Our daily acquisitions

In a normal day, I normally go shopping for food.  That's about it.  Today I scored the grill and a computer. Big day for acquisitions.

Here's the grill story.  I got a Patio Caddie off Craig's List in September 2007, right about the time we moved into this house.  I love the little Patio Caddie--it's the best grill I've ever used.  I have pretty much worn it out.  I started pricing them online and got sticker shock.  One day I was walking through Home Depot and here was this lonely Patio Caddie marked down to $129.  I think this was about 2-3 weeks ago.  I thought, "Hum...I'd pay $100 for it."  But then my intuition took over and is whispered, "Just be patient and you can get it for less."  Well, I started to check on the Patio Caddie once or twice a week.  It was always in the same spot and always had the same price.  I even toyed with contacting the manager to lowball it for $75.  Once again the intuition took over and gave me the same "be patient" routine.

Today I was out freezing my anatomy off on the Greenbelt.  It was 20 degrees and the windchill was probably zero.  I was bone chilled and went to Wal Mart to warm up--driving home would have taken too long--I was REALLY that cold!  Anyway, after I warmed up (I didn't buy anything) my intuition said, "John, you really oughta go check that grill."  So, I drove over to Home Depot and, lo and behold, they had moved the grill right out beside the big, fat greeter guy.  WOW--I rushed to it and nearly fell over--it was priced at $40, well below what I WOULD have paid!  Immediately, my radar went up and so I checked it out.  Sure enough there was a piece missing.  A key piece--the flame diffuser.  So, I checked the hang tag and it said it was being marked down because it was a "slow mover" and NOT because it was damaged.  So I called the big fat greeter guy over and he said "tough luck," and he pissed me off so I demanded to talk to the manager and at first the big fat greeter guy was gonna shine me off so I raised my voice and REALLY DEMANDED to talk to the manager.  So the big fat greeter guy got on his Buck Rogers radio and called for the manager.  I could tell the manager must have been tipped off about an "irate customer" by the look on his face as he approached "the scene."

I was very cordial and introduced myself and shook his hand and then proceeded to lay out the facts, showing him the evidence.  He agreed with me and said, "You are right, John," and then added, "I called this to the attention of the section manager and told him to order the piece from the vendor.  I guarantee that you will get the piece."  I told him we would be in Arizona by the time the piece arrived and he said, "We will mail it to you at no charge." Gee, I thanked him for his outstanding Customer Service and loaded up the grill and skee-daddled right out of there, of course giving the big fat greeter guy a smug smirk as I departed.  It was a very gratifying trip to Home Depot and, once again, Intuition ROX!

OK, the computer...what can I say....I am hooked on netbooks.  I love the little buggers.  It took me awhile to get it to shake hands with my wireless router but it wasn't all that much of a hassle. Now, I am sitting at the kitchen table happily typing away on these tiny keys.  These little things are so cute!  This one is purple and that's kind of "rad" for an old guy but, what the heck.  One of these days I am going to buy a pink one just so I can watch people's faces.  By Tuesday morning, I will have this puppy totally trick and all tuned up and ready to howl at the moon from the Coeur d'Alene Reort this week.  Just when you thought you might get a blog break, nah, we're taking this puppy for an aero-plane ride.  Saddle up the netbook, Bucky, let's ride!