Best Day Ever?

So, it's been a while... 

I admit, I got a bit burned out by doing that whole birthday thing (let's not discuss how long ago that was).  Then I found I couldn't embed clips from E! online here anymore (I guess that's not a big loss, the clips disappeared after a short time anyway).  And I've been a little anti-computer lately; I don't even do much for my Fantasy Football team (which has sucked pretty hard this year) beyond an hour or so a week making sure I don't have anyone hurt or on bye week starting for me.  And my computer is nearing the end of its useful life (at least in terms of having 1-3 other people logged on it at a time); eating up the available memory and slowing anything I want to do down.

And then I read a book called The Narcissism Epidemic which claimed that things like MySpace and blogs are causes as well as effects of the increased narcissistic nature of our society.  So I've been wondering if posting about what I think is just part of that societal trend, or if my original purpose still held up.  (That purpose being a more passive way to express what I write in e-mails to friends in a format that is not "forced" like reading an e-mail; people have to go to this website, which leads me to believe they come here for a reason beyond the duty one would feel to read an e-mail from me.)

BTW: I think I've stuck to my original intent.

Except for this post.  In this post, I'm gonna talk about my day... A lot...  This one is about "me me me".

Deal with it.

Let's go back a few weeks; back to the time when I almost wrote a post called Best Week Ever...?

That week was potentially my best because I scored some really cheap ($1 & $3) CDs that were either new or very much like new.  I also got a few slightly used Marvel Essential TPBs (massive books containing reprints of 20-25 issues of old comics) that retail for $16-18 for $1-$3.  I got my backordered copy of Van Halen: The Visual History, 1978-1984 (used a gift card from my birthday along with a coupon and only paid a couple of buck out of pocket).  I found Paul Feig's book Kick Me!-- which is hilarious and highly recommended-- for half price.  Grabbed Smallville Season 5 used DVD set for $10.  And I got my advance copy of the Wii game Guitar Hero: Van Halen (due to be released in stores December 22-- suckers), which I actually played (don't play much Wii) and enjoyed. It was hard not seeing Mike in the game, but Wolfgang is the current bassist, and the game is centered on how the band looks now (until they give Roth the boot)-- at least it's current as far as I've gotten in the game, which isn't terribly far.  And, finally, I preordered a copy of Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 1 on BluRay for $35, which is pretty good (Best Buy is selling it for $49 right now in stores).

Pretty damn good week.

It'll be tough to top that week, but I came pretty close in just a single day.

Let's go back just a little more.  I saw the movie Up last spring.  It kicked my ass with how good it was.  I couldn't wait to get it on DVD; and after I bought a BluRay player this summer, I couldn't wait to get in on BluRay Disc.  Now combine that with a visit I had with my movie/DVD/sci fi guru Tom this summer, who gave me hints on how to find good DVD/BluRay deals.  I was on a mission to get Up-- and pay as little as possible for it (not that it's not worth full price; just that finding it cheap was a bit of an adventure).

So I scoured the internet and found as many deals, coupons, price match opportunities and the like I could use, and I had a plan.  I was going to score the Up 4 disc (Blu Ray film, BluRay extras, DVD of film, and digital copy of film) as well as Monsters, Inc 4-disc for about $24.  Not the best deal I knew about, but the one I was willing to go for because it didn't involve too many things that could end up being roadblocks (after a certain point, stores don't like dealing with you when you're practically getting stuff for free).

So yesterday (Tuesday, the day the movies were released to stores) was a tough one to sit through.  I was riding in the carpool, so I didn't have a car (my bad for not scheduling myself to drive, I guess)-- and I wasn't going to make a special trip to the nearest city to pick them up.  So I was as jittery as a crack addict looking for his fix.

So today I woke up, ran to the computer, and printed off the final coupon I needed for my adventure (a $10 off Up that didn't become available until the release date).  Then I had to sit through another day of work with visions of Pixar-created goodness dancing in my head.

Now the good things about today:

There was meeting on the floor I reside on in my office building, and those usually are good opportunities to score a free lunch. Which I did.  I snaked a lunch yesterday as well to use as my early supper today (donating plasma-- gotta keep my protein up). Double good things.

I was able to convince the people I talked to at work that I gave a shit about what they were telling me.  Always a good day when I accomplish that.

I didn't find anyone to give me a ride to a store to buy my BluRays during lunch (didn't try hard; just was looking for someone "going my way"). What looked like a bad thing, ended up good (because I did better at night than I probably would have during the day).

Another bad break: I left my reading book (Russell Brand's My Booky Wook) in the person's car I was riding with when she dropped me off.  Very bad-- it was the only book I had, and sitting in that chair while donating plasma without a book is torture.  So I exceeded the speed limit, hit the lights just right, and headed to my favorite bookstore before I had to donate.  Ran to the clearance section to grab a book and stumbled on Ricky Gervais presents The World of Karl Pinkerton based on the popular podcast I haven't heard yet.  I'm not always entranced by Gervais (even though I consider him as close to a comedy genius as it gets), but the book was $3-- and it gave me something to read.

Oh yeah, I also grabbed the Invasion complete series I had been eyeing for months for $12 with a coupon. Score!

I donated plasma, and they had me turned up a little high, so I blew through it (without blowing a vein) in about 50 minutes (ten less than usual). Good deal.  Got halfway through my new book while I pumped my arm...  Another bonus.

Now the big part:  My trip to Best Buy to buy my BluRays.  I picked up my two sets and visited the game section because BB was also offering the Up game for Nintendo DS for $10 if you bought the BluRay.  I'm sure the game isn't spectacular (most games based on movies aren't), but it was $10 and makes a nice Christmas present for that price.

So, the moment of truth...  I walked up to the cash register with what should have rung up at just under $53 based on prices in the ad (and close to $75 retail priced).  I lucked out and got a new cashier (because he didn't know what he was doing).  He called someone else over to help (always a good sign; the helper usually has his own station to watch, so is in a hurry).  The helper agreed to price match bestbuy.com's price for Up for $19.99 instead of the $23.99 in the ad ("It's not company policy to meet the website's price, but any manager will end up doing it.")  My first break.  But then the damn specials in the ad didn't ring up right ($10 off Monsters if bought with Up as well as the DS game deal), so a manager had to be called in to override. Break #2.

Managers are even busier than helpers, so she blasted through the overrides-- and gave me an extra mystery $10 off (oops).  When all was said and done; I had my price matches, ad deals, and the manager walked away, and my total came to $41.  The cashier and his helper breathed a sigh of relief. 

Then I pulled out my $18 worth of Disney manufacturers coupons, and brought the total down to $23 for 2 BluRay 4-disc sets and a DS game.  That included tax.

Best day ever.

After that, I drove home, listening to the mix CD my music/internet site guru Brian made for me to get me cultured in Joe Satriani (guitar virtuosos usually keep me away with the overly-high tuned guitars, so Brian made sure I got to experience the real Satch because I needed to bone up on my Chickenfoot members aside from the Red Rocker and Mad Anthony) .   I'll tell you, being completly amped up after a big deal and listening to "If I Could Fly", "Surfing With the Alien", "Satch Boogie", and "Always With Me, Always With You" on the drive really makes a man feel good.

I got home and watched the tape of the Veteran's Day program my kids' school hosted today. My Kindergartener had one of the toughest lines (long, with larger words-- especially for a kindergartener) among the kids from K-5, and he nailed it.  And my second grader started coming down with a cold earlier that day, but he still sang along with the others. He was a little trooper.  A great capper to a great day to see them perform.

Well, almost the capper. After I put the boys to bed, I did watch tonight's episode of Glee-- and adored it. The last few episodes weren't as jaw droppingly good as the first few (still an excellent show, don't get me wrong), but tonight's ep was wonderful.  I laughed and even cried a little.  Got to see lots of "background" stuff on these people, and that always makes for a great episode of this show.  There was a lot of heart to it-- and that's why I fell for the show in the first place.

And I suppose the final part of this best day ever was that I actually managed to make a post in this blog...

It posted on Thursday only because I proofread it. It was written and finished on Wednesday.  I promise...