>>>>>Hi Gang!
>>>>>
>>>>>Went to The New Efficiency Launch Event at Falls Church, VA yesterday.....
>>>>>
>>>>>Had a great time there!
>>>>>
>>>>>Drove up on Tuesday evening, and stayed overnite at a friends apartment (free dinner too - home cooked - YUM!)....
>>>>>
>>>>>Got up early and headed over to the event about 12 miles away.... stopped at Panera Bread and ate breakfast there and then proceeded to the event at the AMC Theatre at Falls Church - that was a HECK of a place to find! The Theatre is on the 4th floor and the AMC logo is hard to find when you are looking for a Theatre that is on the OUTSIDE... not INSIDE the mall!!! Oh well...
>>>>>
>>>>>Parked, went in and got my Snack Pack - Fruit and Drink and waited for it to start. The bag given out had lots of trial software (Windows 2008 - R2 and Forefront and the Microsoft System Center... also the Springboard Readiness Software... lots of printed info and a nice Black Microsoft T-Shirt.
>>>>>
>>>>>Went to the IT Pro lectures and the speakers were very good. Just from the presentations, Windows 7 integrated with Server 2008 R2 will be fantastic!!
>>>>>
>>>>>After the lectures, went out to get in line for the FREEBIE.... Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit with the Key!! And from what I've read, the key should work on 64 bit also.... so I need to get a 64 bit version for my PC... hmmmm... where to get that from ???
>>>>>
>>>>>Washington DC (inside the Captial Beltway where my friends live) was gridlocked yesterday.... going 12 miles took 1 1/2 hours!!! And going through DC to get someone from the NIH to go eat with friends took about another Hour to go 4 miles!!! YIKES...
>>>>>
>>>>>And I complain about Greensboro traffic!!!! Nevermore!!!
>>>>>
>>>>>Left last night around 11:30 and drove back to Greensboro, NC... took about 4 1/2 hours!! Go home around 4:30 and back at work today at 8.... yawn.............. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
>>>>>
>>>>>It was a lot of fun... will install the Windows 7 as soon as HP upgrades the drivers for its OfficeJet 6500 printer (which I picked up for a song from Office-Depot for about $20 !! (you can too! It has been reduced to be on Instant Sale for $99.99 - and with a trade in of ANY printer you get an Instant Rebate of $50 taking it down to $49.99. The INK in my old printer had run out and was going to cost around $30... so $49.99 - $30.00 = $19.99 for the printer (it comes with its own ink inside!).... But it doesn't have the Windows 7 printer drivers yet from HP... will be out later this month!) So when that comes out, I will reinstall everything with Windows 7!!!
>>>>
>>>>Not at Office Depot, though. They are one of the big box chains that have gone under in the past year or two.
>>>>
>>>>Re ink, do a google on misleading early warnings of ink cartridges going dry. There has been some publicity, involving HP and possibly other manufacturers. I don't replace mine until I actually see the problem on printouts. Also, know that the ink cartridges that come with new printers are not full ones.
>>>>
>>>>The event sounds like it was worthwhile. By the time I tried to sign up it was too late here.
>>>
>>>Office Depot still has a valid website and the store here in Fayetteville is still open. I think you are confusing it with Circuit City...
>>>Office Depot did have a large decline in sales that was just reported in the news recently. Maybe that is why you got the two confused.
>>
>>Not confused, just didn't realize there are still some open in other parts of the country. All the Office Depot stores around here closed earlier this year after they went bankrupt. Circuit City locations around Chicago are also shuttered.
>
>I just found the news story where office depot announced back in Dec 08 that they were closing 112 underperforming stores so I guess yours fell into that category.

As it turns out, I was confused, LOL. The Office Depot near me had a big going out of business sale a few months ago and is now empty. I mistakenly thought the entire chain had gone under, and in fact may have been confusing it with Circuit City, as you say. CC was having going out of business sales around the same time. My mistake.