ebay

if you have ever bid on an auction item on ebay, you will understand the adrenalin pumping,gambling induced high you get from being the highest bidder. you are bidding against strangers to win an item you are not exactly sure you even want, you just want to win it.
as the auction time is running out, you are glued to your ebay account, god forbid you get outbid the last few seconds.
this is how I bought my minivan.
of course, I never actually saw it and was relying solely on the pictures the owner posted and the information he supplied. hopefully he wasn't a crack addict.
how bad could it be.
i am now the proud owner of a 2000 chrysler town and country minivan with 117,000 miles. i won it for $3,050.00.
on the way down to the jersey shore to pick it up, i prayed that it was not a piece of crap and would get us across the country without any problems.
it turns out, the engine was the least of my worries.
it seems the minivan was used for transporting seafood of some kind and the interior reeked of salty, dead fish.
the smell would come out of the upholstery in waves and produce a gagging feeling in your chest that would make you want to vomit.
unfortunately, it had an even more disgusting problem. the owner had glued a fabric cover on the steering wheel. it was moist, dirty and smelly.
i had to hold the steering wheel with tissues.
maybe i could dip the minivan in a big tub of clorox?