As one of my college professors used to sadly observe: "we give them books and give them books, but all they do is eat their covers". Back then I thought he was just trying to entertain us, but I now know he was attempting to convey vital truth about human nature.
I wqs feeling particularly flush one year and splurged on Christmas presents for the kids while they were young enough to enjoy it. Success!! They had a grand time that year, playing with the boxes. Made a note, just look for big flashy boxes next year, content not important!
About Bob's pricing. Ida destroyed my pool book collection. I bought a few books from Bob. I forgot why, I sent him a few dollars extra. Maybe shipping he had tossed in or something. In response he shipped an extra book. Hard to get over on Bob!
In all seriousness, I was happy with the deal and it seems Bob was. Deals are fair when both sides are happy. Funny thing, deals are usually fair when both sides are unhappy too!
One of my funnier deals when I had a mechanic shop long ago, I bought a truck cheap. Needed a ring gear on the flywheel and bendex for the starter. Spent a morning and less than fifty dollars in parts to repair it. It ran good but well covered in whiskey dents and maybe missing a tailgate. I offered it for $450 in a major paper. The first day I got two phone calls. Not interested in coming looking, just wanted to know what was wrong with it. I took the hint and raised the price to $650. Holy crap! I couldn't get any work done, probably really forty calls the next day. The first person to come look left a $200 deposit. Two more insisted on coming look in case he didn't buy it!
One man asked if that wasn't the same truck that I had advertised the day before for $450. I told him the truth. "Yes, it was. Nobody wanted a $450 truck. Everybody wanted a $650 truck!"
Hu
