Uncle Bubby and the Half Blood Prince

My wife had pre-ordered a copy of the new Harry Potter book over the internet with the promise that it would arrive on Saturday the 16th. Unfortunately, she received an email on Friday the 15th that it had only just been shipped. Meaning it would be here maybe on Tuesday the 19th.

Well, we couldn't have that! She'd been saying for weeks that she had a date with Harry this weekend. She'd even blocked it out on her calendar. So last night, after the Stargate and BSG premiers, we went off to the local Hastings to buy the book at midnight.

We arrived at the store about an hour early. The already diminished, due to construction, parking lot was full. People were starting to park along a back wall and on the grass next to a car wash adjacent to the store. As we started to make a circle around the marked, and taken, spaces we noticed a vehicle pulling out... behind us. Also behind us were some other cars entering the parking lot. For some reason, the parking gods were smiling upon us because the space was open as we came back around and we parked without too much hassle.

When we entered the store we ran into one of our friends who works there. She told us that those who had pre-ordered from them were lining up in books and others who were just popping in to buy a copy were lining up in video - but not to worry, they had plenty of copies. I was actually along just to give my wife someone to chat with while waiting but we started talking about my preference for audiobooks - especially the Harry Potter series. I went off to find our friend to see if they had any copies of the audiobook and if they were also on sale. They did and they were - $45 instead of $75. She agreed to come find us and bring us one.

On my way back, I came a cross a display of Harry Potter novels, companion books, other merchandise (i.e. a "lumos" book light) and DVDs. I looked for Prisoner of Azkaban, the only one of the three movies I don't yet own, and was delighted to not only find it but find it on sale for $12.99 (marked $24.99). I brought it back with me and we agreed we'd purchase it, too... since we were there anyway.

We stood in line for over an hour and the length of the line more than doubled behind us. Finally, they started handing out books but it was still well after 12:30am before we checked out. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the store was giving away large, 5oz. Hershey's chocolate bars with each purchase. My wife got plain, I got almond. We finally got home and to bed around 1:00am.

My intention was to get up and mow the lawn this morning. It is exceedingly shaggy having not been mowed in about three weeks. Unfortunately, our late night kept me sleeping until around 10:00am (a fact I am extremely happy about - I'm usually up and awake by 7:00am whether I want to be or not) by which time the outside temperature had risen to an uncomfortable level. I opted, instead, to rip the first couple of CDs, load them onto my MP3 player, and start cleaning out my office. Several months ago we had purchased a set of shelves to help organize my eBay stuff - purchases, boxes, tape, shipping scale, etc. - and it was still boxed up in the garage. I took the opportunity to assemble it and get my ebay supplies and inventory organized.

My wife reads much faster than I can listen - I am bound to the narrator's pacing - so she has made it somewhere just past the halfway mark as I type this whereas I only managed a little less than 1/3 of the book finished. No worries - I probably wouldn't even be that far if I were actually reading it.

I should take a moment to let everyone know that I DO enjoy reading. I have rediscovered the joy of it over the past couple of years and try to have one in progress at any given time. I just don't read very fast and it's hard to find time to do it sometimes. I was introduced to audiobooks about 6 years ago and found I really enjoy them - especially on long car trips. They keep my mind occupied better than the radio. This is how I experienced the first Harry Potter book and the narrator, Jim Dale, does such a fantastic job (he's in the Guinness Book of Records for creating 134 character voices for Order of the Phoenix) that I don't want to experience them any other way.

Both of us took a break around 4:00pm to go see Fantastic 4. I've never really followed the comics but it's a fun movie and, as movies go, a "fantastic" introduction to the characters.

The wife is still flipping pages but I think I'm going to wrap this up and get ready for bed. Have a nice weekend, everybody.