an extra 20G of hard drive or the ridicule of my friends

I couldn't bring myself to shop for cars today, so I bought a new laptop instead. My old laptop barely made it through the trip and when I realized that I could have wireless access practically everywhere here, the decision was made. I wanted to get the cheapest one I could find at a major retailer, so I found myself choosing between a Compaq and a Toshiba. The sales associate was trying to sell me on the Toshiba, even though the Compaq had more everything and a fancy screen. After I pressed him as to why exactly I would buy the Toshiba, he said, "Well, when you tell your friends that you got a Compaq, they're going to ask you why you didn't get a Toshiba." I decided it was worth the risk.

Later, I met up with some old friends at the Cat & Fiddle and it felt like I never left.