Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

On Tuesday, Kevin's parents dropped his younger sister off at our place and we got her bridesmaid's dress, then ate some dinner, and because all that took less time than we anticipated, we stopped by the video game store. As we were looking for something entertaining to play, Kevin and I finally decided it was time to take the Wii plunge. We'd been talking about it for months and delaying, but now was the time. There were boxes at the store, so we went up and asked to purchase. Turns out the boxes were empties and there were no Wiis in the area. In fact, Wiis are still near impossible to find as they show up randomly at stores (the employees typically don't know when they are coming) and sell out instantly.

Being that we're a country that is obsessed with instant gratification, it was pretty damn frustrating to not be able to walk out with a Wii. So we started searching on the internet for tips and advice about tracking a system down. Came across the website itrackr.com. This website tracks hard to find items at your local stores (mostly Target, Gamestop, and Circuit City for electronics) and tells you as soon as a store has the item in stock.

I obsessively checked itrackr on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday I checked before leaving job 2 and there was no change. I was beginning to think that it was hopeless and that the itrackr didn't actually work. On my way home, I stopped by an out of the way K-mart hoping that there was an off-chance that they'd have one because it isn't a popular location. The guy at the store said they might get some this weekend. I drove home after my detour and as I drove passed a Circuit City, I thought maybe I should stop there. And then thought, no they probably won't have any and kept going.

When I got home, I checked my email and surfed some blogs. And then randomly checked itrackr again. And it was suddenly showing available Wiis at the Circuit City I had driven past! I ran out the door dragging my purse, trying to put on my coat, and calling the store. I couldn't get any answer at the store, but figured I'd just go for it and hope for the best. Now, this Circuit City is down the evil Rt. 18 which is under construction and at 4pm on a Friday nearly a parking lot. With some creative route selection, I made it to the CC about 30 minutes after seeing the change on itrackr (quite an amazing feat). I ran into the store, did about 3 laps around the video game area before spotting an employee who I pounced on.

I asked him if they had an Wiis. He said he didn't know and he would check, but that he doubted they did because they hadn't had them in a long time. He typed some things into his computer and got a shocked look on his face and said "how about that, we do have some!" He held one on reserve in his computer while I grabbed a game and extra controllers (which in actuality he had to do for me because I couldn't find them). I paid and very nearly hugged the salesman. Then I had to wait at the Customer Service desk for the Wii to come out of the back area. There seemed to be a lot of confusion.

Turns out the Wiis hadn't even been unpacked from the boxes off the truck yet. None of the employees even knew that they had them in stock! As I was waiting, another guy came in and bought one and I'm pretty sure he was monitoring itrackr or a similar site too. The employees were amazed that the two of us knew they had Wiis before they did.

The Wii is awesome! Kevin and I played for over 5 hours last night barely remembering to eat dinner and staying up waaaaaaaay too late. So far we just have the Wii Sports that came with the system, and Rayman: Raving Rabbids, which features these cute but deranged bunnies...

So if there's a drop off in knitting reports, it's because I'm a Wii-er! (hmmm, that doesn't sound too good).