The day started off like any other. There was a nip in the air, but the sun was shining and no dogs had peed on the floor during the night. It was going to be a good day. I awoke early, along with my Wife, in preparation for our hunt of what would come to be known as the Elusive Red Lumia 920.
We set out on our journey at around 9:30 am. It was later than I had liked, but my Wife had urged me to take my time before leaving and she can be quite persuasive.....and pregnant. Of course, leaving later did have its advantages, such as missing the worst of the traffic. Unlucky for us, leaving later was not very beneficial because of some unfortunate, lane blocking, car accidents that had preceded us.
Our first stop was meant to be our only stop, and had we known the journey that was before us we would have definitely planned ahead! We arrived at the AT&T store in Redmond, WA at the Redmond Town Center right around 10:30 am. As we drew near our fears were strengthening.....there was a long line outside the store!
We did not take time to count, but surely 50 or more people stood outside the store, eagerly awaiting their chance at the Elusive Red Lumia 920 (and possible other Lumia 920 species as well!). Ten minutes in line felt shorter thanks to passerby's inquiring conversations. "Why are you standing in line?" and "What is this long line for?" was quite common from those still ignorant of the wonders of Windows Phone 8. It was good to think that maybe a few more people would be heading home to do their own research on Windows Phone 8.
"10 red and 10 cyan left!", a voice called out from the front of the line. A man in a blue shirt holding a digital pad looking professional enough to grab our attention. "We only have 10 red and 10 cyan left! And we only have about 30 black left as well!".
A quick count of the line ahead confirmed our worst fears, we were not going to be getting our hands on the Elusive Red Lumia 920 on our first try.
We conversed with the man in the blue shirt.
"Has the red been very popular today and do you know where we might find one elsewhere?", we asked.
"Yes, the Red Lumia 920 has been one of our most popular today. I'm not sure, the closest store with Red is in Woodinville, but they had a smaller shipment and still have 35 people in line", he replied.
"How about Northgate Mall?", we eagerly inquired.
"That might be a good choice, they have a big store there.", his words brightened the recently darkened day.
And so we headed out....to get dog food. Did I forget to mention we had to buy dog food? Yeah, we had to buy dog food.
With near 60lbs of dog food loaded into the car we pointed our vehicle towards Seattle and the Northgate Mall. It was an uninteresting trip of about 35 minutes. Although our eyes constantly scanned the shopping centers and buildings along the way, hoping to spot another AT&T store with no luck.
Arriving at the Northgate Mall at around 12:00 noon we felt encouraged, maybe a bit 'giddy', with hope that we'd find our treasured prize. We parked with the AT&T store in view, took our (her pregnant) time getting out of the car, and safely picked our way through the parking lot and into the mall.
"Uh Oh!", we both exclaimed!
It was another line! How could this be? But we were comforted that the length of the line was much shorter than our previous experience. We remained hopeful that this AT&T store had enough Lumias for everyone. Thinking ahead, I suggested to my Wife that she search the mall for the AT&T kiosk to see if they had any of the Elusive Red Lumia 920's just in case, and to call me if they did. She left to complete her task and I headed to the front of the line to speak with the woman in blue holding the digital pad, to put my name on the list.
"Do you have any Lumia 920's, the red ones?", I asked.
"Yes, we have black ones, but only 2 red ones left", she replied in a friendly tone.
"We'll take our chances!", and she put my name on the list.
About 12 people were ahead of me in line, but from listening to their conversations it seemed they were searching for black, not red.
A few minutes later and my Wife had returned with the bad news. The AT&T kiosk did not have any red ones in stock, in fact they didn't have any at all! However, she left our phone number with the man there who said he was expecting a shipment any minute and he would call if he was delivered any of the Elusive Red Lumia 920's.
Upon my wife's arrival, the woman in blue with the digital pad noticed my Wife's showing pregnancy and whispered to us, "I put you at the front of the line", to which she received two very big "Thank You's" with matching smiles.
Surely this was a good omen, a sign that our saved karma was redeemable at AT&T!
A few minutes later, "Hello, are you Scott?", asked another man in a blue shirt.
"Yes, yes I am!", my Wife had to hold my arm to keep me from jumping with joy. "We would like a Red Lumia 920, please."
"Ok, I think we are out of the Red Lumias, but we still have a few more black ones. I'll go in back and double check about the Red Lumias", his words rang out like a judges voice hanging on the verdict for when you get caught ripping off the safety tag from a mattress.
"Sorry, we don't have any Red ones", GUILTY!, the judge had spoken.
My Wife lead me to the kiosk. Although we had not received a phone call from the man there yet, we pressed our luck. Arriving at the Kiosk we noticed a pile of unopened boxes at the man's feet.
Recognizing my Wife, the man spoke first, "Hi! We just got a shipment in right here", pointing to the boxes at his feet.
"I'll open them up right now".
Cardboard ripped apart, tape clinged desperately, and the knife! It was surreal, almost slow motion, like a dream.
He opened the first box, Black Lumia 920, Black Lumia 920, Black Lumia 920....and it went on.
The next box, White Lumia 920! This was encouraging! Perhaps other colors were in the boxes as well. White Lumia 920, Black Lumia 920, Black Lumia 920, the box was empty.
The final box was motionless, but seemed to scream from the inside, glowing like a powerful energy was waiting to be released.
He went in with the knife, skillfully with the recent practice. It was open, the Lumia's cages peaked out from behind torn cardboard, tape, and mountains of packaging.
Cyan Lumia 920! Cyan Lumia 920! Cyan Lumia 920!
and....it was empty! No Elusive Red Lumia 920! That was it, our chances at finding the Elusive Red Lumia 920 at the Northgate Mall came crashing down upon us, like the weight of my HTC Tilt 2 on our shoulders, we could almost not bear it.
Fighting despair, I pulled out my ancient HTC Tilt 2 running Windows Mobile 6.5 and using all my strength and concentration, activated the web browser with a firm press of my finger.
....time...
....passed...
....slowly...
And the web browser finally loaded. Wasting no more time, I searched for the phone number of the next AT&T mall location on our quest, the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, WA.
Sensing the growing loss of patience and increasing anxiety in both of us, my Wife grabbed my phone and called, ordering me to "Drive! I will call them while you get us there sooner!". There are many reasons why I love my Wife, her being awesome was one of them.
"The first store doesn't have any Lumia's left at all", the unwanting words spilled out of her mouth against her will. "I will call the second store right now", she said, as I continued driving toward the freeway.
"The second store still has several Red Lumias!" Again, a struck of luck or perhaps my Wife was truly made of magic and willed them to be there. My Wife confirmed with the AT&T person on the phone that they indeed had several Red Lumias left.
And our hopes rebounded, for a moment.
Seattle traffic loomed its ugly head. It rampaged all through Seattle and Interstate 5, our only route to the Southcenter Mall. The two of us together, we forged our way through the smokey stench of Seattle's traffic, dodging the rivers of stress and anger, toward the HOV lane a few miles ahead.
With time and patience behind us we pulled into the parking lot of the Southcenter Mall. With renewed vigor we exited and locked the doors of our fine vessel as it snorted its last breath before taking a well deserved nap.
My wallet has never felt this heavy. We opened the doors of the AT&T store and briskly headed directly to the first person wearing blue, she smiled at us as we approached.
"How can I help you?", she greeted in a friendly tone.
"Do you have any Red Lumia 920's?", it took every effort to quell our excitement.
"Yes, we have several left, let me go get one for you.", we were both stunned into silence.
And there it was, shiny, Red, beautiful, and out of its cage. The woman in blue taking care to properly feed and prepare it for us before handing it over.
And it felt...wonderful, solid, Red. Like finding a diamond in a sea of sand, like a needle in a haystack, like finding a snowball in Hawaii, after much searching the Elusive Red Lumia 920 was ours.
Of course, I forgot to mention that my Wife had already ordered her Yellow Lumia 920 online. Nevertheless, I immediately handed it over to my Wife. Naturally she deserved to spend as much time as possible with it. I still had the job of getting us, and by us I mean our Elusive Red Lumia 920, home safely.
Our quest for the Elusive Red Lumia 920 was over, but our Windows Phone 8 journey had just begun!
The Elusive Red Lumia 920 joins our Windows Mobile Family. Can you name all of the phones below? (answers below the picture!)
Top: Elusive Red Nokia Lumia 920
Left: Samsung Focus
Right: Samsung Focus
Bottom Left: HTC Pure
Bottom Middle: HTC Tilt 2
We set out on our journey at around 9:30 am. It was later than I had liked, but my Wife had urged me to take my time before leaving and she can be quite persuasive.....and pregnant. Of course, leaving later did have its advantages, such as missing the worst of the traffic. Unlucky for us, leaving later was not very beneficial because of some unfortunate, lane blocking, car accidents that had preceded us.
Our first stop was meant to be our only stop, and had we known the journey that was before us we would have definitely planned ahead! We arrived at the AT&T store in Redmond, WA at the Redmond Town Center right around 10:30 am. As we drew near our fears were strengthening.....there was a long line outside the store!
We did not take time to count, but surely 50 or more people stood outside the store, eagerly awaiting their chance at the Elusive Red Lumia 920 (and possible other Lumia 920 species as well!). Ten minutes in line felt shorter thanks to passerby's inquiring conversations. "Why are you standing in line?" and "What is this long line for?" was quite common from those still ignorant of the wonders of Windows Phone 8. It was good to think that maybe a few more people would be heading home to do their own research on Windows Phone 8.
"10 red and 10 cyan left!", a voice called out from the front of the line. A man in a blue shirt holding a digital pad looking professional enough to grab our attention. "We only have 10 red and 10 cyan left! And we only have about 30 black left as well!".
A quick count of the line ahead confirmed our worst fears, we were not going to be getting our hands on the Elusive Red Lumia 920 on our first try.
We conversed with the man in the blue shirt.
"Has the red been very popular today and do you know where we might find one elsewhere?", we asked.
"Yes, the Red Lumia 920 has been one of our most popular today. I'm not sure, the closest store with Red is in Woodinville, but they had a smaller shipment and still have 35 people in line", he replied.
"How about Northgate Mall?", we eagerly inquired.
"That might be a good choice, they have a big store there.", his words brightened the recently darkened day.
And so we headed out....to get dog food. Did I forget to mention we had to buy dog food? Yeah, we had to buy dog food.
With near 60lbs of dog food loaded into the car we pointed our vehicle towards Seattle and the Northgate Mall. It was an uninteresting trip of about 35 minutes. Although our eyes constantly scanned the shopping centers and buildings along the way, hoping to spot another AT&T store with no luck.
Arriving at the Northgate Mall at around 12:00 noon we felt encouraged, maybe a bit 'giddy', with hope that we'd find our treasured prize. We parked with the AT&T store in view, took our (her pregnant) time getting out of the car, and safely picked our way through the parking lot and into the mall.
"Uh Oh!", we both exclaimed!
It was another line! How could this be? But we were comforted that the length of the line was much shorter than our previous experience. We remained hopeful that this AT&T store had enough Lumias for everyone. Thinking ahead, I suggested to my Wife that she search the mall for the AT&T kiosk to see if they had any of the Elusive Red Lumia 920's just in case, and to call me if they did. She left to complete her task and I headed to the front of the line to speak with the woman in blue holding the digital pad, to put my name on the list.
"Do you have any Lumia 920's, the red ones?", I asked.
"Yes, we have black ones, but only 2 red ones left", she replied in a friendly tone.
"We'll take our chances!", and she put my name on the list.
About 12 people were ahead of me in line, but from listening to their conversations it seemed they were searching for black, not red.
A few minutes later and my Wife had returned with the bad news. The AT&T kiosk did not have any red ones in stock, in fact they didn't have any at all! However, she left our phone number with the man there who said he was expecting a shipment any minute and he would call if he was delivered any of the Elusive Red Lumia 920's.
Upon my wife's arrival, the woman in blue with the digital pad noticed my Wife's showing pregnancy and whispered to us, "I put you at the front of the line", to which she received two very big "Thank You's" with matching smiles.
Surely this was a good omen, a sign that our saved karma was redeemable at AT&T!
A few minutes later, "Hello, are you Scott?", asked another man in a blue shirt.
"Yes, yes I am!", my Wife had to hold my arm to keep me from jumping with joy. "We would like a Red Lumia 920, please."
"Ok, I think we are out of the Red Lumias, but we still have a few more black ones. I'll go in back and double check about the Red Lumias", his words rang out like a judges voice hanging on the verdict for when you get caught ripping off the safety tag from a mattress.
"Sorry, we don't have any Red ones", GUILTY!, the judge had spoken.
My Wife lead me to the kiosk. Although we had not received a phone call from the man there yet, we pressed our luck. Arriving at the Kiosk we noticed a pile of unopened boxes at the man's feet.
Recognizing my Wife, the man spoke first, "Hi! We just got a shipment in right here", pointing to the boxes at his feet.
"I'll open them up right now".
Cardboard ripped apart, tape clinged desperately, and the knife! It was surreal, almost slow motion, like a dream.
He opened the first box, Black Lumia 920, Black Lumia 920, Black Lumia 920....and it went on.
The next box, White Lumia 920! This was encouraging! Perhaps other colors were in the boxes as well. White Lumia 920, Black Lumia 920, Black Lumia 920, the box was empty.
The final box was motionless, but seemed to scream from the inside, glowing like a powerful energy was waiting to be released.
He went in with the knife, skillfully with the recent practice. It was open, the Lumia's cages peaked out from behind torn cardboard, tape, and mountains of packaging.
Cyan Lumia 920! Cyan Lumia 920! Cyan Lumia 920!
and....it was empty! No Elusive Red Lumia 920! That was it, our chances at finding the Elusive Red Lumia 920 at the Northgate Mall came crashing down upon us, like the weight of my HTC Tilt 2 on our shoulders, we could almost not bear it.
Fighting despair, I pulled out my ancient HTC Tilt 2 running Windows Mobile 6.5 and using all my strength and concentration, activated the web browser with a firm press of my finger.
....time...
....passed...
....slowly...
And the web browser finally loaded. Wasting no more time, I searched for the phone number of the next AT&T mall location on our quest, the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, WA.
Sensing the growing loss of patience and increasing anxiety in both of us, my Wife grabbed my phone and called, ordering me to "Drive! I will call them while you get us there sooner!". There are many reasons why I love my Wife, her being awesome was one of them.
"The first store doesn't have any Lumia's left at all", the unwanting words spilled out of her mouth against her will. "I will call the second store right now", she said, as I continued driving toward the freeway.
"The second store still has several Red Lumias!" Again, a struck of luck or perhaps my Wife was truly made of magic and willed them to be there. My Wife confirmed with the AT&T person on the phone that they indeed had several Red Lumias left.
And our hopes rebounded, for a moment.
Seattle traffic loomed its ugly head. It rampaged all through Seattle and Interstate 5, our only route to the Southcenter Mall. The two of us together, we forged our way through the smokey stench of Seattle's traffic, dodging the rivers of stress and anger, toward the HOV lane a few miles ahead.
With time and patience behind us we pulled into the parking lot of the Southcenter Mall. With renewed vigor we exited and locked the doors of our fine vessel as it snorted its last breath before taking a well deserved nap.
My wallet has never felt this heavy. We opened the doors of the AT&T store and briskly headed directly to the first person wearing blue, she smiled at us as we approached.
"How can I help you?", she greeted in a friendly tone.
"Do you have any Red Lumia 920's?", it took every effort to quell our excitement.
"Yes, we have several left, let me go get one for you.", we were both stunned into silence.
And there it was, shiny, Red, beautiful, and out of its cage. The woman in blue taking care to properly feed and prepare it for us before handing it over.
And it felt...wonderful, solid, Red. Like finding a diamond in a sea of sand, like a needle in a haystack, like finding a snowball in Hawaii, after much searching the Elusive Red Lumia 920 was ours.
Of course, I forgot to mention that my Wife had already ordered her Yellow Lumia 920 online. Nevertheless, I immediately handed it over to my Wife. Naturally she deserved to spend as much time as possible with it. I still had the job of getting us, and by us I mean our Elusive Red Lumia 920, home safely.
Our quest for the Elusive Red Lumia 920 was over, but our Windows Phone 8 journey had just begun!
The Elusive Red Lumia 920 joins our Windows Mobile Family. Can you name all of the phones below? (answers below the picture!)
Top: Elusive Red Nokia Lumia 920
Left: Samsung Focus
Right: Samsung Focus
Bottom Left: HTC Pure
Bottom Middle: HTC Tilt 2
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