I am a multitasking, multi-computer person. I have a G4 “Cube” with a 17″ Apple LCD monitor that I use as my “digital hub”–with the help of a LaCie 120 GB “Firewire” external hard drive, an MAudio Quattro 4-channel audio interface, and a Canon flatbed scanner, I use it mostly for image, audio, web and print manipulation (and as the office stereo). I do most of my writing and e-mailing on my G4 PowerBook. And with my usually crap-covered desk, that makes for a severe shortage of workspace–or anywhere to scroll a mouse. (My Windows 2000 server sits at a second workstation in the corner; the monitor is almost never turned on, which tells you how much I've been using Windows lately. My company-issued Compaq laptop….well, I've been meaning to ship that back to the corporate office for a while, as it is currently acting as a bookend.)

In any case, the battle to take back some desk space led me to pick up

Last night, as I was browsing at the Apple store in Towson and my toddler got Cheetos dust on the keyboard of a demo eMac, the junior shopboy came up and asked if I had any questions. I explained that I was pretty up on everything, as I work for ZD. He looked at me in awe. He gushed about how all sorts of interesting people come into the store, like Michael Shrieve (the original Santana drummer)… and me.

Umm….I didn't know what to say to the little sycophant. So I asked him for some replacement rubber feet for my TiBook, grabbed a copy of TaxCut and the iCurve I had been coveting, paid my bill and bid him adieu.

This was almost as disconcerting as when Mike Himowitz told my wife I was one of the smartest guys he knew. I don't even know how to process those kinds of messages. My self-image just isn't compatible with them.