And so I got myself my mp3 player. Yes, the Creative Zen Touch 20GB is mine, all mine! I had to trawl through several shops, but finally, there it was in Dixons behind lock and key. There were others too, in all kind of funky colours and shapes, but I'd set my sights on the Creative, and so had no time for the sales person's pitch. I just pointed to it and said "that one, please - no, don't tell me about it, just get it for me".

Twenty minutes later he emerged from the back of the shop, and apologising said they only had the one on display left. He took it out for me, and I looked it over carefully. I noticed the casing was scratched a little, and remarking that it looked a little battered, handed it back to him. A senior sales person came over, looked at it, and asked if I would agree to a 20% discount. At the till, the young man asked if I'd like a 3-year extended warranty on it as well -- then he rang it up and I got a 20% discount on that too!

I'm not a haggler. I never ask for discounts, much less demand them. To talk of money or haggle over prices makes me extremely uncomfortable, which is why I'm always being overcharged in the Middle East. I had made the remark in all innocence, and hadn't expected them to react with such an offer, but when they did, I felt it would be churlish of me not to accept. So now I have the mp3 player of my choice, but it's a little less shiny than I expected. Oh well, main thing is, it works.

Now all I need, is 5,000 mp3, or 10,000 wma files to download to it.