The Hunt for Wii Fit

John requested a Wii Fit from the boys and me for a combined birthday/Father's Day present this year. Anyone that has tried to find a Wii Fit knows that they are nearly impossible to get. I gladly accepted the challenge.

Has anyone searched for a Wii Fit? Do you know that if you are not standing right next to the shelf when they are placed on it at the store, your chances of getting one are about the same as your chances of winning the lottery while pooping diamonds out of your butt?

John came home one day to tell me that he was just at a nearby Wal-Mart, and they had 6 Wii Fits on their shelf. Since I did not have the powers to immediately orb myself to the store, I was not able to obtain one of these six. But I was not deterred. I started a calling and online search campaign to try to track which stores had online or in-store Wii Fit inventory.

So one day, I got lucky. Two Wal-Mart stores listed on their websites in-store availability. I jumped in my car and hauled it to the closest store. Did they have one? No. Sold out over the weekend. Then why did the computer say they still had some? Always call first I was told. They called the other store for me, which was also sold out. I wasn't ready to give up. I was right by a Circuit City so I checked there. No luck. Best Buy down the street? No luck.

John called and asked if I was heading home soon and was I stopping for lunch. There was a Steak -N-Shake up the street so I headed that way. Nearby was a GameStop. No luck. Ultimate Electronics - nope.

My last hope was Target. I saw a little crowd by the Wii aisle. Could it be? Yes! There were 5 Wii Fits on the shelf, and four people in line. The person waiting on us said they had just put them on the shelf. They sold out in less than 4 minutes, if you count checking out - 30 seconds if you count shelf to hands.

So, had Wal-Mart updated their computer inventory, I never would have driven to that store. Had I called first to check the inventory, I never would have left my desk. Had I gone to Target in any other order in my adventure, I would have missed the Wii Fits - I only had a 30 second window. Had John not called for a cheeseburger, I wouldn't have gone to Target at all.

And you might find this the most boring and mundane post in the world, but I am just amazed at how the timing worked to put me in that Target in that 30 second window so I could get John the one thing he asked for on his 37th birthday.