It's been 1 Year 6 Months 1 Week and 1 Day

Seeing Crystal's eyes light up when she got her iPhone got me thinking. Watching her pull up directions to random places she wasn't going to and waiting for YouTube videos to load reminded me of watching my nephew Muneer play with his new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure. It only took him 3 hours before he snapped off Donatello's skate-board attachment and it wound up in his bin of seldomly-used toys.

But surely the iPhone is different. I know it is like the coolest thing in the world, but did I really need one? After my last few experiences buying fancy new expensive electronics, I came to conclusion that attachment to possessions can only result in suffering. Actually I think I came to that conclusion during meditation.

I remember being listening to Noah Levine's dharma talk about the Four Noble Truths and and the joy that comes from non-attachment to things. Then I remember him excitedly showing me his new iPhone and the protective case he had for it that would keep it in scratch-free. But Noah seemed to be good at appreciating the phone for what it was, without tying his own happiness to that material object.

Last night, our newest roommate Clay finally got his own iPhone up and running. "Has it changed your life?" I asked him? "Yeah, I'm less happy now" he replied and then broke into a huge grin letting me know that he wasn't really. It's not that I begrudge Clay and his iPhone but I wonder how the guy crashing in our garage and working at the pizza joint can justify dropping the beaucoup bucks on an iPhone and I still can't bring myself to do it. I mean, I am a highly-paid engineer who works on mobile internet applications after all, if anyone should have one it should be me!

I remember when I got my RAZR a year and a half ago, when it was the coolest thing in the world. And how neat I thought it was for the first month while I played with all the features, until I figured out that the version of iTunes on it really kinda sucked and how annoying the lack of proper Bluetooth support was. Disillusionment crept in quickly. I remember really desiring a LG Chocolate shortly thereafter.

I still use the RAZR, but the top row of buttons have started acting up. And once in a while it doesn't beep when I get a new text message in. But it works for the most part.

Life is kinda like that I guess, you see something awesome that you really want, you work to acquire it, enjoy it for a while, struggle to keep it in good shape, worry about having it stolen, a little time passes and you start all over again with something new.

San Diego has kinda been like that truth be told. I've never been happier anywhere I've lived. I've met a million cool people, some who I know will be friends for life, some I doubt I'll ever see again. I've taken up mountain-biking and yoga and and gotten myself in much better shape at the same time. I found a good job working on stuff I actually enjoy and my boss is really cool. I've rekindled my passion for finely cooked meals. I'm trying to learn to surf and speak Portuguese and all sorts of other random stuff I think is neat-0...

But

There's always this nagging feeling. Last night, Hetal the cool Indian dude from NYC that I ran into on the bus to Bangkok messaged me from Phnom Phen. "It's great!" he told me excitedly. Food awesome, super cheap, people friendly, way better than Thailand! He's getting a job out there and going to stay for a while he said, I made sure to get an invite to crash on his couch and an offer to show me around.

And I started to think. I would have to make sure to not activate my iPhone through AT&T and instead install the latest Jailbreak hack to make sure I can get it on whatever cell network they use over there. I'm guessing there's a way to have material possessions without attaching to them, without letting them be the cause of your suffering, but instead accepting them as things that provide you with some temporary measure of utility...I'm sure that exists. For now I'm in San Diego and I'm content, but in the back of my mind I know I can have my shit packed and ready to hop on a plane within 24 hours.

We shall see what happens I suppose.