I usually avoid retail stores on Boxing Day like the plague. There's a reason for this. But for certain electronics this year, lilymc and I deemed it Worth It. There was some wavering when we found out Future Shop was opening at Six Bloody O'clock in the Morning, but eventually we were swayed. Shopping on Boxing Day is kind of a contact sport. You get insane people (I have this on the authority of the nice girl who rang up my camera) who wait in line for five hours and then buy a store-brand cordless phone or a DVD or a video console controller. I don't know. We were there for big-ticket items. "Elbows," I said. "They are beneath you," I said. This may seem harsh, but it is the ONLY method of survival.



1 EOS Canon Digital Rebel XT + 2 CF cards + free 2-year service plan = $609.04 (Actual Expenditure with gift cards: $519.04, - $400 to sell old camera to little sister = $119.04).

We went to Future Shop, where the Even Crazier People had been lining up since midnight, apparently, Jesus Tapdancing Christ. We were only in line for about twenty minutes, as the line lengthened even further behind us - it was all the way bast the Italian restaurant and whatever the hell's on the other side, I can't remember. Clear around the next corner of Coquitlam Centre. But I actually found an intelligent salesperson (the camera counter had most of them congregating), with whom I feigned disinterest so that he would offer me a free service plan. It's true, there really are no rules on Boxing Day. Just desperation, madness and the wild. And free service plans.

*fondles camera*

I shall call him Fodder II. ^.^

There was some re-balancing of kharma when we stopped at IHOP between Future Shop and Best Buy (Best Buy didn't open until 9AM, so we had two hours to kill) for breakfast, and realised that we (or rather MY SISTER THE GENIUS) had locked the keys in the car. Fortunately, Middlesis was close by at her boyfriend's house, and came to the rescue with the spare set.

1 ATI HDTV Graphics Card = $99.99 (Actual Expenditure with gift cards: $99.99 - $50.00 = $49.99)

So, Shaw is evil. They're less evil than any of our other local options, but evil nonetheless. They advertised and advertised and wheedled and begged and I finally signed up for the package higher-speed internet - along with 1.5 million other people. Which would be fine, except they never improved their infrastructure to handle the load of 1.5 million customers suddenly in the high-speed lane. Now, digital cable - which we got at about the same time - has an HD signal embedded in it. You can't actually GET HD without an HDTV and the HD box, which Shaw sells for like $700.00, which we were not going to buy. HOWEVER, my monitor does it, and my new card does it, and after all our hit-and-miss internet service and all that crap with the PVR, I'm feeling kinda piratey. HD torrents ahoy! I might not. But I CAN. Anyway, I've had the same TV card for five years (one of the first ones!), it's starting to get picture lines and it doesn't work with the XP Media Centre software, which is really nice software otherwise. Records in DivX AVI.

After Best Buy, where the shopping went lightning-speed and the line was mercifully short, as we were driving away, my sister voiced some doubt: "That was so easy. Now the car's going to explode."

It did not.

1 JYSK Bookcase = $102.04 (Actual Expenditure with gift card: $02.04)

I love gift cards. I've needed a new bookcase for, oh, forever, but I don't like the cheapass particle board Ikea ones, not in the least because they don't move very well. I got a $100.00 gift card for Xmas, and when we arrived at JYSK and were staring up at the bookcase debating whether it would fit in the car disassembled, the saleslady came up and told us there was a 30% off Shop Early sale that was good between 8AM and 10AM. The time when she approached us? 9:57AM.

So I got a new graphics card, an excellent camera, and a bookcase for $180.00 net. And lilymc got a new 19'' monitor and a DVD player for about $100.00. I love gift cards.

Getting up at 5AM on Boxing Day: TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Time to bake. Insane relatives later.