Strange Coincidences

After yesterday's weird dream about the university entrance exam, which was followed by finding out that I was accepted to l'Université du Québec en Outaouais, I wasn't even surprised by what was waiting for me in my inbox this morning.

I have mentioned before that I use kijiji quite often. I have had a construction toy for sale on there for some time. It is a very nice toy but we just don't have room for it in our small apartment, and the boys prefer LEGO anyway. So I put the Zak's up for sale. I have had several people inquire about them, but for some strange reason everyone who is interested lives outside the National Capital Region. First, someone wanted me to mail the toys to Saskatchewan. I put them in a box and went to the post office to see how much postage would cost. When I told them it was $17, which would mean that the toy would cost them $27 total, they didn't answer.

Next, someone from Cornwall, ON contacted me about mailing them the toys. Hoping the postage would cost less, I rearranged the pieces in a smaller box. That way, the postage came to $15. I guess it was still too much because I never heard back from them. It's okay, I wouldn't expect someone to pay more for postage than for the actual price of the item.

Long story short, no one who lives nearby has asked about the Zak's, but this morning someone emailed me to ask if I would be willing to mail them to Alberta. Well, sure, I'm willing. I'm just wondering if they are willing to pay $10 for the toy, plus another $15 for shipping. Would you?

This situation reminds me of a book I read, Bursts. The author studies patterns in human behavior and he has discovered that human activity seems to happen in bursts. I think my Zak's construction toy is an example of this. If I were to map out where the people who have inquired about the toy live, the map would be covered in little red dots, all situated West of where I live. Interesting. Based on author Barabàsy's theory, I predict that my toy will sell to someone in Westen Canada. Did I just predict the future? We'll see...