This week's consumer plug

A story demonstrating why you should shop at Best Buy in Rossford:
So, as some of you know, I'm getting a new computer in my office, and due to the transferral process from old machine to new, and all its myriad complications, I decided to get an external hard drive, since I don't have a truly functional computer at home anymore, and storing things just in the office environment suddenly seemed dumb.
I have had no time to work on this. The deadline is Monday.
I was feeling panicky on Wednesday night, latish, so I did something I would never do otherwise, and went to Wal-Mart. They were nice to me there, but their selection was ridiculous, and evidentally they've had some things stolen because they were out of what I needed even though the records said otherwise. I toyed with the idea of traveling to the next closest Wal-Mart, but I wasn't feeling well and I knew that the lateness of the hour was probably going to make me make a bad decision and get something that didn't fit my needs.

Instead, I chose to wait and head up to Best Buy in Rossford on Thursday after a long day of teaching and conferences. I got some McDonald's, hit the highway, and arrived at a clean, cheerful store, bustling with activity even though it wasn't really that crowded. I looked at what turned out to be a vast selection of drives, felt bewildered, and then walked out to an open space to wait for someone to ask me if I needed assistance. Ordinarily, I like to do things myself, but I have no experience in this particular item, and I wanted input.
I ended up with a gal who first went to get another option, an online file service that would hold 25 gigs, and then we together perused the drives, ranging from 160 gigs to 1 terabyte. I told her my situation, and she listened patiently and provided advice. We picked me out a MyBook from Western Digital and discussed the reviews it's had and how popular it is. Now the great thing is this: The 119 dollar item, 320 gigs, was on sale for 80 bucks. I felt confident that she wasn't trying to scam me; she listened to my price concerns and my needs, and as she correctly pointed out, probably any of the items would work just fine for me, but this one was on megasale, and she's never had one returned.
Then, she came with me when I went to pick up a new flash drive. The 4 gig model was also on megasale, so I grabbed one of those. Do I need that much space to store my poetry? No, but I feel like I now have some other storage options. She walked me to the checkout and told me about the MyRewards program. I don't know if I was just feeling relief or goodwill because of McDonald's or what, but I decided to join. But then, halfway through the line, I realized I wanted to look at irons, since mine has stopped steaming and leaks on me. Back she went with me to the small appliances, where she introduced me to Stephanie, who has one of the irons they sell and loves it (she bought one for her grandmother, but then decided she wanted it and had to buy another). The three of us plus the autotech guy had quite a chat about crockpots, their recipes and new liners, and about toaster ovens. I also picked up the iron. It was more expensive than I might usually get, but I also reasoned to myself that I am sewing a lot and really do need a good iron.
Those three items together? About 150 bucks. That's all.

I have had my share of good and bad shopping experiences, and I really felt like this was a great one. I was helped well, by friendly people, and I ended up with what I think are some good products. I am anxious to work with the MyBook today and get things reorganized, but amazingly, I don't feel daunted, after weeks of stress about the whole thing.
So, cheers, Best Buy in Rossford. You rock.