Other than the way out? No.
We went to Circuit City this evening to try and spend a $50 gift card Oz received (this was a corporate gift, not a personal one, so if we sound ungrateful, well, I guess we are, but we really hate Circuit City). "Try" being the operative word because we really couldn't find anything we wanted. I wouldn't mind getting another SD card for my camera, but they cost $15 less elsewhere and why should we give Circuit City extra money that they don't deserve? Oz wouldn't mind getting another mouse/trackball for his collection, but they didn't have any he liked. We looked at some cute Crumpler camera bags, but I think they sacrifice functionality for the cuteness. (To be specific: The capacity is small for the size of the bag, and the extra padding in combination with the design makes the bag too stiff to get the camera in and out easily. I tried.) And through it all, the little sales boys sniffing around for a commission, except when Oz found the shelf of odd things (the vacuum tube radio was almost appealing) for $10.
I fled while Oz was still looking at the mouses and sat in the car, watching the storm approach and admiring some pictures I took earlier in the evening of a surprise architectural find in the neighborhood (see the large size for more detail).
Oz finally escaped empty-handed and we drove away, passing by all the stores where we'd actually enjoy spending $50.
"Oh, Borders! You just went there today, didn't you? We could always get books."
"There's Bed Bath and Beyond! Right there!"
"Yeah, we could get some new towels. What about chocolate? They could have given you a chocolate gift card."
294 words | July 13, 2006 11:47 PM | Wired