I figured that it is about time that I share this story of my misfortune with the world. Most of my friends get a real kick out of it.

I needed a new TV and Able Auctions happened to be having an Office Furniture auction coming up with some TVs in it. I figured since I got a great deal on my bike there a few months earlier, I would have a similar experience this time around. The big difference was this time I couldn’t show up, so I had to bid online.

I put weak bids on a bunch of junk and a couple of competitive bids on some TVs. Unfortunately, the bids were too competitive and I ended up winning two TVs (a 32” and a 27”), a TV stand, and a POS bookcase. If I sound bitter, it is because I am. The excitement of bidding had certainly gotten the best of me.

So, now I had $700 worth of junk to get delivered to my apartment, only when I called Able Auctions they told me they don’t have delivery and that I had to pick up the items I won by Friday at 4PM or they will charge a $50/day storage fee. They referred me to a delivery company who wanted $200. I said the hell with that and got a friend to help me move the heap of crap with her car (thanks Sarah!).

I was feeling pretty shitty for the couple days after I won the bids, but since the nightmare of getting them to my apartment was over, I was feeling a bit better. But the nightmare was not over. As I was proudly watching my newly acquired JVC 32” I’Art television that night, I noticed a brief blip and then the picture stretched horizontally. I tried frantically to adjust the settings but it was no use. In desperation, I read the User’s Manual, but there was nothing. To add insult to injury, I noticed later that the 27” LG Flatron had a couple of color burns in the corners. So, I paid $700 for two broken TVs.

As you can tell, this whole ordeal has been a traumatic event. So traumatic in fact, that I have repressed all memory of it. So, if you ask me about it, I probably won’t know what the hell you’re talking about.