Due to something resembling popular demand, I have decided to type a rambling tonight.

It is Christmas Eve. That mythical time of year when everyone drinks eggnog, Santa rides around shooting people, and Mr. Hankey spreads cheer to all the children who eat a high fiber diet.

Today, I ventured into the overcrowded pits of insanity commonly called retail stores. An activity like going to Best Buy, that would normally take 10 or 20 minutes, lasts an hour or more. Most of that time is spent waiting at stoplights within a 3 block radius of the store.

So... The mission was to get my mom a dvd player, and also figure out a gift for bouncing. (While I was there, I realized why shopping for bouncing has become more difficult in recent times; like me, he now has a job with income enough to buy pretty much all the stuff he really wants for himself. So inevitably, anything that would make a really great gift is something he already has. Thinking about it, I probably also present a similar challenge to anyone trying to buy a gift for me.)

Had I been smart and thought ahead, I would have bought a DVD player for mom at the same time I got my replacement player. But I hadn't thought that far ahead, so it was back to the store with me. Unfortunately, I severely underestimated the rapidity at which consumers would deplete the shelves clean. Not only were they out of the model I had bought, but pretty much everything in that section was gone.

I journied to the Broomfield Best Buy (which is where I had actually bought mine), and found the situation even worse. Every sub-$200 player was completely out of stock. All brandnames. Doh.

Target in Broomfield. They did have some possible candidates, but I wanted to check online reviews before buying anything. I noted the model numbers they had available, and journied home, looked them up on the web, and concluded that one was a piece of crap, but the other would be nicely suitable.

In an attempt to try to save a little time and gas (hah!), I went to the Target nearest to my place instead of going back to Broomfield, figuring that all targets are pretty much the same anyway. Naturally, this triggured an invisible quantum chain reaction in the fabric of the space time continuum, which led to the Target nearer to my house to be completely out of the model I was now trying to buy. Back to Broomfield!

Once inside the store, I quickly located the now-considered-worth-buying player. I looked around the store a little bit, hoping I might see something bouncing would like, but unfortunately, nothing which shouted "bouncing!" jumped out at me. So I bought the player.

Then it was on to the Bloody Infested Pit of Hell known around here as Flatirons Crossing. Once I had found parking and all that, I wandered aimlessly up and down the mall a few times, noting for the N-zillionth time in my life that most malls have way too many redundantly boring clothing stores for their own good.

I stopped in several places, and noted possible fall-back items in case nothing else could be found. Finally, a combination of tiredness and the belief that I wasn't going to find anything better led me to the Sharper Image store. I recalled that bouncing had said something about needing a lamp. I found a Lamp! Complete with water, bubbles, and pseudo-robotic fish. I think he'll like it. I hope so. It should fit in nicely with the rest of the stuff in his Coffeehouse Apartment.

I briefly considered trying to find something for the grandparents, but they're the absolute hardest to shop for, and since I'm going to be late with that gift anyway... I was sick of the mall, and the people, and the traffic. I went home.

Feeling irrationally exhausted after a mere afternoon of wandering around, I took a nap almost immediately after arriving.

I woke up, went to mass irc (only the truly geeky show up for mass irc even when it is on X-Mas Eve), and hung out there for a while while watching various animated X-Mas specials.

The plan is to meet at mom's place tomorrow for X-mas dinner. (Say it like they do in the year 3000. "EX-Mass.") I am now feeling quite sleepy, and it is now XMas day. So I shall sleep amidst the mess that is my room.