I'm too old to stand out in the cold(or warm for that matter) at 4am
or 5am for a sale, but I happened to be awake at 6am when Staples(of
all places) opened their online doors. On behalf of my mother, I
think I was able to order a TomTom GPS unit for ~$125 with a $20 gift
card thrown in for good measure. My Mom wants to give the GPS unit to
my niece and two nephews(why do I have this vision of three ravenous
wolves tearing apart one little bunny? :-)) This was about the 20th
place that had GPS units on sale, but the first that actually let me
complete the transaction. I think Ritz Camera was the most annoying.
I think they were the ones who wanted delivery info, credit card info,
and your left lung, only to tell you on the last step that your
shopping cart is now empty because the item never really was
available.
The reason I said I think I was able to order was because Staples has
processed items for me in the past only to later say, oops, out of
stock. I'm hoping that won't be the case this time.
Anyway, for those brave souls who ventured out into the Arctic tundra
or even just sat around in their spiderman underoos and shopped
online, I'd love to hear what goodies you came away with. Horror
stories(that will probably make King's "The Mist" pale in comparison)
are truly welcome.
Danny and Judy in Yorktown, VA
PS Concerning GPS units, I was the typical macho guy(in this one
respect only) of never wanting to ask for directions. After Judy had
turned most of my road maps into origami swans(she says they were
really origami shreks) and getting waylaid by roving Amish thugs in
Pennsylvania Dutch country...okay, maybe I just got lost and was tired
of smelling Amish buggy exhaust residue....I decided to give GPS units
a try. The Garmin Nuvi 200W is a great toy. It's kind of creepy
knowing that 3-4 satellites are tracking me, but hey, it helped me get
from the Baltimore suburbs(now roving thugs are a reality here, hey
Omar!) to Herndon, VA in the pitch dark without a single wrong turn in
pitch dark and without once resorting to a paper shrek, er, map. This
may actually take the fun out of trip planning for me. I used to
spend hours checking Google maps, Mapquest, visiting AAA for Triptiks,
etc before every trip. Now I can just get in the car and go.
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