thanks to the good folks who post on craigslist

Craigslist, like a lot of good things on the Internet, is now rampant with scam artists and weirdos, but there are still good folks out there.

Around our house, Santa delivered a teeny weeny turtle a few days early since it was going to be too cold to deliver said turtle Christmas Eve.  Well, turns out the elf in charge of Santa’s livestock department didn’t realize this wasn’t a fully aquatic turtle, neither was this turtle one that could be on land 100%, thus the free apartment the turtle arrived in was not going to be adequate housing.  This little turtle is of the variety that needs to bask, so she needs a place to swim, but she also requires a place to climb out of the water and completely dry out as well.

I decided last night I needed a ten gallon aquarium for this new little critter and looking around MiniMe’s room, I realized it was going to need a stand to go on or there was no place for such an aquarium other than the floor.  All this defeats the damn purpose of accepting the free turtle and her free turtle apartment now that I’m pondering on buying her a new house and a stand and whatever else.  So much for free!

I turned to craigslist last night hopeful to find a bargain.  Right away, I found a listing for a free aquarium and stand, but I got no response, so someone must’ve gotten to it before me.  Bummer.  Free was the right price.

This morning, I looked and found a brand new listing for an aquarium and a stand for $20.  I made arrangements to pick it up this evening, half-fearing the tank would be full of spiders and the stand would be some rusty pile of metal that required a tetanus shot…but you know what?  The tank was great–no cracks, no black widow infestation, just a little dusty.  And even more perfectly perfect, it came with a screen top, and we were going to need one of those, so yay!  And then, not only was the stand in good repair, it’s actually quite nice!  And to top it all off, the seller was genuinely pleased to send it all off to a new home, happy it was going to be put to use since she’d had it in storage for ages.  We all win!

Thanks to the good folks who still use craigslist to buy, sell and trade with a kind heart like the person I dealt with today, and for that matter, I guess I have to thank the weirdos, too, since your posts in the personal section amuse me every day (did the guy looking to date a werewolf or werecat ever find his true love, I wonder?).  Anyway, it’s always comforting to know there are good folks out there, even on the Internet.