Tuesday, November 14th, 3 days until launch

Jeff unexpectedly pulls out of the team.  It appears that he can no longer afford to miss his Friday morning class.  We are down to three people, with hopes that Simon's roommate Jimmy can pinch-hit for Jeff.

Time-off of second job... still unconfirmed.

Wednesday, November 15th, 2 days until launch

Two days left until the Playstation 3 officially hits stores and only one day before our mission begins, I have yet to get confirmation that I have Thursday night off of work.  I have high hopes that when I get to work Wednesday night that everything will be straightened out.

I arrive at work and look at the work schedule.  I'm still on for Thursday.  I then look around for any notes someone may have left to inform me I have Thursday off.  No luck.  I ask my other co-workers about my status, but to no avail.  It seems that no one is really sure what is going on with me and my time-off.  Perplexed, I go back to work.

My phone vibrates in my pocket.  I quickly look to see that it's Simon calling and he leaves a message.  Simon knows that I'm at work yet he still called?  Seems to me it's important so I go and listen to the message.  It's safe to say that Simon is "freaking out".  He says we need to hold an emergency team meeting.  He isn't specific on the problems but I fear the worst.  Nervous, I go back to work.

I get another phone call, this one I'm able to take.  It's Tracie.  Finally I can get some stuff straightened out.  Tracie asks me if I have heard anything on my time-off.  I, of course, have no idea.  She says she'll get back to me.  Depressed, I go back to work.

As I get off work I quickly call Simon back.  He informs me that almost every store on the list we compiled already has a line formed.  Only a few stores are holding out on creating lines, stating that lines cannot be formed before a certain time on a certain day.  Those stores are our only hope.  One bright note is that Jimmy is now confirmed in.  Our team is back up to 4.

Thursday, November 16th, 12:10am, <2 days until launch

After a few back and forth calls from Tracie and myself, we come to the decision that there is no reason why I shouldn't have the time off with a week advance warning.  Everyone else takes plenty of time off, so I should be allowed one night.  Time-off for job two, confirmed.  I call Simon and give him the final confirmation.  Relieved, I go to sleep.

Thursday, November 16th, 3:35pm, <24 hours until launch

After 4 hours of work and 2 hours of class I arrive home to find Simon waiting for me.  The original plan was for him to help me carry my supplies over to his place, but Simon is being anything but calm.  All around the area, stores that pledged no lines would begin before a certain time fell to the mighty strength of the consumer.  Operation: Double Trouble has failed.  Lines were formed where they said they could not be and the stores caved.  We were losing potential stores by the second.

We get inside and we grab anything we can hold.  Within minutes Rachel is downstairs with the car and we jump in and drive.  We zoom to Simon's apartment and pick up Jimmy.  We are headed north, to a Target in Everett, where they claim their line will not start until 5pm.

We of course hit rush hour traffic.  There was no avoiding it.  According to the time estimation billboard, it will take us 45 minutes to get to Everett.  According to Mapquest, it will take us 10 minutes to get to Target once we get off the highway.  I apply my math major skills and deduce we are cutting it too close.

Simon displays our massive list of stores being narrowed to but a few

We keep our eyes transfixed on the hour fast clock on the dashboard as we crawl through traffic.  The sun sets, as does our hopes.  After over an hour of traveling, we reach our destination.

Yet we see no line.  A crowd of people disperse as we drive into the parking lot.  We're not sure what just happened, so we ask a few people standing around.  Apparently, there was a mad rush for the line as soon as they allowed it, but instead of first-come first-serve they did a raffle.  The helpful people ask us if we know anywhere else to get a PS3.  We play coy and say no.  After potty breaks inside Target we head back to the car so we can plan our next move.

We discover another Target is beginning a line at 6pm.  We figure it will most likely become another raffle, but it's close so we decide to go.  We don't have directions, so we call the Target to figure out which exit to take.  After driving for half an hour, we start to realize something isn't right about where we are going, because we are almost back to Seattle.  We call Target again and they tell us which exit again to take, only this time, they are more clear.  The number they told us was the road, not the exit number.  We now have no chance of making it to this Target.

With our hopes crushed once again, we return to Simon's apartment to regroup.  There we find a shed of hope, at yet another Target, this time in the familiar city known only as Federal Way...

The Real Adventure Begins >>>

Jaybird currently resides in Seattle where he reads comics, works in a library, and writes for this site.  He has also been known to blow your mind, rock your world, and eat pizza.