Feeling under the weather with a cold on Thanksgiving, I bagged the idea of getting up at 3 or 4 a.m. to be at the stores by 4:30 or 5 a.m. The days when I would be in line 12 hours at Best Buy for a cheap doorbuster TV, well, never done it, never will.

I pre-shopped Wal-Mart on Wednesday and was surprised that none of the best deals on electronics--TVs, Blu-ray players or laptops were on display. There is a good reason they were oddly missing--I think Wal-Mart will do price adjustments on items previously purchased at a higher price within 7 days--even Black Friday items. When I spoke to a person in Electronics at the Bloomington Wal-Mart, she said they don't adjust door buster prices, but when I asked someone in customer service, she said they do. Readers, please let me know if you tried and succeeded (or failed) to get a price adjustment.

Due to my cold and impatience, I did not ask Wal-Mart to do any price matching of competitors, but I have to pat Wal-Mart on the back for offering such a service. Of course, it's difficult if not impossible to find the same model number on electronics items but it works well for DVD and CD titles on sale at Best Buy, for example.

OK, so I didn't even get to Wal-Mart on University in St. Paul until 8 a.m. today, but they still had a stack of 30 or so Magnavox Blu-ray DVD players for $78. I bought one--a savings of about $50. The flat panel TVs were long gone but I expected the Blu-ray players to be gone too. I'll be keeping my receipt handy. Not sure how good of a unit it is. I'll check reviews online first.

Another pleasant surprise was Herberger's also in St. Paul. I wanted several doorbuster specials there--a griddle for $17 and a TomTom GPS for $97. Both were in stock even though Herberger's opened at 3 a.m. Honestly, I expected the griddle to be in stock. Who else needs one besides me? I was the only one even looking at them. Yes, I know that Kohl's had the griddle for less ($10), so I might need to scoot out there before 1 p.m. to get the $10 rebate coupon.

The funny thing at Herberger's is that everyone brought their coupons and and none were valid because we were all purchasing doorbusters, which are ineligible for the extra discount. Still, I think Herberger's is underrated as a store, just like Von Maur in Eden Prairie. Both offer excellent deals and excellent service.

My needs were simple. I've a good Black Friday experience so far. Hope you all did too.