Tennessee is having a tax holiday this weekend, which means that there was zero sales tax on purchases up to $1500. Combined with other promotions (educational discount and the free iPod touch for university students), it seemed like a great time to finally take the plunge and get a Macbook. So that's what I did today.
My brain is going in three different directions, so first I'll just start with the general concept of a tax holiday: This is how we should be stimulating the economy! The mall was insanely crowded today and people were lined up outside the Mac store to buy computers. If you want to get people spending money, that's the way to do it! Plus, it doesn't restrict spending or take money out of people's pockets to give it to another industry.
Yes, I'm talking about you, Cash for Clunkers. It's a good way to get people spending money and it's also a good way of getting older cars off the road. For instance, my parents are probably going to trade in a 1994 truck that we've kept for so long because no one in the family really wants to drive a truck daily, but we need a truck pretty frequently. But for $4,500 trade-in credit, plus other incentives? It's looking more tempting.
Still, it's limited. It only benefits certain groups and very often, all you're doing is giving people back the money you took out earlier in the form of other taxes. Removing sales tax for a weekend, though, is good. I remember back around the time of the first bail out, a senator suggested using the money that hadn't seen spent on bailing out failed companies to give Americans an income tax holiday for the first quarter. Of course, it didn't happen, but it was a good thought. Of course, none of this is every going to happen, so why bother thinking about it?
But, on to the Mac...
I have to admit, I almost walked out because I had made a personal shopping appointment from 2:30-3, but because I was fifteen minutes late due to traffic and the fact that it was impossible to find a parking spot and navigate the mall, they had given it away. This meant that I had to stand in the line in front of the store. Yes, there was actually a line to get into the store. You couldn't even look around without standing in line. I think it was about 20 minutes for me. Apparently, it was closer to three hours earlier in the day.
So, one strike. The only thing that kept me in line was the fact that I was going to save a lot of money.
That said, despite that problem (which I'll be happy to remind someone of the next time Mom has to wait for a one-to-one appointment), the set up was amazing. First, they had actually brought people in from other stores to help out. The guy who helped me actually went to the same school I did and worked in a store in Cincinnati. Plus, since the tax break only applied to purchases below $1500 and the iPod rebate required they be purchased together, they had figured out a way to ring them up separately while still letting people get the rebate. Finally, they had several computers set up for getting the online rebate and people there to help out with it.
Pretty impressive. If they hadn't been on the ball, I'm sure it would have been even worse.
Now, on to the computer itself:
I'm now the proud owner of a 13 inch Macbook Pro with a 2.53 GHz processor, 4 GB memory, and a 250 GB hard drive. I debated long and hard about the 13 vs 15 inch screen, but I have a decent desktop to use and I really wanted the Macbook for portability. So, 13 inch it was. I also went ahead and sprang for the 32 GB iPod touch, even though it meant paying a little extra to make up the difference. I'm not entirely sure how I'll be using it, but given some of the options for it, I think it's entirely possible I'll need the extra space.
I haven't gotten anything out yet. I was sort of tired when I got home tonight and by the time I played with Alley, watered some plants, and checked a few other things online, I was dead. Plus, I have to make time for Xbox Live, right?
I also sprang for the Mobile Me (with a student discount!) because it looks really useful, especially when it comes to classes. In addition, I got the One-to-One training (no discount :-() because I have a lot of things I'd really like to learn to do with the Mac (including making sure I'm using everything as efficiently as possible) and since I'm already taking Mom in for the sessions, why not? Better than wondering aimlessly around the mall for an hour, right? Plus, I'll probably save money in the long run and even if I don't, it's $99 for a year of unlimited lessons. If I manage to get one per month in, that comes out to $8.25 per lesson. Not a bad deal.
Oh, and I stopped at Sephora on the way out. They weren't as busy as the Apple Store, but I noticed that they were out of several things. So clearly the tax holiday was working there, too. I picked up a few more things to finish the Slytherin eye makeup look, plus brush cleaner and Nars The Multiple in Orgasm. I've heard a lot of good things about that product. Lately, I've been getting back into make-up and fashion overall, which is not a bad thing. I feel like I sort of stopped caring as much for a while, and some people may argue is a good thing but I personally feel like it was either a symptom of other problems or helped lead to other problems. Not worth getting into now, but I really am going to work on that.
So, that's basically my day. I played with Alley a bit, which is always good for her. I need to do it more often, because it's also good for me. The only problem I had is that I let her get over-stimulated which meant that she got excited and jumped up and...well, I won't say bit me, but teeth definitely touched skin on my upper arm and she left a small mark (no broken skin, though). Clearly, we need to do this more often to keep her from getting so worked up when she does.