6:15 a.m. - "ahh Friday..." I wake up, take a shower, and I'm feeling very excited about getting through work and running to the store to pick up a shiny new 64 GB 3G AT&T iPad 2. Although I can't get off of work earlier than 5:00 p.m. I'm very confident because so many different stores are selling it.
12:30 p.m. - Lunch time... I decide to drive around and plan my route for 5:00 p.m. Once I leave work I will go to the AT&T store first because it is the closest, if they don't have it I will spin around to Best Buy (about 10 minutes away)... if they don't have it, Target is in the same plaza... if they don't have it Walmart is 2 blocks away... if they don't have it another AT&T Store is about 30 minutes away... if they don't have it another Walmart is 10 more minutes away... if they don't have it... I'm fucked.
4:00 p.m. - I'm getting quite antsy... one hour remaining... I can't focus on work... I can't stop watching the clock slowly tick down.
4:45 p.m. - I'm cleaning my desk and getting everything ready for a quick exit. I talk to my co-worker and ask if there's anything I can help him with before I go, thankfully the answer was 'no.'
4:55 p.m. - Ugh... the phone rings... I have to talk to one of our drivers (I work at a trucking company,) and give him directions... I hurry through the directions and hang up with seconds to spare before it's time to run out of there.
5:01 p.m. - I finally slink away from my co-workers and head into a speed-walk toward my car... I throw my bag into the passenger seat, start up my car and I'm off like a flash.
5:09 p.m. - Arriving at the AT&T Store, which is in a mall-plaza, I notice that it is not extremely crowded and I see no line nor do I see anybody walking around with iPad boxes or even AT&T bags with large square boxes in them... This reassured me at first that there weren't many people interested in iPad 2, but now I have the horrible sensation that I might have missed it and in a sense it feels like a ghost town.
Going into the store, there is only one other customer there... very weird, I thought... I walk up to one of the clerks who is readily available and ask about the iPad 2... he tells me they only have one left, a white 16 GB model... For a split second I consider it, but I really want a 64 GB and I don't want a white version. I tell him 'no thanks,' and figure there will still be plenty at Best Buy and Target (I'm not very confident in Walmart.)
5:12 p.m. - I'm finally back on the road and ready to drive to Best Buy, which under normal conditions, is about 10 minutes away... Well I seem to be forgetting that it's rush hour, it's Friday, plus it's raining... traffic is freaking horrible. I decide on a back road which I'm figuring would get me away from all of this traffic but there must have been water flooding the road or something because it was stop-and-go almost the whole drive.
5:44 p.m. - I get to Best Buy... a 10 minute trip just took about 22 minutes and I'm getting pissed. I quickly park... it's crowded... I am worried now. I head into a quick-stride and enter the store, immediately asking the closest Blue-Shirt if there's any iPad's left. The Blue-Shirt uses his walkie talkie to ask if there were any left and is being told that there's only two 32 GB blacks left. My heart jumps... I quickly rationalize that I won't need 64 gigs... "Oh yea," I remember, "Are they 3G?" I ask. "No...wi-fi only." ...DAMNIT!!! I tell the Blue-Shirt that I'd hold out for a 3G and I quickly exit the store and jump back in my car.
5:51 p.m. - Target is a stone's throw away from Best Buy, so I park as fast as I can and run into the store, making a beeline toward the electronics department. I notice another man also hurrying toward electronics and he asks before I get there if there are any iPad 2's. I sort of heard the Red-Shirt say they were sold out, but my brain refuses to believe my ears so my mouth then takes over and asks again if there are any iPads. They just confirmed my worst fear that they are indeed sold out. I quickly turn around and walk down aisle after aisle heading toward the exit. Walmart is my next target (hehe)... but in the back of my mind, I am now fairly confident that I won't be getting an iPad today, the dread starts to take over my heart.
5:58 p.m. - Back in my car, I don't even start it, instead, I pull out my phone and do a quick search for the Walmart's phone number. Asking for the electronics department and upon hearing a cheery 'Hello!' I ask about iPad 2, and am being told that they are sold out. My heart definitely is sinking. I'm not really sure what to do now, I barely even want to try the other AT&T Store or Walmart... it seems pointless, I underestimated the Applephiles in my area, which actually does brighten my heart a bit, but amidst these events, there is not a smile in sight. I might as well start heading toward home.
6:23 p.m. - I will be near another Walmart soon and although I pretty much gave up hope, I figure there is a slim chance. I call up this Walmart and am being told that there is one left, a 32 GB white 3G. I thank the Wally-Worker and decide to go and get it, I will deal with just 32 gigs, and I will even deal with a white version...it'll be OK, it's my only chance. Of course I forgot to ask which 3G carrier it is.
6:31 p.m. - I arrive at this Walmart and rush back to the electronics department, I head to the clerk and ask about the iPad... He says, yes there is a 32 gig white Verizon 3G left. Oh geez... not Verizon, I really didn't want Verizon and when he said that I'm also saying to myself that I don't really want white, and then I'm thinking that I want 64 gigs too, so I told him that I wasn't interested. I leave and this time I know it's over... it was not meant to be... not today anyway.
6:40 p.m. - I'm back home and I'm pretty emotional. I just drove all over 2 cities looking for an iPad and here I am, back at home with no iPad to be found (well except my original iPad.) I'm really feeling pissed but I think I will do whatever I can to do to get one tomorrow. I am going to call around and see if any stores get shipments tomorrow... there is also speculation that Best Buy will be putting them on shelves on Sunday, to tie-in with a Newspaper insert advertising them.
12:02 a.m. - OK, I spent a lot of my evening moping around and being upset, but I am deeply invested to driving an hour to Lancaster tomorrow to the closest Apple Store. I plan to go when they open, ask around and if they say a shipment is coming, I will wait. I have also got phone numbers of Best Buy, Target, Walmart and AT&T Stores in Lancaster. Tomorrow I will be calling places like crazy. Keeping my fingers crossed.
No comments:
Post a Comment