoping the 5 second rule would apply and it wouldn’t be broken if I got to it quickly enough.  I was wrong.  The screen had shattered starting in the corner and spider webbed it’s way to the middle. 

My first thought was, “It’s just snow.”

My second thought was, “This is a nightmare…wake up!”

Then reality.  “This just happened.  The most valuable, compact, dependable product I own is ruined.”

I blindly walked to my car and in an emotional black out, I started the engine.  I don’t remember driving home that night.

Upon wiping the tears from eyes and telling myself, “I can get it fixed” I tested it for functionality. 

How relieved was I to find out that I could still play Words with Friends!  That my music was still there!  My calendar was still full!  I could still take too many photos of my cats and post them ALL to Instagram!

I turned, went outside, and beamed to the sky.  The God that I had so previously shunned had smiled upon me!  The cosmetic damage to my iPod was tragic…She was going to be disfigured forever; but Her innards, Her guts…they were still going!

I spent the next few days online trying to find a credible repairperson that could replace my screen promptly.  I found very little.  All the reliable businesses in Calgary charged less than impressive fees to fix the screen and wanted to have my precious iPod in their possession for 3-5 business days.  So I made the decision to get a very good quality case to prevent the shatter from spreading, and to budget carefully for the next few months until I could afford an iPhone.

I am telling you this story, with added dramatic flare for a reason.  Saturday mornings are my favorite time of the week.  I catch up on my TV from the week, drink a pot of coffee, reorganize my playlists, edit some photos on my macbook Pro, catch up on celebrity gossip while facetiming with my out of town friend, and rejuvenate myself from a stressful week.

This Saturday (today) was different.  I woke up disgruntled from a restless sleep, the coffee was awful, and my cats were sick.  I was ready for a terrible day.  I was angry, anxious, and ready to go throw some air punches at the gym so I looked tougher than I felt.

But, I drank my terrible coffee, hoisted my cats on to the couch, turned on my shows from the week, and opened my macbook Pro.

Everything changed.

Upon plugging in my iPod syncing cord, I felt in control.

I looked past Her shattered screen and scratched back and revaluated what was in side Her.

When iTunes launched I felt that the possibilities were endless.

My photos synced to iPhoto and seamlessly loaded themselves into my album “iPod Photos = Daily Appreciation for the Beautiful.”

Genius started searching songs I should buy based on what I already had in my collection.

My iPod BINGED with delight as my worthy opponent made a fatal move in Words With Friends.

I took a sip of coffee, and then I began.

I furiously started entering songs into YouTube for a lengthy preview, I loaded pictures into Color Splash and Photo Lite to make them come alive, I caught up on my news, my gossip, and my fashion trends of the week.

About an hour into my process, it clicked. 

No matter how little I slept or how sick my furry four legged friends were, my dependable, inventive, entertaining Apple products, would ALWAYS cheer me up, allow me to be creative, and help me build playlists for the gym called “Air punch, kick, run faster” without being judgmental.

So, thank you Apple.  Thank you for having products that make me smile all the time, work all the time, and make my Saturday mornings lively.  I have decided to skip the risky repair man and visit an Apple store for a suggestion on how to repair, replace, or upgrade my much loved, much needed, 4^th generation iPod touch.