Black Friday 2005... a day of victory

A few weeks before Thanksgiving I started scoping out the black friday ad sites; fatwallet.com, and bfads.net being my two major sources of information. I originally thought that I may drop a wad of cash on a projection TV like the one my grandparents recently bought, a 52" HD Sony (I think). I'd heard talk that they'd be under a grand, and that sounded like an excellent deal, though it might take my savings down a notch. I rationalized that I should start spending my money according to what I enjoy the most and what I spend the most time on, so I decided to scrap the whole plan altogether and buy a golden toilet. Just kidding :).

After considering the projection screen idea I thought it was the right thing to do. However, after our recent visit to Dallas to see my grandparents new TV, I realized that it's just too honking huge (that's right, I said honking). I had to look elsewhere for idears. After much deliberation and consultation with my personal psychic, I decided to scour the ads for a projector.

With the new idea rattling around in my head I set out to find a projector and found just what I was looking for at Best Buy, a Toshiba TDP-S26U DLP Projector ($450 after $350 in rebates). According to their ad, they opened at 5 and had a minimum quantity of 2 on hand. *Cue heroic music* Odds against me, I swallowed my fear and said "Quantities be damned! *music grows louder, cymbals crash* I needs me some sweet projector lovin'!" *music abruptly dies* and returned to the twinkie I was eating. I made plans to borrow my parents' CRV (in case the projector was sold out and I had to buy a projection screen :)) and arrive at 4:00 AM.

Sure enough, when Black Friday rolled around, I managed to drag myself out of bed (15 minutes late), put on my old-lady-punching gloves™ and head out to the Shreveport Best Buy.

When I got there at 4:30 AM I was 200 yards (yes, yards) away from the front door. People had been there camping out since 8 o'clock the day before. I could see across to Chick-Fil-A, where people had also been camped out to be one of the first 20 people who would receive free food for a year. I could see Circuit City, where a mere 5 minutes later the crowd would break down the doors and be swarmed by police (seriously happened). Things were crazy.

When 5 O'clock rolled around people were allowed in 25 at a time. I was herded in with a bunch of heavily perfumed housewives and overzealous dads. The herd was moving to the back of the store where the TV's are on display, so I followed them to the back and got in the line... which I could now see was weaved in and out of every aisle from the far back (where the TV's are) to the very front (where the Geek Squad checkout lanes are). I thought I had no chance (if you don't see it coming...).

I stood around, slowly weaving through each aisle for three hours, and in the meantime managed to pick up a video card and a game for half off each (I really did hate myself for not finding anything for anyone else... but that's for my therapist to hear about). I finally got out of there just before 8:00, projector in hand. I'd gotten the second to last projector, with the last projector going to the indian guys right behind me.

I left giddy, one step closer to my goal of never returning to a sticky, black teenager-filled, over-crowded theater. My DVD collection has been steadily growing, however crappy most of the DVD's may be, and now I have the projector. Once I get the cables and a decent speaker system... I will be good for another 10 years or so (I concede I will have to buy a bulb or two in that period).

So, here's what you've all been waiting for - the glorious photos. You'll see Office Space here, on a 92" screen. It's magnificent.