Davidt1 said:
Although this year's BF sales suck, many people still brave the long, cold night for that bargain. Out of curiosity, I drove by my local Fry's, BB and CC at 10:00PM. There were already hundreds of people in line at each store. These folks endure long hours and risk getting sick in the process just to save a few bucks. It's amazing how we have become slaves to things we own or want to own.
I wasn't one who waited out in the cold, but my wife did talk me into getting up early to hit a few stores. I dropped her off at a Kohls, and took off myself to do some bargain shopping.
Circuit City and BB were madhouses early this morning. The parking lots were full. I wanted to hit Staples to get a few things for the pc - and possibly strike a big LCD or laptop, but the line was a hundred feet long.
Walmart was open and being next door, I thought I'd head in. The lines weren't bad, and people were actually sane. We didn't plan on shoppnig at Walmart, so I didn't have an agenda. I grabbed an ad, and picked up a dozen things from their early bird sale. EVERYTHING WAS IN STOCK! Kudos to Walmart! IIRC, I got a H2 Hummer 1:10th scale RC for my son for $20, three sets of Hotwheels cars (20 pack) for $10 each - that's .50 cents a car - nice, two 6.2" dvd players for the kids (on trips) at $49 each, a 10" dvd player that mounts to the headrest for $169 (may return it, the headrests in our Pilot aren't user friendly), and a few toys for my daughter and younger son.
After Walmart, I noticed things had calmed down at Staples, so I went in there, and surprisingly there was still quite a bit left from their early bird sale. I must have picked up a half dozen things in there at rediculous prices. APC battery backup/surge protector at $19, 200 gig internal hard drive $19, and a dvd r/rw internal burner for $19. The guy in front of me got the last two $399 laptops. I hope he has trouble with the rebates (one per household).
Then on I went to pick up the wife at Kohls. She said the place was a madhouse, and couldn't believe Walmart wasn't the same way. We went over to Target, and it was a madhouse. Got a few things there and drove by Circuit City. It had calmed down, so we went in and picked up a few DVD's for $2.99, a 20" LCD Acer monitor for $179 (no where on the entire internet did anyone have one for under $250 - I think it retailed for $350), and a dvd recorder for $57 for the kids so they quit taking over the family room (they hog the HD-DVR). Comp USA was next door, so we thought we'd check to see what they had left. It was probably 8:30am by this point, so we figured everything would have been picked over. We found a 2.4ghz phone for $29 with a digital recorded and two satellite phones, and a 2gig secure digital card for our camera for $24.
All in all, it was about 80% successful. I would have liked to pick up a cheap laptop or pc for myself and daughter, but BB and CC were nuts and those went quick for those pulling an all nighter. The cheaper 19" LCD's went quick, but the 20" Acer I purchased has a 3yr labor/material warranty, so it's probably worth the extra cash. Plus the resolution on this thing is outstanding.
I'm tired. Going to watch the rest of the LSU/Arkansas game and down a few Yuengling beers. Happy holidays folks. Now to payoff this credit card bill. Thank goodness the roofing business is way up from the recent hail storm.
