load in case of duplicate unique

save_or_load.py

#Problem is, if I had a unique field, and I'd get an error when trying to save a new object that was conflicting with it,
#I wanted the object to load automatically in case it already exists
#So I wrote a custom save function (which returns the ID in case the object already exists)
def save(self, *args, **kwargs):
    try:
        super(Place, self).save(*args, **kwargs)
    except IntegrityError, e:
        existing_object = Place.objects.get(slug=self.slug)
        self = existing_object #this doesn't really work for some reason..
        super(Place, self).save(*args, **kwargs)
        return existing_object.id #this is necessary otherwise the_object doesn't have an ID



#when saving:
the_id = the_object.save()
if the_id:
    the_object.id = the_id