We decided that the laptop has to go now. No matter that we were in Junín de Los Andes, a small, sparsely populated mountain town, off the main tourist circuit. This thing weighed way too much and had no more useful purpose to serve us. It was a gift from my parents for my university graduation in 2000 and it served me quite well and for much longer than could have reasonably been expected. We entertained some entertaining ideas on how to sell it. One idea was to throw down the sarong in the plaza, sitting on top with the laptop open, pure hippie style. This idea was nixed because the darned, seven year old, Dell laptop battery was way past it’s useful life and could only last a few minutes unplugged. I should mention at this point that one of the few things we neglected to bring along at this stage of the trip was the generator. Of course I could always peddle around on a bike chanting ¨¡Hay Laptop, Laptop, Laptop!¨ but alas, I have no bike.
I don’t know if how we actually sold the thing was any more or less ridiculous than any of our joke ideas. We went door to door. We started with the internet cafés and computer shops. We got a lead from a tool shop owner sitting on his storefront porch that a Señora So and So down on street Such and Such was maybe interested in a computer. After finding her house by trial and error, she was not home but might be back later. We started walking back towards the plaza when we spotted an ice cream parlour and a bakery. Hmmm… in Argentina, these are two very well trafficked spots. Maybe they would let us post fliers? It was a no-go at the ice-cream shop, and at the bakery, well, we would have to wait to talk to somebody. In the meantime, somebody who had seen us earlier in one of the internet places approached us and asked us if he could see the computer. Happily obliging, we unpacked it from the briefcase and set it up on the small table where he and his family were enjoying some tasty pastries. I gingerly brought her out of standby, hoping the battery would hold out long enough to demonstrate that although old, she still worked fine. After a hurried minute or two of browsing and starting up applications, she went out like a light. Oh well, I guess it’s time to start asking where each other is from and what in the heck Wendy and I are doing in Junín de Los Andes. As Wendy was talking, the next table over started up a conversation with me. After a bit of friendly chit chat, she told me she had overheard all the happenings at the other table and she was interested in the laptop. Oh? After a bit more chit chat, she was off to get some pesos to make a deposit. Looking good… she comes back promptly with the full asking price of 1,000 pesos. Turns out she and her husband were able to both pull out money to reach the total. The guy at the other table was in the middle of trying to bargain Wendy down on the price due to the weak battery when I happily informed my wife that we just sold it. Alright!!!
