Foolhardy? Probably

Sometimes I’m foolhardy. Especially when I’m being impulsive.

Exhibit A: Last night.

I had thought about buying a laptop for a while, but sadly, the lack of funds kept me from pursuing it further. But then I got impulsive and decided that if I really want to take my writing to the next level, I needed a laptop to take with me to the coffee shop where I write and edit. Of course.

So I looked online. New was out of range, but used. Now there was an idea. Long story cut shorter, I found someone online who lived in my area and who was selling an iBook. Now, as we all know, I am an Apple junkie. Once you go Mac, you never go back. So it was perfect. Plus, I was able to talk the guy down from $325 to $275. Go me and my fancy bargaining skills. Not really, but we can pretend.

Seeing how I was already acting impulsively, I kept on, driving to Salt Lake at night to purchase up a laptop from a stranger. If I had really thought about where the address was, I might have reconsidered, but I wasn’t paying much attention.

I ended up downtown and a little nervous by that point. In all honesty, the area wasn’t bad, but it could have been. I made sure before I got out of my car once I found the place that it wasn’t too seedy an area. If it had been worse, I would have kept driving and not looked back.

As it was, only the guy’s girlfriend was a home. Yes, I was stupid enough to go by myself and no, I didn’t think of the possible implications until after I was there.

I tried out the computer first, of course. It looked to be in order. A little old, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I was getting it for less than $300, so I couldn’t complain.

Then I pulled out my checkbook. Yeah, no. They didn’t take checks. Cash only. Why was I surprised by that? Who knows. But I ended up driving to the bank in downtown and withdrawing that much in cash from the ATM. By that point, I was looking over my shoulder to make sure there weren’t any shady characters around. I’ve never been robbed, and I didn’t want to make last night a first.

In the end, I got the computer, they got the money, and I’m probably a little wiser to how things work when you’re buying something from the classifieds. And yes, I did type this up using the new computer. Call me foolhardy. I do.