Hot! Hot! Hot!

So the other day John, while perusing the part of Craigslist that ISN'T filled with random body parts asking to have untoward things done to them, ran across an 80 gig Ipod for $140. I have an Ipod already, but it's a 30 gig...and, believe it or not, I've already filled it beyond maximum capacity. So the idea of trading up for less money than I paid for the old one (which was also found on Craigslist, by the way) certainly appealed.

But, as with any good deal, not everything seemed 100% right. For one, the Ipod wasn't in any stand alone listing, but rather part of a "yard sale" type ad that included alot of other random stuff.

Secondly, we had to drive down to Green Valley (about 40 miles south of Tucson) to check it out. That, in and of itself, wasn't bad, but the guy pretty much blew off the idea of giving us directions, instead giving us the address, and telling us to google map it. I'm all well and good with using technology to it's fullest, but you'd think a person would know how best to get to their own house from the freeway.

Anyway, so we drove down, found the street, and located houses on one side of the street with 1751 and 1753 addresses, but across the street (where his address of 1750 should have been) was an apartment complex. Since we were given no unit number, we called the guy back. He told us to drive into the apartment complex, drive all the way to the back, and we'd find 1750.

We did...and it was the office for said apartment complex. And they looked at us like we were absent a chromosome when we asked about the Ipod for sale. We called back again, and the guy said he didn't like the managers of the complex, and didn't want to do the sale in front of them. He told us to drive up to the sidewalk in front of the last building before you exit the complex, and he'd send someone out with the item.

By now I was not only irritated but flabbergasted. Could anyone actually be THIS incredibly horrible at giving directions? Or was he being intentionally vague and mysterious for a reason? I was actually genuinely worried a little about this being some elaborate robbery scheme, as the "seller" would know that the buyer would be showing up with cash in hand. But by this time, after all that we'd done to get here, I was willing to at least see this through.

So out trots a 15 year old kid with the Ipod and a pair of headphones. This was most certainly NOT who we'd talked to on the phone about the sale. Knowing this had to be the guy's nephew or son, I took a look at the Ipod, saw that it actually WAS what it was supposed to be...and that it played music successfully. Finally, I told the kid we'd take it, but asked about the USB cable that was advertised to come with it. He said it was upstairs in the apartment, and he would have to have the money in hand before he returned with it.

After all of the shady phone dealings and vagueness, this kid had the nerve to imply he thought that WE were the ones that were untrustworthy in the situation. I also wondered momentarily what possible angle could be worked from this new wrinkle to somehow rob us blind, steal our car, and leave our charred bodies somewhere in the desert. Deciding there weren't too many, and I just wanted to buy the Ipod and get the hell out of there, I forked over the money. Shortly the kid returned with the cord, and we were on our way.

I left the dealings feeling lot more dirty and shady than I really care for (and that's saying something). Buying an electronic entertainment device shouldn't really feel like a drug deal. I was also left wondering "what, exactly, just happened?".

So, dear readers, you tell me...did I just buy some hot merchandise, or am I just misinterpreting due to paranoia? In other words, WHOSE Ipod will I be listening to at the gym later?