Black Friday

So it has been years since I have participated in the madness of Black Friday. There has just been nothing that was really worth it to get up that early and stand in line. I worked for Walmart for two years and was very lucky to never work Black Friday morning. 

This year we decided to brave Home Depot. They had an awesome Christmas tree on sale, a long with other stuff. So we arrived at 4:50 am and the line was already clear across the front of their building. I was actually surprised at the line. The last time I did this it was at Target and there was more of a mob in front of the doors and not a line. 

Shortly after we arrived there was a few Home Depot employees walking down the line with coffee and cups in hand. It was freezing outside and they were all smiles. Donuts followed the coffee. On our way inside the store we discover that the first thirty feet of the line they had set up patio heaters for the people in line to stay warm. Talk about above and beyond. 

There was no pushing or shoving. We were greeted by several employees and did not find a grumpy one in the store. Check out was a breeze. I am not sure if this is the same with the other stores but Albany Home Depot does Black Friday right and takes care of their customers. I would definitely consider braving black Friday there again. 

I want what I want.

For those who follow me on Facebook you might have heard that the head gasket in my minivan blew. This is neither a simple fix nor an inexpensive one. Our mechanic shook his head and recommended that we take it home and park it. This is how my week started. Mondays are bad enough without added stressers. The rest of the day was spent canceling appointments and rearranging things so I wouldn’t have to drive anywhere for at least a week. Knowing on Monday that I would not have a car for the rest of the week was not fun for me. I like being able to run errands and escape my house every now and then. It also cost me a photo shoot.

Anyway, fast forward to Saturday morning. As much and a new car (new to us) was not in the budget only having one car really isn't an option. Lucas works in Salem and I had to borrow a car to go to work on Friday. I knew what I wanted; this was my chance to upgrade my van, if the price is right. After all there are six of us so we need a van.

The van I had my heart set on wasn't all I thought it would be. It was okay but I didn’t fall in love with it. The van I have been driving for eight years has extra features that I have become accustom too. Isn’t it fascinating how we do that, we have it good and think that’s how it should be. Not only that but that’s what we want. The van we looked at was a base model and a thousand over what I really wanted to spend, but it was a minivan.

Lucas wasn’t sold on the minivan and honestly neither was I but seemed like our best option even though it was more than what I wanted to finance. So we looked at some PT Cruisers and while they were nice had similar mpg as the minivans. It only seated 5 and was the same price. We did discuss it for a minute then another car caught Lucas’ eye. A 2002 Pontiac Bonneville that had a bunch of bells, better mpg and whistles was under our budget. The problem was that it didn’t seat more than five and it wasn’t the minivan that I had wanted. He took it for a test drive while I sat in the passenger seat fuming. I knew I had lost and the minivan replacement was not going to be a minivan. After all the Bonneville was the perfect blend of a guy car and sedan rolled into one. Did I mention it has turbo boosters?

We went out to breakfast to discuss the choice that at this point really wasn’t a choice. I told him that we would just get the Bonneville which we did wind up doing. I was fairly upset but Lucas had a shiny new car.

Well Sunday I had to drive it for work. It’s actually a fun car to drive and while I didn’t get my minivan we actually did okay. We were able to talk down the price a little bit and didn’t have to finance as much as we thought we would. While it doesn’t fit all six of us we can still take two cars if we need to.

The lesson if you’re still reading this is while I want what I want, it’s not always what I need. When will I learn.