Soodhalter’s Informagoriam

I spent a couple of days with the Barreras then house sat for Melnee and Chris in DC. Here are some pictures of those things:

The Recent "Unpleasantness" from Thanksgiving 2007

Craigslist is a wonderful, free tool for people to connect for a variety of purposes, e.g. commerce, socialization, employment, etc. However, these somewhat anonymous interactions can carry hidden dangers. Unfortunately, I discovered one such danger the hard way, and I am nursing a bruised jaw as a result.

My debacle started innocently enough. I wanted to sell some furniture. My new apartment, while bigger in square footage than my old place, has a much smaller bedroom. I decided I would sell what I could no longer comfortably fit in my bedroom, because I do not like having surplus possessions in storage. The two large items were the box spring that literally just would not fit up our narrow staircase and a nightstand that takes up too much floor real estate.

A talkative plumber quickly purchased the box spring. The nightstand, though, did not immediately sell. This was surprising to me. I made it sound attractive, describing it as “light brown and made of hard wood,” and I titled the ad “Looking for One Night Stand?” I got a few emails expressing interest, but they all seemed a bit strange. Everybody who emailed me sent personal, physical descriptions of themselves. It was quite odd. Finally, one lady emailed, expressing interest and asked how soon she could come over. I called her and said to stop by in one hour.

Sure enough, the buzzer rang right on schedule. I opened the door to my building, and I found myself looking at a woman in her forties who was about six feet tall. She was dressed in a tight, revealing top and jeans that were painted onto her legs. She introduced herself as Sandy. I led her to the apartment and up to my bedroom where I was keeping my wares for sale. In the bedroom, I walked over to nightstand, which was right next to the bed. I asked Sandy what she thought, and Sandy looked at the stand then looked around the room. She gave an imperceptible nod of approval before stating that, “I like it; let’s do this thing.” I had turned my back to her at that moment; but I went ahead and responded, “excellent. That will be sixty dollars, and I only accept cash.” She expressed surprise and asked what I meant.

I turned around, and Sandy appeared to have frozen halfway in the process of removing her tight shirt. My brain did not really know how to process that input, so I just pretended as if the sale was proceeding normally. I again explained that she needed to pay me sixty dollars before this transaction could be completed. Her expression went from sultry to angry. Sandy pulled her shirt back over her midriff and asked, “what kind of person do you think I am?” I was beginning to be really confused. What did this lady think, that I was just giving her my furniture? I looked into her hazel eyes and explained, “that is how these transactions work. You responded to my ad for one nightstand. If you want it, you are going to have to pay me sixty dollars.” Sandy was livid. She got right in my face and started screaming, “is that what you think of me, that I have to pay for this sort of thing?!” I was a little nervous about the direction this whole business dealing was heading, but I kept my wits about me. I had done nothing wrong. Anybody who responds to a for-sale ad on Craigslist should expect to pay for the item if the sale is to be completed. That seems obvious, and I said as much. “Of course you have to pay for it. Nobody out there in their right mind would give it to you for free.” For whatever reason, that comment sent Sandy over the edge. The next thing I knew, her fist flew at my face and hit me like a brick. I went down quick and hard. I heard her stomp down the stairs and leave.

I came to about an hour later still on my bedroom floor. It seemed like it had been just a dream, but my swollen lip and sore jaw proved otherwise. Later, my roommate Johnny Porn returned home. I related the story of what had happened and how confusing this situation was. He asked to take a look at the ad I had placed. I sent him the link, and he instantly pinpointed the problem. Apparently, the Casual Encounters section is for something completely different than I thought it was. I was under the impression that it was the section in which one posts to initiate casual encounters with prospective buyers of merchandise.

I braved the cold weather at Eagle’s stadium bundled in warm clothing to watch Penn State win the game while Temple won a moral victory:

Temple’s Moral Victory Versus Penn State

If you check the Temple News Blog, I have a couple of new posts. I wrote about Islamo-Fascism and about my ugliness.

Here are my latest photos. Barbie came to visit in July, and I forgot to post the pictures. I went to Warshington DC last weekend, and I did not forget to post those photos. Feast your eyes, people:

Barbie Brings Her Crew to Roll in Philly For a Few Days

A Little Bit of the South Moves North…and Dolph Lundgren’s Child Tags Along