Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Burnin' Down The House

Just a quick public service announcement:

Hot pads, though good at repelling heat, do have their limits. For example, let's say you were cooking some hypothetical ravioli, and hadn't turned off the burner the water was on. Now, let's say you took some garlic bread out of the oven, and set the cookie sheet on a hot pad on said burner.

The result, sadly, is a fair amount of smoke, a burnt smell through half the house that lasts a few days, and a very blackened, unusable hot pad.

Next time we're getting one made of asbestos.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

A Wii-ly Long Story

(aka, the legend of the back-up gift)

In a world where Christmas gifts were impossible to find...

So, my original Christmas gift idea for Meredith fell through. I can't say what it is, because I may try it again for her birthday in April. However, she had commented that the new Nintendo Wii looked really fun. I sprang into action (2 weeks before Christmas) to try and find one. I registered on inventory tracking sites, called every store within literally 100 miles, and had no luck at all.

About three days before Christmas, I found out the Wal-Mart near my work had been receiving a couple per day around noon. So, one day I took my lunch to stalk the electronics department. They notified me that I wasn't allowed to form a line - I'd have to wander the store. After reading the back of every DVD in their store, the shipment finally arrived. No Wii.

That was the last real chance to find one by Christmas, though I kept trying. My back-up-back-up gift became a new vacuum cleaner, which did go over well. But the search had not ended. I did get Meredith a game for it that I could wrap for Christmas, so she would at least know I tried.

Since Christmas, I've been tracking sites and calling almost every day, with no luck. One day, I called Wal-Mart again, only to hear that they sold the last one half an hour before my call.

Yesterday, I saw a rumor that an EB Games store nearby had a handful in stock. I called and talked to an employee there, who said they never have them in the mornings. Sadly, I turned back to my work for a few hours. But during my lunch, I saw another posting that someone had bought one at an EB. I called the same store back, and was told that they had gotten a shipment, but were out already. All this happened in a span of four hours.

Frantically, I called down the list of EB/GameStop stores all around town, only to hear: "No", "No", "No", "No". And then "Yeah, I've got two left." I didn't know what to say, other than "Can you hold one for me?". That got me another "No." So, I plugged the address into Google Maps and found that the store in question was only 2 miles or so from where I work. I told my coworkers I needed to run an errand, dashed down to my car, and flew out of the parking lot.

Red light. Okay, turning left onto a main road. Red light. I'm generally a very patient driver, but not this time. I tried to see around the vans in front of me, to no avail. Without thinking clearly enough to realize there was a much faster way, I had no choice but to go through light after light after light. Finally, I came to the area in which the store was supposed to be located. Frantically looking around, I pulled into the biggest strip mall I could find, in hopes that it was hidden there somewhere. My efforts were rewarded as I turned into the parking lot...

Only to find myself behind a bus. I waited for it to turn, then found my way across the lot to the store. I grabbed a nearby parking spot, locked my doors and jogged to the store, and the door was held for me by a nice gentleman. Holding a bag. Containing a Wii.

I looked to the worker - the two of us the only people now in the store. "Tell me that wasn't the last one", I begged. He nodded sadly. "Yeah, I think it was." All I could say was "You're kidding me!"

Within twenty minutes of my phone call, the store had sold out. I became convinced I would never find one at that moment.

"Hold on", the store employee said. "Let me double check."

He walked to the back room of the store as I waited nervously. He came back out, shielded by racks of games so I couldn't see his arms.

"This is your lucky day."

I broke out in a smile. "Thank you so much!", I said happily.

"How much are you willing to pay for it?", he asked.

I froze, so nervous that I didn't even realize he was kidding for a few seconds. He rang up my sale, and my search was at an end.