You know its meant to be, when....

I don't often brave the boxing day crowd - unless I just want the challenge and excitement. I always say that I don't need to save a hundred bucks that badly.

About 2 pm on Dec 26 Alb suggested we face the Futureshop mob. I already knew I was getting a new HDTV and HD PVR for my birthday. We could see from our driveway that the Costco parking lot was full from Futureshop's overflow parking. But since it is only a few blocks away, there was no harm in going "just to see" how bad it really was.

We pulled into the parking lot and immediately found a close end spot to park in. We marched with dozens of others through the double glass doors and were met with wall-to-wall people inside. I knew there was no way I was going to stand in that line up that weaved its way half way through the store. But since we were there, we may as well inch and pry our way through the throngs to the TV department.

Of course the one I wanted had no price label on the shelf. Nathan just happened to be standing nearby and was just finishing up with someone. I asked a couple of questions and confirmed the price. It seemed as if I was in the middle of conversation with the young lad and he just walked away.

I thought, "Nathan, you little ...... Get back here, I'm not finished." I barely had time to decide that Boxing Day was not a good idea and Nathan re-appeared with a 32" TV in hand and set it at my feet. He climbed the ladder and got a Bell PVR from the rafters above, and pointed out cables to Albert and then followed me to suggest the correct wall mount.

Before I knew it he had his computer at the back all fired up and I was swiping my bank card.

I don't think eleven minutes had passed from the time we pulled out of the driveway at home until we were climbing back in the truck with a mountain of boxes.

I know Boxing Day is the absolute worst day of the year to try to contact Bell for anything, but I dialed the number to get into queue while Alb finished hooking up wires and switches. Of course I got the same message I have recieved every single time I have called Bell in the last seven years, "We are currently recieving a higher than normal volume of calls..." I'd like to know just what they consider normal because I've never not gotten that message.

I tucked the phone into the crook of my neck and set to doing other things, anticipating a 45 minute wait. About 10 seconds later an english speaking person greeted me and offered to help. I was totally caught off guard and had to scramble to actually get things set up.

And it was just that simple. It was almost disappointing.