A friend of Y’s is getting married in Tokyo, so Y and I decided this was a perfect excuse to visit Japan. Since I also had a place on Maui I wanted to use before the end of the year, we decided to make this into a two-week break. Today is the first day, and it’s been a long, long day. 

We woke up just before 7 AM to the chirping of my iPhone. No, not the alarm, the SMS notification that AAPL had dropped to a new 52-week low. That’s one way to get you out of bed the morning you start an expensive vacation.

The morning was spent in gentle paranoia mode: worrying that we’re forgetting some critical item, like, say,  a hotel reservation. Shudder. We checked, double-checked and in a couple of cases triple-checked everything before we piled our luggage into TT’s SUV for the ride to the airport. Thanks TT for waking up early and driving us all the way up there!

Once at the airport, I tried to get us an upgrade; I aimed first for Economy Plus, then for an exit row, finally for just center/aisle instead of center/window seats; at least I was able to travel with at least one leg extended for most of the trip. Next time I do a long-haul, I’m bypassing the really cheap fares and splurging on Economy Plus or Business Class. My back and legs will thank me, no doubt.

Fortunately the twelve-hour flight passed more quickly than I imagined it would. I watched Hancock, X-Files, a couple episodes of Countdown with Keith Olberman and The Rachel Maddow Show, and started reading The Back of the Napkin, a (so far) interesting look at improving our “visual thinking” (that is, sharing information via hand-drawn pictures).

We only slept for an hour or two, so by the time we reached the hotel (the Westin Tokyo) about 8 PM local time, we were exhausted. After unpacking and preparing for the next day (including an awfully expensive and—for me, inedible—snack), we collapsed into the well-named Heavenly bed. (The Westin Tokyo is awesomely beautiful. The lobby is amazing, and the rooms have marble columns. And to think we got it for essentially free via my Starwood membership!)

I’ll eventually have photos and video (thanks to the Flip MinoHD I bought for the trip) soon.

Two years ago a nail embedded itself in my car’s tire. I went to the tire shop around the corner from my house, because they advertised and were close by. They told me I needed to buy two new tires.

I left and went to America’s Tire Company to compare tire prices. They fixed it for free.

Guess which one I went to when I actually needed new tires?

I went back to ATC today to fix another puncture, because it’s their policy to try repairing the hole first, and they’ll do it for free.

This isn’t for customers only. It’s not a first-time-free. It’s pure customer service.

And they have my business for life.

[I expect I'll have a more coherent response to this at some point but for now I just need to get this out.]

Every day we live through history. Every day we see things which haven’t happened before and which may never happen again. Things which simply haven’t happened for a long time. And we’ve never been alive as long as we have right now.

But that history is fleeting. Local. Personal. While some of it may end up in a drab textbook our grandkids must read , most of it will disappear into the vast maw of the mundane.

Not tonight.

This moment will live on for generations. It will affect how we see the world, and how the world sees us. We will remember it like we do the Challenger explosion; or the way our parents remember the Kennedy and King assassinations; the way we now remember the September 11 attacks: We lived through it together, and it immediately became part of our collective history. All of us recognized the moments as important. A few saw them as historical. Either way, we knew those moments would be talked about forever as cultural touchstones: “Where were you when…?”

But this moment has one huge difference: As I recognize the impact of it, I realize that for the first time in my life, I’m experiencing history that is positive. History I’ll recall with joy, not sorrow. History that makes me swell with pride, not cringe in sadness.

President Obama.

In just eleven weeks, I will be saying those words.

One day, my great grandkids will be reading those words, as part of this country’s new history.

They won’t recognize the meaning of it. He will be just another president—and this will be just another moment—they have to learn about, along with Washington and Lincoln; King and September 11. And they won’t understand why it meant so much to this country.

But I will.

Thank you, America.