When Black Friday Comes.....

By Number Six

Sunday, November 27, 2005 at 07:36 AM

Back to my last deal on Christmas, and my #$#)@(#@) Radeon 9800 bites the dust....

...so, Six decides it's get another card or else go back to the same sad graphics that came with the system. Seems the dinky fan on the board went to smoke, thus, anytime I loaded up heavy graphics (CAD, for example)...

But, it wasn't until I'm in traffic that I realize what day this be. Uh-huh. Black Friday, the official opener of the Saturnalia Season.

Yes, I've opted to stick to the old Roman title, as I'm not into Christianity, and not into, well, read last missive, the stuff is there, no need to rehash.

And boy howdy, the stores were at full take-off throttle and standing on the brakes ready for us. A guy playing Santa to scared kids, isn't that just so nice? A kid scared and bawling as soccer mom parks him on this character's lap, like he comprehends this madness, eh? Kid's smarter than his mom, obviously. Why do parents think this is such a hot idea? You tell me.

And I felt for all the store clerks, whom, by noon, already looked like combat vets at a rear-area evac hospital. Same burned-out look. One young lady went out of her way to accomodate my questions on a cooling system (mandatory, I was told, if you run these "hot" driver boards). Sweet kid, I made my purchase and ran.

Well, until I get to the parking lot, and then, it's about as bad as that long wait at Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport, those Friday evenings we all want to go home, and our plane is still number 4,219 in line for 9R. Except I'm in the truck and I'm 92,715 in line just for the mall exit.

"Christmas shopping?", neighbor asks.
"Nope, system repairs.", I shake my head.
"Crowded?"
"Comparable to O'Hare on any rainy Monday, yeah."
She frowned. "Why does everyone have to do it today?"
I smirk. "Why, to support our national economy, I tend to think. Maybe it's religious."

Religious? Sacriligious? Who cares. It's another excuse to spend, spend and spend, so we can all act like we're Republigoons. Funny, and I often wonder how much will be traded back, exchanged or just refunded come 12-26, eh?

Oh, well, system's back up and I now have a neat noise of a high-velocity fan going. But, by comparison, it sure beats the mall and another twelve bars of Rudolph....