This Game of Business

Hey guys! So never went out on Black Friday before, and I’ve heard all these horror stories…and it was tame as fuck.  I heard some people started a fight in Walmart at like 10pm before the sale even started, but that might be just a rumor.  It was a “my friend heard from this guy who heard from this other guy” thing.  I haven’t heard anything since, so I’m assuming it was a rumor.  The stores all gave vouchers for the big ticket items so if you came early you were guaranteed to get one of the limited items.  They had routes planned for everyone and everyone lined up all nice and neat with no arguing or anyone trying to cut in line.  Everybody was talking and laughing with each other in line, too, even people who didn’t know each other.  I thought that was pretty awesome.  Way to go, Tusc county! :D

I went to get a laptop.  A buddy of mine gave me a heads up and told me to go to Staples if they had something I liked because most people crowd over at Walmart, Best Buy, or Radio Shack.  I went really early to make sure I got a spot (they open at 6am and I was there by 11pm! Crazy!) and I was the 2nd in line, a guy with his 3 kids were there maybe 1/2 an hour before me.  We all agreed on using our chairs as placeholders and sat in our warm cars in front of the store.  Everybody who came after us was just as cool about the rule so it was a pretty painless experience.  Plus I got to use my Russian with a Russian immigrant woman who ended up two spots behind me.  That was SO COOL.  I got back in line at 5am when the employees started showing up and around 5:30 they came out with big stacks of vouchers for all the bigger stuff.  I could’ve left after that and had breakfast or something since you’re guaranteed to get your item until 11am. (For the bigger stuff, you HAVE to have a voucher to buy it until 11am.) Buuuuut, I just sat back in my car again, got back in my place in line at about 5mins til they opened.  Inside the store was super quick, I was in and out and back in my car by 6:05am.  Staples had their shit down!

See, originally I had bought an Apple Macbook from someone who sells refurbished ones cause it’s cheaper that way, but they mixed my order up and sent me a refurbished iBook with JAGUAR installed, which is outdated, and only 384mb of RAM!  I was not pleased.  At all.  Needless to say I packed it up and sent it back.  I wish I would’ve checked out the Black Friday ads sooner, because I got a KILLER laptop (this thing has serious balls!) for less than half what I paid for a Macbook!  And it’s even got slightly better specs, too!  It was more than a good enough deal to persuade me to get a PC instead of a Mac.  It’s almost criminal how cheap I got it!  It’s even got a built in webcam like a Macbook.  So cute!

Also, I’m pleasantly surprised with Windows 7.  I was expecting it to be like Vista, but it’s way better.  It’s simplified and streamlined for a much better experience.  It looks and feels very inspired by Mac and I’m sure it’s meant to be a direct competitor with Snow Leopard.  It’s also VERY tablet friendly, it would take forever to explain but just take my word that it’s very cool the way it works.  I can do stuff with my tablet on there I never could on Windows XP. 

My Intuos arrived today, too, so shortly after I got home and started getting my computer all set up I was able to hook it up and test drive it.  I was kind of skeptical that there would be much of a difference, but all I can say is WOW.  I’ve gotten by fine with my Graphire4 for years and decided to get an Intuos just because I was curious (and decided since I’m gonna be playing with the big boys now, I might as well have the big boy toys), but I’m definitely glad I did!  Well worth the investment!  Intuos tablets are so damn expensive, but now I see why.  It’s SO MUCH EASIER to blend everything.  I can get the same effect (more or less) with the Graphire, but it would take a lot more work.  Especially to get everything that smooth!  I’m definitely blown away by this thing.  It feels different, too.  The Graphire line (not sure how it is with Bamboo?) just has a plastic surface.  The Intuos is plastic, of course, but there is some kind of coating over the drawing area.  I still remember when I first got my Graphire2 and then my Graphire4.  It takes a while to get used to because the surface area is pretty slick.  The coating on the Intuos makes drawing very smooth, but it isn’t slippery.  I have to say, I’ve only had this thing for less than 24 hours and I’m already a rabid fan!  LOVE IT! 

Wow, this is certainly a huge wall of text! Haha, kudos if you read all the way through!  I’m going to stop there for now.  I have some artwork that I can actually show you guys in the works, I’ll be sure to put it up soon.  Until then, au revoir! :)