It was an event long in the making.

It was preceded literally years of talking, yearning — lusting even — and planning.

It finally happened on the night of Jan. 6.

I got my iPhone.

This may not seem like a big deal, but if you know how I can obsess over my next big gadget purchase, it was. My friends and loved ones have had to hear me talk endlessly about how much I wanted one, how I hated to leave Verizon for iPhone’s exclusive carrier, AT&T — and how I had to wait for my Verizon contract to be up before I could jump ship.

My growing number of iPhone friends had to put up with endless questions about how this worked, how they felt about that app, whether they would hold it against them if I killed them and took their iPhone. (Many, while sympathetic to my motives, felt that would be something that our friendship could not overcome.)

Well, cyberspace friends, this purchase was worth the wait. I’ve had my new best iFriend for less than 48 hours, and I’ve already downloaded more than 20 free apps and imported more than seven gigs of music. I’ve already used the included headphones to carry on a conversation while I ordered a sandwich at the Subway on Vine Street in Willoughby. (Appologies to those around me — I hated me, too.)

There are slight downsides to this experience, the greatest probably being that I’ve yet to buy a case and am living in absolute fear that I will drop it first. But, to be sure, this is a marriage made in geek heaven.

Which reminds me: Apologies also go to my girlfriend, who’s trying to let me work my way through this gluttonous iPhase. You’ll be back to being the most important thing in my life in a day or two.

A week tops.

— Mark Meszoros