Why do I do these things to myself? Crazy road trip story.

Over the years, I've had many many models of Macs but the one that I've always had a soft spot for was the blue and white G3, which was released in 1999. At the time, I could never afford one as I was a lowly apprentice at a small office for a large construction company. I used to buy the MacUser magazine religiously and oogle at the pictures they had of all the new machines. I never thought I'd end up having one, but a few years later when the prices were more affordable I got one. Now I don't remember what happened to it, but I had to get rid of it at some point. Since then I've always wanted another one as the design is just so cool. Yeah I've had a couple of G4s over the years but there's something about the blue and white aesthetic that just does it for me. 

So I was browsing Facebook Marketplace as there seemed to be a drought of these machines on eBay and came across a listing for a really well looked after machine AND matching 15" studio display. I'd bought one of these a while ago but sold it with a job lot of computers when I ran out of room for my collection and I was being badgered. A decision I bitterly regret to this day as not only was the monitor included in the job lot, but my Quadra 800. These rarely if ever pop up on eBay. 

The problem with it, was this machine was located over 150 miles away. Now if you're American or Australian, 150 miles is like going out to the store to get milk but here in the UK it's quite a jaunt. Not to worry though, I have family near where it was being sold and we're in a position now where we can use our camper van conversion, so I suggested we went to Norfolk for the weekend so I could pick it up. However the lady selling the G3 stopped responding to my messages when I offered a price. I asked two other friends to send her messages with slightly higher prices, but again, she stopped responding. 

I left it thinking that it was not to be but a few weeks later, I noticed it was still for sale, so I contacted her again saying I was still very keen and upped the price by £20. She said she'd get back to me but never did. A few more weeks pass and it was still for sale. Now not everyone marks their listings as sold on Facebook Marketplace which is terribly annoying. I messaged her again saying I noted it was still for sale and I was still very keen on buying it. I offered some more money and that was as high as I was prepared to go. Her partner wanted more but I said it wasn't worth as much as he thought it was and sent some links to someone else selling one on FB (albeit in worse condition and no monitor) as well as two listings on eBay that popped up, again without the monitor. She finally agreed and I could have it for the price we agreed on. 

I pulled a sickie from work as I generally have to give seven days notice if I want time off and got in the car to drive all the way from just north of Birmingham at 6:30AM to Norfolk. I got there for about 11:30AM - handed over the cash and loaded up the car. I then got back in the car and drove straight home. I arrived just after 2PM. The whole round trip took me just under eight hours. 

As I still wasn't well the next day (or so I told my manager) I had the whole day to play with the machine. I'm very happy with my purchase and it is now permanently in my collection and won't be going anywhere. But I just wonder - what sane person does this? Even if it is just the prettiest thing?