to the Broadway Sports Authority -- once known to one and all as the Gart Sports Palace -- to check out the first tent set up in advance of the store's annual Sniagrab sale (the word is "bargains" spelled backwards!) Each year, oodles of skiers wait for the extravaganza, when ski gear from the previous season goes on major markdown, and while the tent was unoccupied when I visited, I'm sure its owner will return shortly. And when does the 2009 edition of Sniagrab get underway? At 8 a.m. on Saturday, September 5 -- ten days from now.

Clear your schedule immediately. After all, there's already somebody in front of you.