Craigslist

I love Craigslist. It's great fun to watch the lowest common denominator try to combine that new-fangled intartubes with the writing of a classified ad. The print media still have one thing over Craigslist: editors. A little gnome with a red pen going through the submissions and crying quietly for society.

The "rants and raves" is always amusing - some very brave people out there, hiding behind an anonymous email address. A few flag wars now and then. Recent topics have included BH0 (a perennial favorite), facial hair, Haiti (pro and con), local mass transit, and so forth.

The real meat, however, lies in the "for sale/wanted" columns. I always skim through a few of those sections looking for good deals and have found a couple. I also look to them for a good chuckle. Today, however, brought a couple winners!

Wanted: Flat Screen TV - 26" or bigger, $75 or less ($TOWN)

Hi, We usually don't have TV, but we really love the winter olympics, so we're getting cable, and want to pick up a decent, functional, flat-screen HD (ideally) TV, which we will then use for DVD's afterward. Let us know, and please be specific about any and all flaws/defects/problems. Doesn't mean we won't be interested, but we really don't want to bring a unit home, turn it on, and discover what you probably knew all along. Just be honest. We might make a sale.

Now, as it happens, I was in the Maul last evening, and wandered through Target's electronics section to kill a few minutes. I stopped and looked at flat-screen TVs because they're shiny. Now, prices on TVs have dropped dramatically in the past four or five years. The 32" LCD I bought (on sale and with a coupon) for $500 two and a half years ago is now at $450 regular price. A 26" LCD will lighten your wallet to the tune of $300 right now. I'm sure you think $75 is a fair price for you, since you don't usually have TV, but I see no reason any normal person would part with one for about a quarter of the retail price for a new one. For further dreams of "something for not much" I suggest you send your request in writing to: Da Lightworker, 1600 Pennsylvania Av, Washington DC. And request your unicorn while you're at it.


help with bail - $1500 ($MISSPELLED TOWN)

i need help geting my wife out of jail i need 1500 cash i will pay it back when i get my taxes i will do it all in leagal doc please call me at $PHONE

Maybe I'm naive, but suggesting that someone wait for you to get your taxes back so you can repay a loan for bail money just seems like a bad idea. Even if you do sign a promissory note - also known as a "leagal doc". A suggestion: most towns, even itty-bitty ones, have at least a few businessmen of questionable moral fortitude known as "bail-bondsmen". I'd contact one of them and see what pieces of property you can put in hock to him for your wife's bail... Or take advantage of the situation and run like hell before she gets out.