Welcome to the Newest Member of the Family!

I've never really welcomed my new computer to the BOSD family, have I? Well, that was negligent of me! It's a real pleasure typing a post on a computer that - get this- actually works! And it's also a pleasure to use a computer that has a decent keyboard, so I don't need to worry about skipped letters. Well, no, this doesn't have a decent keyboard. The chicklet style keyboard is such a complete pleasure to type on, I can't do it justice in a single blog post.



But what I would like to share with you now, is the extraordinary hashgacha pratis surrounding my computer's purchase.



I placed the order for the computer on Monday. I did a custom build computer, so the estimated build date was on thursday, followed by a ship date of Friday. I was impatient all week, and Friday I was jumping out of my skin. I'm sure you can imagine, therefore, how horrified I was to recieve an email late friday afternoon, informing me of production delays and a later ship date. I then recieved a $50 coupon for my next purchase from HP, which I was sure I wouldn't use.



I was mad. I figured that with the standard free shipping, my computer was due to arrive the following thursday, at the earliest. A quick call to HP customer service confirmed that because of the delay, I would be upgraded to expedited 1-2 business day shipping. Things were starting to look up.



On Motzei shabbos I checked my order status, and saw that my computer had been assigned a tracking number. That began a week of obsessive checking of fedex.com for my number. What do I call obsessive? Well, I called my sister to go online and check the number for me when I was out and wouldn't be at a computer for an hour or so...



Slowly, the computer made its pilgramage from Shanghai to Anchorage, then it hopped on a flight to Newark, where it landed at the fedex location, then headed to a fedex center near my house, then finally made its way onto a truch for delivery. I couldn't wait.



To pass the time, I started reading user reviews of my new baby, and I came up with a fascinating phenomenon. I had found a $300 coupon code, but was only able to use it with an $80 (extra) blue ray external hard drive. I have no use for a blue ray player, as I don't watch movies, so I saw the $80 as a waste, but it was still a net savings of $220. But, reading some user reviews online, it turns out that people were really upset that they weren't able to get blue ray players, and they would be thrilled to purchase one from someone who had an extra one....



To make a long story very short, I sold my blue ray player. I charged $130 for it, which was the full price. I then purchased an ordinary external CD drive from the HP store, $63 dollars, minus, you remember, my $50 coupon code. My computer then came Wednesday, a full day earlier than expected originally, I got $50 off for no good reason, and all is good.

How's that for a cool set of circumstances?