I'm printered out. We've still got a brand new printer in a box that's been in a closet for a year and a half. It came free with the laptop. I tried to give it away once, but it didn't take.

Then there is the network laser printer, the large format ink jet printer, the regular ink jet printer, and the laser printer I hooked up to my computer just for book stuff (I pulled it out of a closet where it had been sitting for something like three years).

Last thing I actually bought from Radio Shack was a overpriced battery, because I had already tried two other places. The grocery store sold the same type of battery for half the price, the GROCERY store, but the grocery store was sold out so Radio Shack got a sale.

Their business model baffles me too.

The last time I was in a Radio Shack (which were bought in Canada by Circuit city and renamed The Source) I was completely ignored by all the sales people as they hovered around one guy who was buying a home theatre system.

When life is good, all we have are two printers, the big one that does large format and duplexes, which is a b&w laser and the multifunction, which is color, but inkjet.

Right now we have four printers in the house, but only one of those probably works at the moment, and it's the teeny tiny one meant to fit in a laptop bag.

I was completely ignored by all the sales people as they hovered around one guy who was buying a home theatre system.

I had a guy who was helping me say, "I'll be back" and then walked up to another customer and say "may I help you sir", and then proceeded to start another transaction.

The last time I was in a Radio Shack (which were bought in Canada by Circuit city and renamed The Source) I was completely ignored by all the sales people

Yeah, whatever.

buying a home theatre system

Oooh, what kind?!

I lost any remaining respect for radio Shack the day I walked into one around 1998 and mused to a salesman that I wished one could buy replacement female ends for standard computer power cords, so you could make your own length like you can for extension cords.

He said it wouldn't work, because "all computers have different cords." He was serious.

I just started laughing and had to walk out.

Granted, there are a few specialty cords, but this was well into standardization and we weren't talking about laptop power cables. Plus? Right in front of us was a (fantastically overpriced) standard 3 slot computer power cord.

I should have been easier on him, I suppose, they had gotten rid of their diodes and such at that store YEARS before.

I miss the racks and racks of neat stuff.

I always got good help at my neighborhood Radio Shack in KC. I actually like RS because it is small and not as overwhelming as the big box stores like Best Buy.

I had a guy who was helping me say, "I'll be back" and then walked up to another customer and say "may I help you sir", and then proceeded to start another transaction.

This is the rudest shit ever.

I had a guy who was helping me say, "I'll be back" and then walked up to another customer and say "may I help you sir", and then proceeded to start another transaction.

It's probably one of those corporate things where they're measured on how quickly each customer is helped when they walk into the store....but not on whether there's follow through, or each customer actually gets...HELP.

I think the last time I went to one was when I moved here to Seattle, and the apartment I was subletting had a tiny TV, but only to watch DVDs, so I went there (since there was a Radio Shack downtown, and big-box stores were not easily accessible) to buy rabbit ears, so I could watch TV.