Hardware construction is a funny thing. Sometimes, regardless of the money you throw at something, you just can't get products to come together any quicker. Evidently that's the case with Barnes & Noble's Nook , which has seen its estimated ship date slip from today to sometime after the holidays , and now to January 11th. There's still a sliver of hope that you'll be able to snag one from a high-traffic retail location on December 7th , but unless you're planning on abandoning ship and helping the Kindle have its new best month ever , the realistic choices are pretty clear: a) pay Tickle Me Elmo-like prices on eBay or b) drop an IOU in a nicely wrapped box, preferably with a cute puppy. We suggest the latter.[Thanks, Dave and Wes]P.S. - We're also hearing that pre-orders (even those placed moments after it was announced) are also being pushed back, though hopefully they'll still be received before December 25th.