Spinning my Wheels

That's how I feel sometimes when I'm shopping for something via classifieds--Like I'm spinning my wheels.

Craigslist is a great tool for the consumer to have at our disposal, but it can be frustrating. You're at the mercy of the seller for many things, like their perception of the item, their honesty & integrity, their ability with photography, and other things.

Take their perception of quality for example. Everyone sees things differently, so my idea of a "7" might be a "9" to you on the quality scale. Sometimes these are intentional (i.e. "fudging") by the seller, sometimes it's genuinely the way they see it.

Honesty and personal integrity are a problem, especially on the larger ticket items. When you're trying to buy a car, do you want to buy from someone that has lied to you? Even the slightest little lie can cost you big down the road. In these situations I tend to look at the person, their house and possessions, and their mannerisms when talking about their car. Caution flags fly with wild abandon when I go to someones house and see generally rundown condition of things. Similarly, the way someone is kept or dressed might come into play. If they won't stop "talking the car up" while you're looking, I also am very wary.

The seller's ability (or lack thereof) to put a picture in the ad can be a big problem and potential time-waster. Craigslist only allows 4 pictures per ad, and when you submit them they're re-sized to a specific maximum size by their software. More often than not, those pictures are fairly devoid of detail. Some people get around this by using their knowledge of html programming and do the formatting of their own ad to get larger pictures into the ad. Either way, you have to take certain things into consideration when you're looking at them. If it's a car, is it wet or raining? If so the paint will look brand new. If it's a furniture item, is the lighting in the picture intentionally flattering? For example, is the item in it's normal environment, or is it sitting somewhere so more flattering light can hit it and give it a shine or glow?

I drove to Kent to look at a car for Sarah yesterday, and almost everything I've written came into play there. I almost didn't stop when I got to the house. Cars everywhere, house in disrepair... You name it. The first thing I saw when I opened the hood was greasy fingerprints everywhere, and when I opened the trunk, the smell of moisture was strong. Sorry, we're done here folks!

I also drove to Bothell (yes, it's quite a ways) to look at a bookshelf for Sarah. The first flag went flying when I saw a big truck in the guys driveway that said S0-and-So's Thrift Store on it. Obviously, this was his business. Anyway, the piece was totally dinged up, and the guy talked about it incessantly while I was looking at it. He wanted 60 bucks for it, but refused to budge when I offered 40. Fuck him. I don't care if I drove 2 states... I'm not going to buy it just because I drove that far and don't want to go home empty handed. Put your P.O.S. back into your thrift store truck buddy...

On the way home I stopped and did some grocery shopping, so the trip wasn't a total waste of time.

You know what else pissed me off though? I went into Arby's near my house to pick up something to go. There was one young gal with a kid ahead of me, and she had put her kid up on the counter. Obviously, she was only there to socialize, as the gal behind the counter kept cooing and kissing her. After standing there for a minute, shook my head and muttered, "Jeezus fucking christ" just barely audible enough to be heard and whirled around and left. Hopefully my point was taken.

After having the whole start of my day pretty much in the toilet, I resolved to spend the rest of on my terms. I spent it in my garage, taking my frustrations out by sanding on my Harley parts.

Beer and other stuff helped a lot too. ;-)