PopCap Games rings in the holidays with some Mac user love.  They’re selling all Mac download games for 50% off. That’s right. 50%.

PopCap games have been making games for a long time and Christmas holidays have always been something they’ve taken to heart. Early PopCap games paid tribute to Santa and the like. That’s where I got hooked.

I’m still a fan after all these years, so I’m excited about this limited time offer of 50% sale on all Mac downloads.

PopCap Games Mac Download Sale

Sale ends December 23rd.

Micro Center, the well known electronics and computer store, has opened a store in the St. Louis metro area. It’s Brentwood location is the 22nd store in the chain. Micro Center will be filling the role now left empty by the closing of Circuit City and CompUSA stores.

I had to check this store out as I’m a gadget and computer geek. Twitter and local papers were a buzz about it opening. Apparently it has a great reputation in other locations.

Entering the store, the rows of gear is immediately visible. Off to the right is their service center. Off to the left the check out lanes. Walking in though, you’ll notice that there is no ‘center’ aisle. There are aisles but they don’t line up center and that’s not a problem.  They do serve to divide up sections.

Computers of every make and model take up most of the right front quarter of the store.  There are laptops, desktops, netbooks, and some of those not quite one or the other sizes. Brands included Dell, HP, Acer, and believe it or not, Apple.

Interesting is the inclusion of refurbished, remanufactured, and discontinued computers.  These were also available in various types from desktop to laptop.  The prices were lower on these models, and they actually had more than one of each in stock, literally on the floor.

Wending my way past those, I was greeted by really friendly clerk. He asked if I needed help finding something or just wanted to take it all in. I laughed. There was a lot to take in. We talked about the store opening. It had only been open five days.

He told me about this being store 22, and how they were excited to be in St. Louis. Of course I mentioned CompUSA and Circuit City failures. The clerk said their management was well aware of those closings and planned to learn from the mistakes made by those companies.

Computers aren’t the only thing you’ll find along that side. Walking past them I found the camera center. Warning, it is not as large floor space wise as some stores. On the plus side, there is quite the selection of pocket size cameras. Variety again was shown by including many different models and styles, as well as refurb cameras. There were some specials running but unfortunately not anyone I could make use of that visit.

I’ll save you the suspense of me walking you through all the rest of the aisles. How about some quick notes.

• Video games section – lots of titles – retail prices – more hardware than most places
• Sound – they have a large selection of speakers, earphones, microphones and more – well worth a visit just for this
• roll your own PC – this store has it all. Cases, boards, wires, adapters. Several discounts were running in this section which covered nearly a fourth of the floor space of the store.
• accessories galore – mice from high end to $5. Keyboards the same. Cables of every type and style.
• networking – more than just a few routers. modems, routers, access points – several brands and sizes
• books – lots of variety here

All around, if you’re into electronics and miss this place, you’ve missed out.  Best Buy, in my opinion, is going to get a serious run for their money by Micro Center.

Best points:

• Easy to get to – right off Eager and 170.
• Lots of brands.
• Friendly staff.
• Mac gear.
• Latest gaming titles – including just release Dragon Age and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Discounted items and special buys
• Free wifi – yes, free wifi

Oh, it doesn’t have music. It doesn’t have DVDs or BluRay videos. There were no refrigerators, stoves, or microwaves. No carpet. No fancy displays. No wall size television.

In other words, it’s not your typical consumer electronics store as found in St. Louis. So go out, check out the new store in Brentwood. Heck, buy me a gift card while you’re there.

Cheers,

Todd

Taggart, my brother, is afflicted with ALS. It’s not a pretty disease. Just months ago Tag was a truck driver, working 60 hours a week driving. Today he is wheelchair bound.  The progress hasn’t slowed yet since they uncovered it.

This week we visited and Tag requires assistance full time. I arrived in time to help him out of bed into his wheelchair. During our visit, his wife had to help him onto the toilet. At the end of the visit, Tag was helped into bed.

It’s not pretty. Tag’s a fighter though.  He’s working to maintain his dignity. At every turn he did what he could by himself.  His one arm is still strong enough to allow him to push the wheel chair himself if the surface allows.

Tag is still making use of his good hand for more than just feeding himself. His current hobby is repairing, upgrading and customizing XBox 360 consoles. He’s got three he’s working on now.  Tag even tackles play testing them with just the one hand.

The mood could be dark but Tag isn’t settling for that.  It’s a bit tougher on everyone else though.  His wife has decided to go to work part time only so to be able to care for him.  Our mother has been his primary caretaker for a while now. It’s a lot of work for her.

Tag spends his waking moments working on the consoles, playing Xbox 360 games, and occasionally getting some sun. The family desperately needs some ramps though. Right now for him to leave the house, someone has to carry him over steps from one wheelchair to another.

We plan on visiting with him as often as possible. It really seems to lift his spirits. Though him and I talked a bunch on this visit, it is getting decidedly more difficult for him to carry on a conversation for more than a few minutes.

He’s opted to accept using a tracheotomy tube for breathing. That should give him several extra months of decent life.  Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be any treatment to cure ALS. Only symptoms can be dealt with and those not well.

What do I want? Just your positive energy, prayers, and for you to give all the love you can to those in your life. Forgive any issues between you and the loved one and move on with the rest of your lives.  You won’t have them forever.

Thanks for your continued support.

Cheers,

Todd