It Worked! It Worked?

I don't catch a lot of breaks. Some people get stuff to fall in their laps without even trying. They get the first spot in the parking lot, they find a $100 bill on the sidewalk, they win stuff on the radio. I am not one of those people. Rarely does anything convenient happen to or for me. And don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter about that. I don't need a bunch of cool coincidences and good timing to be happy. It's just that I have to set up my story before I tell it.

So I mentioned recently that my Xbox 360 died. It was old and past its prime, so it was no big surprise. And then as luck would have it, Amazon went out of stock of the newest model the day mine broke. So I waited. And I found a cash back deal that would give me $15 back if I bought something on Amazon for more than $30 by February 17th. Then the 17th started getting closer. And Amazon didn't get any models in stock. And on the last day, Amazon had a deal on the smaller model (with a Kinect included). So I decided to roll the dice and buy the smaller model in an attempt to exchange or trade it later for the model I wanted (since they're the same retail price and I already have a Kinect).

And this is the weird part for me. I looked up my desired model on craigslist and texted the first person I found (good thing that part is in context), asking if they'd be willing to trade. It was a long shot, but I figured it was worth a try. And not only was he willing to trade straight up with his brand new model, but he lived less than five minutes from my house! So I met him (in a well-lit, crowded area in case he tried to abduct or murder me) and we traded Xboxes right then and there and the whole trip took 12 minutes. It could not have gone any smoother.

And I have to reiterate, this never happens for me. The first person I contact just happened to want the exact same trade I was proposing. And then he lived in the same part of town. Usually the way it works out for me is that the guy lives 150 miles away and he doesn't have what he says he has. And I get pulled over on the way home for speeding. And I get a flat tire as I pull into the driveway. So this was a nice change of pace. Now it's off to play video games for the first time in a month!