Svuroo

still no sales on any of the items I'm stalking.

I'm staying up too! I've been strategizing how to get the things I'm looking at. It looks like the things labeled as doorbusters will not be online but I'll still check later just to see.

I usually get myself a big ticket item and some small essentials. This year I seem to need a lot of bedding but I'm also considering a new camera. There's also small things I seem to get every year - blank discs, memory cards, etc. I do think some people get a lot of junk because it's cheap. Does anyone remember when Circuit City had free-after-rebate monitor-cleaning kits? People dropped money on those and would fight for them! Still doesn't make sense to me as I'm not waiting for anyone to reimburse me for something I don't want or need. I just don't want anything entering my house that doesn't have a purpose. I had a job where I worked charity events and people would go nuts for free frisbees, snack clips, mouse pads, etc.... They must have drawers of that junk.

I'm really curious how this is going to pan out. I've done BB in the past and it requires real commitment. I'm in the Chicago area and Thanksgiving is BUTT COLD. That being said, yes, I've waited over 15 hours to get my stuff. Incidentally, I got very cheesed off at BB a few years ago because they started a one ticket (period!) per person which made the wait less worth it. This year it might help me as I am interested in a camera and not a tv or laptop (got laptop from Staples 2 years ago and you don't want to know what I paid for my 42" tv last year on Amazon... without leaving my house). Still if the whole mess moves up 5 hours, I'm not going to miss all of Thanksgiving day in the cold. I may scout out the lines day of and join if the weather and lines are manageable but I have a feeling I'll be online this year. For anyone really committed to that tv, I have to recommend what I did a few years ago - FREQUENT SCOUTING MISSIONS. If you live in close proximity to the BB drive by the lot every hour until you see a car. Then everybody who's been doing the same thing gets there within an hour and there's instantly a line of about 30 people. There's a plateau for awhile after that because everybody knows those are the people getting them. Bring chairs, sleeping bags, lots of layers, and boiling water in thermoses. Toss them into the bottom of the sleeping bag to keep your toes toasty. If it works for sherpas, it works for BF.

My question is whether they actually are getting holiday pay. Sure 10 PM - 12 AM is a holiday but what about after that? That would be pretty ridiculous to have people work under terrible conditions in the middle of the night after a holiday and not at least get time and a half.

I have an adorable newspaper stand next to the El. It's kind of an oddity in my area and I always look forward to the one day of the year I can give them my custom.

HELP! I'm a complete dolt when it comes to cameras. Any suggestions on a model that would be good for me? I'm not the kind of person who carries one everywhere and has millions of pictures. I bring my camera almost exclusively when I travel. As I go to cooler places, I keep wanting to decorate with my pictures. I've been blowing some of the winners up and putting them on canvas but my current camera was $40 several years ago so they're not of the best quality. I definitely need something with a decent zoom etc. but something that can definitely fit in my pocket. I should probably look into one that has the feature that makes the pictures not crooked.... I definitely need that sometimes. Just as long as it's an option and not something automatic. Oh and I almost never take people shots so really don't need anything for red eye or anything like that.

Best Buy has the worst policies. I waited outside of one a few years ago for 16 hours. When they passed out tickets, they announced that it was one doorbuster per person. To put it mildly, I was less than pleased. At least you got what you went for. I promised them I would not shop there again and I haven't bought anything in store since. This year I relaxed my internet policy and bought from them online but made sure I put in a separate order for everything so they'd have to ship separately and hopefully my order will end up costing them money!

It wasn't really reduced. The Kindle 2 was replaced by a newer model several months ago. I think they're only availble resale now.

I am declaring myself done. After impulse buying something very expensive, my wallet needs a break. I woke up early on Thanksgiving day and picked up Itunes ($40 for $50) gift cards from bestbuy.com and a new memory card for the camera. The one thing on my list was a Nook or Kindle but I wasn't digging the Best Buy deal on the Nook or the Amazon Kindle 2 advertised. Found the 3G Nook refurbished on Overstock and got it and a protective cover for just over $90! Awesome considering I thought I'd have to pay full price for the Kindle 3. Then I got 5 long sleeved shirts and 2 sweaters from Old Navy for $55. This morning I picked up Mad Men seasons 1-3 for $9.99 from Amazon and somehow impulse bought the 42" 1080p tv for $298. I still haven't upgraded to HD and every Black Friday I say I might but never pull the trigger. This is the first time in years that I haven't been in the market and, of course, I buy one. Waiting for my credit card company to give me its annual call to see if my credit card was stolen.

Best shopping list I've ever seen!

I had 4 browsers open and they all crashed right before 11 due to the Kindle. I was in the middle of weighing $300 worth of pros and cons on the TV deal so it didn't phase me. Yesterday I picked up the Overstock Nook deal, which IMO was a little better anway. What's with all the junky deals coming up? The laptop, Wii, tv, and Kindle were all on top of each other. It doesn't look like there's any other big ticket items coming up for a bit.

I have it in my cart and have 5 minutes to decide if I want it! Eeeeek!

I haven't been interested in anything else today so maybe this is the one!

I was wondering when we'd see a good laptop deal. I'm not in the market as I got a great one last year, but I guess this gives some validation to the people waiting in front of the Best Buy in the rain.

Just take my advice... NEVER buy a Gateway laptop. They're garbage and the customer service is awful.

Got what I wanted but had issues with the website. Even though I'm shopping for smaller items, I'm surprised they're still available. The Itunes gift card, in particular, I would have thought would be cut off by now.

Amazon and Overstock are almost always cheaper than Barnes & Noble even if it's Barnes and Noble with a coupon.

Yeah there were supposedly a dozen VIP stores that had those. Clearly those they intended to call the media about to show what a crazy long line it was. A free gift card is nice, but I wasn't going to freeze on Michigan Avenue for 24+ hours.

This all looks oddly familiar... kind of like the same things they've been calling Black Friday deals for days...

I wasn't impressed by any of it but maybe that's just me.

I have to agree. I worked customer service at Target years ago and I remember the Sunday fraudsters. Unfortunately it was usually the elderly who would come in with packages they had bought recently and then replaced with something old from at home. I had one old guy who tried to return an old blanket in a new bag. The girl I was working with turned him down. He came back not 5 minutes later and waited for me to be available. I turned him down. Then he went out to the car and brought out the actual blanket. Sunday was also a big day for people trading in their shoes (the most disgusting thing ever). Seriously, people go in with nasty shoes, leave them in the box, and walk out with new ones, leaving their nasty ones for someone else to deal with. I also have to agree that frequently the people at the front of the line need to be moved. I was at BB 2 years ago and it was Chicago and the rest of us waited outside from Turkey Day afternoon on. It was cold but necessary. There were 4 chairs sitting at the front of the line holding a place for people hanging out in their cars; they didn't get out to freeze with the rest of us until about 2 am. I wasn't concerned that they were going to take my stuff (pretty close to the front) but I have no idea why people sitting further back didn't pick up their chairs and move them next to their car.

Did a bunch of online shopping on Turkey day which eliminated my need to go to some of the crazier stories. This morning I got to Staples at 5:15 (I slept first, blasphemy!) and got the $400 HP which imo was the best deal out there this year with the free printer and some blank media. Then I went to Kohls where I got a game, knives, 2 rugs, wrapping paper, a pair of pants, and 3 sweaters for less than $180 AND am getting $50 back to use for the rest of my holiday shopping there (quite pleased with that one). Then did some lesser shopping and I'm back home to continue the dealhunting online (c'mon Amazon!)

The Walmarts around here (Chicago North burbs) have NO more spaces in the parking lot. If you're not inside yet, you are too late.

Now I am pissed at the Trib. $2 and a lot of the major ads are missing, including the ones to the major stores I plan to go to! Anyone else who bought the Chicago Tribune missing ads for Staples and Kohls?