Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

2fer

To make up for the lack of a real post from yesterday, two short but real posts for today. The first:

I remembered why I stay away from online auctions. I get into a bidding frenzy...once I start, I need whatever I bid on. Losing out, once I have bid, is a crushing defeat. Last night I checked out an online auction a radio station was doing for a local charity. I thought, ok, good cause, I'll find something I can get for 50 bucks. If everything's too expensive, I'll just send the charity a check.

Right there at my $50 was an ice scraper. Actually, it was an ice scraper and a coffee mug and some other promotional stuff with the radio station logo. Good enough. I bid.

A little later I got an e-mail "This notice is to inform you that your bid was
beaten..."

So I shrugged and wrote the charity a $50 check, right?

No, no. I got sucked into the Auction Zone... Someone else wanted my ice scraper? Bastard!

I followed the "Click to re-bid" link...and there. $60. It is, after all, for a good cause. And the auction closes in just an hour.

A few minutes later: "This notice is to inform you that your bid was
beaten..."

Unacceptable! We only have half an hour left!

Ok, $75.

Now I'm just hitting F5, F5, F5, not even waiting for the e-mail. Sorry, pal. That is my ice scraper! Don't you dare bid...ahhhhhhh!

So at 10 pm, somebody out there was staring at the computer screen saying "Damn you, I wanted that ice scraper!" And I went to bed all smug, because I won. I won! Wooo-hoooo! I WON!!!

I won...which means I bought a $90 ice scraper.

The second:

On the Metro today I noticed a guy in a big cowboy hat. Cowboy hats aren't the most typical headwear around here, but they aren't totally unheard of, either. I didn't think much of it.

A few minutes later I realized I had a song going through my head:

I got spurs that jingle-jangle-jingle
As I go riding merrily along...

Next stop was the end of the line. I passed Cowboy Hat guy, and figured that's probably why I had Gene Autry going through my head.

I was still humming (Oh Lillie Belle, Oh Lille Belle...) down by the parking garage, where I saw Cowboy Hat guy pacing, looking a little distraught. And I realized, now that we were away from the crowd...he does have spurs that jingle-jangle-jingle...right there on his pointy-toed boots, the guys is wearing actual spurs.

It took every ounce of self control not to say "What's wrong, buddy, forget where you hitched your horse?"

Posted by Nic at October 27, 2004 06:11 PM