Fate and a Craigslist Purchase

[Kevin Gregoire]

i dont know how many people believe in fate but i certainly do now if i ever had any doubts before.

this past winter i saved up for several months to buy a new Excalibur EX-16 scroll saw that was on sale at Woodcraft but it ended up on backorder for many weeks and in that time an emergency came up and that money was used for something else.

well, over the past several months i would do my searches on Craigslist and keeping an eye out for an Excalibur saw and i seen a few here and there and nothing was ever close to me but i would ask if i could pay extra for shipping but everyone must have thought it would be to much trouble as i never got any responses, but last week i did a search and found an EX-21 on Craigslist that was over in Illinois so i sent an email asking the same question about shipping and what the cost would be to South Dakota?

well here is where that fate part comes in because i heard back from the nicest person who said there would be no charge for shipping as they were going on a trip to a couple craft fairs and would be passing right near where i live! i truly could not believe my luck in finding a larger saw then the one i originally wanted and at a price that was much cheaper then the other.

several emails were exchanged asking questions and getting details and in such a short time i now have two new friends. we met Saturday, loaded the saw and stand into my trunk and i parted with some cash. we talked for a good amount of time and i learned my two new friends are a large part of the scroll saw community, they have several scroll sawing books available from Fox Chapel Publishing and have been in several magazines. im not going to mention any names as i dont know how they would feel about that but i just wanted to share this story about a twist of fate i had.

i saved so long for a saw i wanted so badly and things didnt work out at that time and several months later i find a bigger used model saw that was MUCH cheaper then a new one, and then having the sellers driving by so close to me so i didnt have to pay for shipping was to good to be true! so when they say 'patience is a virtue' they really mean it!

[Harold Burrell]

OK...yeah...whatever...you suck.

[John Fabre]

Kevin, no pictures, didn't happen.

[Dave Lehnert]

[Paul Wunder]

What a nice story and what super people! Good luck to you.

Paul

[Bruce Wrenn]

Last winter on CL was an older Sears air compressor for $25, with a phone #. Poster said hose leaked. After a couple days, I called and it was still available. So I sent poster $25 in cash. Then I thought I had delivery details worked out (unit was about 50 miles from me.) My son was doing a install in a plant, and could just swing by on the way home and pick up compressor for me. It would be about five miles out of his way. Well, the parts he needed for install came in wrong, so that fell through. A couple days before Christmas poster called and asked where exactly I lived, as he an his wife were going to put flowers on her parents grave. They would be passing within two miles of my house. They delivered compressor to my door. There are still wonderful people in this world.

[Mark Conde]

You must be living right. That is a great story. I am still green with envy though.

[Edward Moomey]

Congrats ,on the, new saw , and the whole deal, Those are nice scroll saws

[Rich Noterman]

Just remember what goes around comes around..................there are still some nice people helping others

[Mike Cruz]

What scroll saw? I don't see no stinkin' scroll saw....

[Neil Brooks]

Amen to what Rich said.

I LOVE those occasional reminders that there are still plenty of people who are not only fair and honest, but .... just sort of decent, above-and-beyond types.

Example:

I stopped by a mom-and-pop type lumber seller, yesterday. Bought some 8' boards, but ... they wouldn't fit in my Subie wagon.

The seller asked me if I preferred the 8 footers.

"Yeah ... really, I do."

So they loaded them up in their van, and simply drove them to my house.

Above and beyond

Congratulations on the purchase !!!

[Joe Angrisani]

Just remember what goes around comes around..................there are still some nice people helping others

Amen to what Rich said....I LOVE those occasional reminders that there are still plenty of people who are not only fair and honest, but .... just sort of decent, above-and-beyond types.....

Contrary to what the folks at CNN and Fox News and all our newspapers focus on, I am a firm believer that most people are nice. One scumbag makes the news day after day after day. We used to play a little game with the morning paper that I called "What page will the first positive story be on?" I think it averaged out to page 7 over many years.

Someday the headline on the paper will say "Yesterday, 311,458,201 Americans had a Great Day!"

Good Score on the scrollsaw, Kevin!

[Mark Denovich]

An item is "newsworthy" by it's nature of being a unique/rare occurrence. So shark attacks, murders, improbable accidents, and celebrity and the like are reported to the exclusion of items that might actually be worth learning about. This is true to such a degree that we believe the unlikely is in fact likely, at great personal and societal cost.

I've purchased a housefull of goodies on Craigslist, classifieds, bargain trader, etc... Without exception the people I met were people worth meeting. I usually have a hard time getting away with less than an hours friendly conversation. Sure, some were kooky, odd, maybe even a little deranged, but my body has yet to be dismembered, nor my severed head used as a candle holder. I've always come away intact and with a good deal. Of course, I choose my ads wisely... Caveat emptor.

[Joe Angrisani]

An item is "newsworthy" by it's nature of being a unique/rare occurrence. So shark attacks, murders, improbable accidents, and celebrity and the like are reported to the exclusion of items that might actually be worth learning about......

Guess that's why I stopped watching and reading the "news". I'm firmly in the other camp. There's plenty of unique, rare and POSITIVE occurances each and every day. They choose to focus on the negative.

[Kev Godwin]

Congrats, Kevin.
You need to satisfy these tool junkies and post a pic!

You really need to be more responsible! Some people are just a tease....
If not, I might just drive over to your shop and borrow it without permission.
Kev