I have never gone out on a shopping trip on the day after Thanksgiving. Looking through the ads helped me reinforce my staunch opposition to the whole thing. There is no way I will set my alarm to get up hours earlier than I have to be, rush to a store to fight in lines for something that will be on sale again after Christmas.

So I said, anyway. Then I got a nice little postcard with some coupons printed on it from Tandy Leather. The good news was the 40% off entire purchase was good for Friday morning and Saturday morning. The bad news was the Tandy store I usually go to is only a mile or so from the Mall of America. Yeah, there was no way I’d venture within ten miles of that place.

Relief comes in many forms. This time it came in the store in St. Paul. Equal distance between the stores, and this one is no where near any mall of note. Yippee! Yup, I woke up at the usual 7 or so Saturday morning, showered, kissed my wife good bye and I was off.

A quick splurge on a medium Caribou dark roast for the “road trip” and away I went.

The coupon was good for 40% off your entire purchase, except leather was only 25%. Picked out some stuff as well as a belly for some thinner projects I wanted to work on. My total bill came to a couple bucks more than the regular price of the leather itself. Super score!

So, I didn’t actually break my compact with myself. I definitely did not go out on Black Friday chasing a deal, but I did go out specifically chasing a good deal.

Oh, the best part of my Saturday morning jaunt? There was not a single other customer in the Tandy besides me! That right there is my kind of shopping!

Peace,
Tony