Now that's kicking it old school

My dad is a practical man. His idea of a gift is one that he needs, and not just another something to clutter up the house. This year he emphasized this point to us, and told us to really only get him what he needs. So I asked him what he needed. He said a Honda Civic. I wish I had been witty enough to say, Dad, with the economy the way it is, I am scaling back on christmas. But I wasn't, so I just asked him for another idea. Since he told me what to get him, and I told him I was getting it so he better not order it, I do not feel like I am spoiling the surprise by sharing it with you. He wanted a ham radio. A couple of years ago he took the training class so that in the event of an emergency, he could operate the radios and make sure everyone in the Ward/Stake was ok. But he hasn't had his own radio to practice on. So I asked the Emergency Preparedness person what kind to order and how to get one. So she sent me back the info on the exact model number, and several websites. I did all of my christmas shopping online this year, and it involved going to a website, browsing the catalog, selecting the item, and checking out by filling out payment information and shipping information. Voila! With free shipping, my items arrived in a tower of boxes at my house without me having to venture out to a mall. I was thinking, great, I can just order the ham radio from the comfort of my living room, and have it arrive for Christmas. I went to several websites. They were impossible to search! There was no catalog with pictures, no google search engine, nothing. Finally I found the radios. I tried to check out. There is no check out mechanism! You have to call! Calling!??!?! What is this? So I found a website that did have a check out mechanism, but they only allow you to use PayPal. Well, so far I have avoided ever having a paypal account, and after I figured out the requirements, I have decided to continue my stance against PayPal. So I went back to the site with the phone number. What?! No Voicemail? They don't have workers answering the phone around the clock? So I waited......... I called back, and the man answered the phone and said Can I put you on hold? I said yes, and he said Darn, where is the hold button? So while I was on hold, I could hear what was going on :) So then he comes back and takes my order over the phone. I have no idea if the ham radio will really arrive here, because what if he writes down my address incorrectly? So I am praying that the ham radio does show up on my porch before Christmas.....