I forgot to mention my Saturday. While Audrey and Alex were nestled all snug in their bed, I was up early with the other Apple dorks to buy a Mac Mini.
I get to the Apple Store in Plano at 8:15 a.m. thinking that I had plenty of time to get in line before they opened at 9:00 a.m. When I arrived at the store, there were already 25 people lined up. I waited for 45 minutes. Let me describe my hell:
The guy in front of me was maybe 25 years old with small little round glasses, greasy hair and dressed in black from head to toe. On his dork utility belt was a cell phone, a Nintendo DS and a pocket knife (maybe he used it to carve his yuppie apples?). He had to be entertained the entire time. He played with his little Nintendo for a while, then pulled out his phone and played with it for a while. This went on back and fourth for the entire 45 minutes. I watched all this in front of me as a young woman yapped behind me. My god, please strike me deaf. The young couple was maybe 21. The guy looked and acted pretty normal, but his girlfriend, who was up much too early for nice hair and make up, talked and talked and talked and talked and talked.. my god.. in a high pitch, piercing voice. She would not shut up. Had I not been well medicated, I probably would have grabbed Nintendo Dork’s knife and stuck her with it.
Enough about these dorks, back to me. Anyway, the line begins to move, and as soon as I get to the doorway, I hear, “All of you here for the Mac Mini - we’re all sold out. You can go to the Apple Store on line and order yours today.” The nice sales rep said all this with a sweet Starbucks smile. As the rest of the mob began to chant and wave their pitchforks, I strolled up to a manager and asked if these hot little computers were released everywhere to which he responded, “Yes!”.
I quickly waddled to my batmobile and headed to the closest Fry’s Electronics. As soon as I arrived, I went to the Apple department and asked for a Mac Mini. The nice sales representative from India said, “We a ell sold owt.” Gahh!! No!! He even said he sold the demo model. This was, indeed, a hot item. My dreams of the tiny 2.9 lb computer were beginning to slip away. Would I have to wait a month before getting one? It appeared so. I began to mope around Fry’s looking at flat panel monitors, which I plan on upgrading soon. (If your interested, I am getting a Viewsonic VX910) As I rounded a corner, I saw a plump gentleman I recognized from the Apple Store. As he got closer, I told him that I beat him to Fry’s and that they were sold out. As he panted, he explained that he called CompUSA and other stores in the area, but they all sold out within minutes. He also said that one guy at the Apple Store bought 10 of their 24 stock inventory. We agreed that he was hogging them for an eBay sale, and exchanged typical Apple-dork talk.
I did a last walk through of the Apple products, and low and behold – there before me sit a demo of the Mac Mini! It was so small I had looked over it. The helpful sales people didn’t even realize they had one left. I quickly waddled to the sales clerk, and asked if I could buy the demo. I will spare the rest of the details, but I am glad to say that I am now the proud owner of a new Mac Mini. Next time you visit, I will show it off.