03.21.2011 - so close.... but no ipad

I was checking the target websites to see if they had any ipads that had come in, fully expecting that the answer was no. Imagine my surprise when I saw that one store did show availability!  It was the San Jose westgate store, and when I called them up, they had run out of the 16gb model but still had two 64 gb models on-hand.  They wouldn't let me reserve it over the phone (naturally), so I braved the weather and got to the store in about 30 minutes.  When I got there, a man was just starting to pay for an ipad, I waited behind him.  When he left, the clerk asked what I needed help with, I pointed to the guy that just left, and she said 'that was the last one'.  They apparently only got 4 today after 3-4 days without any at all.  So the trip (5th) was again wasted.  Another 2 or even 1 minute earlier, and I would've gotten that ipad.  I checked a couple of other places (via website and phone), including Fremont and Walnut Creek which both indicated availability on the website.  Turns out both were out of stock already as well when I called.  The website was not real-time, it was several hours behind.  The Fremont Hub store said they had 20 today but won't know how many or when the next shipments would come.  The Walnut Creek store said the next shipment would be in 2 weeks.  I wonder why some stores know but some don't know when they would receive more...

03.20.2011 - neither was the 4th try, but proof of a small world

After feeding Evan at 7:10am this morning, i decided to try for the ipad2 again, but at the Stanford Mall store, as I thought there would be fewer people (than Valley Fair).  I got there at perhaps 7:45am and the line was about 25 long already, and it didn't grow very fast.  I was behind a woman and her two kids (5, 7) and chatted with them the entire time.  They already have one ipad(1) and wanted to get another (or two) for the kids.  The kids sat in kiddie camping chairs and were playing with the ipad they already had.  The graphics looked awesome and the games quite fun.  I think Evan will enjoy the ipad2 also, not just us adults.  At about 8:40am, an Apple employee came out and told everyone that they only had wifi models today, and gave out tickets to just a few people in the front of the line.  I didn't hear how many they had gotten today but the woman said she heard that only 9 were available today.  As we parted, we introduced ourselves and gave each other first names.  When I heard hers, I thought for a moment that she might be someone from my old hometown in NJ, someone from my high school.  After a minute or two of hesitation, I asked her if she was from NJ, to which she said yes, then I asked if she was from so-and-so high school, she said yes and asked if I am from there as well.  Turns out she's a year ahead of me (her sister is a year behind me) and was who I thought she was.  We didn't really talk at all back in high school because we were different years, but our mothers knew each other.  What a small world huh....

 

 

03.19.2011 - The 3rd time was not the charm (an ipad2 saga)

Been trying to purchase an ipad2 (came out 3/11/2011), but not having much luck.  Apple stores are opening an hour early (9am) and getting daily shipments (# of ipad2's unknown), but it appears  the demand is greatly higher than supply and each day that I try to get the ipad2, I fail.  Today I got to the Valley Fair mall about 10 minutes before 9am, but the line was already some 100 long.  And by 9:10 am or so, an Apple associate came out and said 'sorry, we are all sold out, try again tomorrow, same deal. first come first serve'.  The shipment today was only 50 ipads2.  No clue how many tomorrow's shipment will be.  Clearly an Apple conspiracy to keep demand higher than reality, or truly supply issues?  I'm afraid we'll never know.  The question is only whether I choose to bring a sleeping bag/camping chair tomorrow morning to wait in line.

Apparently Target has them as well, but are also out of stock. This page has links that allows you to check whether a store has a certain model in stock.

03.18.2011 Evan's 6 months checkup

No longer does Evan sit/lie quietly at the regular checkups at the pediatrician's office.  He knows strangers from familiar faces nowadays.  He cried a little to a lot during the entire visit this time; not helped by the immunization shots.  Both his weight and height percentiles came down this visit.  His weight is 17 lb 8 oz and height is 26".

03.14.2011 - Day 176 Evan feeding self

Evan can feed himself a little bit now, he's very curious about everything and reaches out to grab anything he thinks he can reach, and often shoves what he grabs right into his mouth.  Recently, he's started to grab the bottle after drinking the first few ounces.  At first I thought he was just playing with it, but actually, he's able and trying to drink from the bottle himself!  Although he's not yet perfected the technique, he is able to hold up the bottle for a few seconds at a time and manages to down a few sips.  Soon he'll be feeding himself :)