PSP Antics

Writing about the new DS reminded me of the time that I bought a PSP. No I don't own a PSP, and yes that is confusing.

Last year, 'twas a friend of mine's birthday and we went to see a movie at the local mall before I got taken for 10 bucks in a poker game in the bottom of a local funeral home... Anyways, at the mall, somehow, I was coerced into one of my impulse buys that I seem to be plagued with. This time, it wasn't just a pack of gum in the checkout line, it was a 299.99$ portable entertainment system, also known as a SONY PSP. Never had I thought about buying one of these contraptions until now, but it was shiny and looked cool so I said "what the heck". The first store we went to didn't have any, but we soon found one at the Sam Go***** store down the way. At the time, there were only 4 games for the playstation, and I figured that Metal Gear: Acid sounded like the coolest of them. Boy, was I wrong. After the movie, on the way home, I began playing with my new toy. Nice accessories, nice looking, most def, but as far as capturing my attention for more than 5 minutes, it didn't. When I was informed that my impulse game buying reasoning didn't tell me that Acid was a D&D style game, my mind was made up, the PSP was going back.

It wasn't all for not. When I bought the device, the helpful sales rep told me about their rewards program where, if I signed up, I would get a 5$ gift certificate for every 50$ spent. Since I just spent over 300$, I thought it would be a good deal. It was. Even though I returned the PSP the very next day, my 25$ (I guess it's before tax and 299.99$ isn't quite 300) gift certificate arrived in the mail a couple weeks later.

If you're a shopper at Sam G****** then maybe you can tell me what it is that you buy there? I've been up and down their aisles many times and all I've ever found is overpriced CDs and DVDs. Needless to say, I was lost on what to buy. I settled for the first season of Sealab 2021 at a ripe price of 23.99$ on sale from 29.99$. I had some money left over, so I got a coke, too. Pretty good.

I kept the shrink wrapping on the DVD since I really didn't want it. I'd seen all the episodes already and I'm just not a DVD collector. The only DVD Movie that I have ever bought was "Kung Fu Hustle" and I've yet to watch it. Anyways, not too long ago, I took the DVD back to Sam G**** with the sale sticker peeled off and exchanged it for 29.99$ in goods including a Hi-Def xBox cable set and an overpriced CD (it's still wrapped in case I want to return it). Not a bad harvest. Especially considering that I've not spent a dime there, yet.