the engineer hoist by his own petard: on evilBay
Sat 11 Feb 2006A couple of hours ago, someone I’m married to, got me one; big time.
She had an appointment with the hairdresser at 10:00. As she raced out the door at 9:53 she said, “Mike, I’m currently holding the high bid at $910 on this eBay item. The auction closes in 7 minutes but I have to go. I want you to click on this button at 9:55 and if someone has out-bid me, I want you to bid again, up to $950.”
Now, I’m a complete newbie at this evilBay thing. However, I said, “Yes, Dear.” (I find I can always get the last word in any argument as long as it is “Dear”, as in “Yes, Dear.”) So I did as I was told.
At 9:55, there was a minor flurry of bids against another person (probably the store owner). However at 9:59:35 I submitted the winning bid of $940. “Well done”, I thought to myself, smugly. I had handled the pressure and come in at $10 under her reserve. Yep, she was lucky she got the right man onto that job!
And then I noticed what we had bought: a treadmill! My mind raced. “Where are we going to put it? What’s going to be thrown out to make room for it? And who’s the intended user? Oh, No!”
And I can just hear her now, “Well you bought it!”
Aaarrgh!
– Mike
March 15th, 2006 at 2:16
Ha!
You just got sucker punched. Its unfortunate, but true. It is like when they buy a dress, leave it in the closet for weeks, then when they wear it, you ask
“is that new ?”
“No,” she replies “ive had it in the cupboard for ages, i’ve never worn it”.
Good luck with your treadmill, I usually prefer getting out and running myself.
August 6th, 2006 at 4:21
That’s funny.
But if you use it once in a while it’s better than nothing at all.
August 6th, 2006 at 9:59
Julie O has given me something to aim for - Stunt Treadmilling!