Tuesday, January 08, 2008

A Buck Short

Saying for the day: Sometimes in life we stop digging just one foot short of the gold.

I go to eBay looking for bargains.
Mostly I’m looking for things to add to the layout. Things like passenger cars , Lionel engines, and Lemax houses.
I do my research. I know what the item would cost if I bought it at a local store or an internet dealer. Then I set a figure about 2/3 of that price ( remember I have to pay shipping). Then I bid that figure.

Using that formula , in the last month, I bid on twenty passenger cars.
I didn’t win a single one.
Often when I went to bed I was ten or eleven dollars ahead but when I get up in the morning I had lost.
Here is the worst part. I always lose by a dollar ( Well once I lost by $.50) . But usually I lose by a dollar. If I had bid one dollar more I would have won. Just one dollar more.
Why can’t I be the one who ends up a dollar ahead of the pack.
Why do all those people have it in for poor old me?
I tried adding a dollar to my formula but I still ended up a dollar short. It’s enough to make one pull out his hair. Don’t those people know what things are really worth?
Well I have to stop now as I bid on two passenger cars last night and I have to go and see how I did. If I’m a dollar short again I may just sit and cry. Look for tears on tomorrows blog.

#### News from Pigeon Falls-The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal. There was big fight over at the Fly Inn last night. Somebody said that Green Bay didn’t stand a chance against Holmgren and the Seahawks . This upset Tom Wrigley who broke a bottle over the gentleman’s head. Then the fight was on. They broke two tables and wasted a lot of good whiskey. The bartender protected the big plate glass mirror with his body and got hit by a couple of bottles. He’ll have bruises tomorrow. The State Police arrived and hauled five people off to jail in Crystal Falls. There is no jail in Pigeon Falls. There usually is no need for a jail. Don’t get a drunken Packer Fan angry.
There are two big events scheduled for tomorrow. Petrovich is going to announce what is in store for Pigeon Falls according to the driblets and Tommy TW is scheduled to be on the Letterman show. Tommy TW is not high on the guest list so that could change again but as of now he is on. He and Nancy left for New York this morning.
****

Today's Link-Thinking the Lions- A wonderful account of a guys Christmas.
A hard breathing day. I lost both bids on eBay last night by the usual dollar. In the morning I worked on copying my November blogs so I can print them out and send them to my sister. Betty took three gallons of milk to church as our contribution to the community table. She also beought a copy of Three Kings Yo for the Pastor to look at. Then she went to the Bible study. In the afternoon we both worked downstairs . She worked on the layout and I worked on putting together groups of things to sell on eBay. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

11 Comments:

Blogger Janets Planet said...

Oh I thought that surely Crystal Falls was still using stocks and pillories for their offenders.

5:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pigeon Falls doesn't need a jail. They need a nut house!

8:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've gotten to where I hate ebay.

8:43 AM  
Blogger Lori's Minute said...

My brother says the trick is to bid in the last ten seconds it is open....in your case, bid a dollar and ten cents more because others will be coming in at a dollar more in the last ten seconds.

10:24 AM  
Blogger Bill ~ {The Old Fart} said...

I hope you find a formula that works for you and you get your passenger cars.

11:14 AM  
Blogger Pribek said...

It sounds like you have been victimized by eSnipe, a software program that enables others to outbid in the final moment.

12:36 PM  
Blogger Nessa said...

I have no idea how E-bay works. It looks scary to me.

4:55 PM  
Blogger BBC said...

Many people are looking for some food so they can live for another day. Like the lady that had to eat her first born so that she could continue to live.

But I don't suppose that you care much about about that as long as you can get another part for your stupid train setup.

It might be fair to assume that God will shove that train up your ass when you die.

And then stick the devils dick in your mouth for not doing as you should have. Yeah, I think that would be fair.

7:02 PM  
Blogger BBC said...

I just noticed the "Road To Ministry" link, what would you know about that?

You are just another brainwashed Christian.

7:05 PM  
Blogger Neoma said...

Hi Dr. John, I am also an Ebay shopper.......and I also lose by that "l.00", but that is the way it will always be, if you don't win, you will lose by the amount of a minimum bid. Whether it be 1.00 or 50 cent. Since you are a very bright man, I know you are just pulling my leg........;)

Even if the person bidding against you puts in a reserve of 50.00, the ebay bidding system only uses the amount of reserve necessary to place the bid, one mininmum bid over the amount needed to win. I often bid the minimum plus one penny.....so I often win by just one penney, because if three people bid the same amount, it is the first person to bid the amount, or in my case, the larger bid, by one penny. But I lose as many as I win.....there is a saying on Ebay, if you wait long enough and bid often enough, you will get what you want for the price that you want to pay. There is so much for sale on Ebay. Just today I received the most beautiful little table and I was trilled at the price that I paid.

7:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've heard that the trick is to make that bid at the last possible minute too, but I haven't been bit by the e-bay bug yet.

4:36 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home