This memory will have to start out sadly, I’m afraid. In August 2015, my dad, who’d just turned fifty-nine, suddenly passed away in a hospital in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He’d died from a pulmonary embolism – that is to say, blood clots in his heart and lungs. I was a half hour’s drive away at home, sound asleep, when he passed. I never got to say goodbye to him. My relationship with my dad was poor, as it is with all family members, but I never wanted this to happen. But it did.
The reason why
I’m mentioning this is because we’d moved to Pennsylvania in December 2010 for
my dad’s job. The only reason we were in that state was for his job. When he
passed away, my mom, sister and I (brother stayed in Ohio; he’d recently
married) had no reason to stay. That October, my mom moved to Arkansas to be
closer to her family, and my sister and I stayed behind so we could finish our
schooling. I was in college for the third time and was doing quite well for
once.
My sister and I
didn’t have jobs that paid well enough to support ourselves – come to think of
it, my sister wasn’t even working at the time since she was living on campus
two hours away – so I used my “inheritance” (a small share of the life
insurance money my mom collected) to pay for the move and the first six months’
rent for an apartment on the other side of town. I was able to keep a little
bit of the money to treat myself, which I used to buy a new (cheap) computer, a
used Playstation 3, a used PSP and later, a new TV. All of these were quite
low-cost and weren’t all purchased at once.
Backing up to
discuss the living arrangement, whilst I was able to sign the lease for the
apartment and such, I had to wait two weeks before moving in, presumably
because they were having the place cleaned and ready for moving in. However, I
couldn’t stay in the townhouse I’d lived in with my family. Where could I go?
The answer: a
hotel.
Indeed, the first
two weeks of November 2015 were spent living in a hotel about twenty minutes
away from where my sister and I would soon live. During this time, I’d
purchased the PS3 and PSP and was looking into games to play for each system.
My knowledge of games for either one was essentially non-existent, so it was
like a shot in the dark trying to figure out what games were available and if
I’d enjoy them.
Eventually, I
learnt a few Final Fantasy games were on the PSP besides Crisis Core (which I
later bought). Two of them were ports of Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy IV.
The latter was a “complete collection”, which included an “interlude” and
sequel game. I looked up the prices of both games on eBay and saw the prices
were rather steep; at least, more than I wanted to pay. Since the “Buy It Now”
option was out of the question, I decided to check the auction listings to see
if the prices were reasonable there.
Now, I’m not a
competitive person by any means, and I normally stay away from eBay’s auctions.
However, occasionally, I’d manage to find something good there for a low price
and win it because I was the only bidder. I’d hoped to do the same with these
games but wasn’t so fortunate. With Final Fantasy II, I found an auction with a
low price and only two or three bidders. I decided to try my hand at bidding,
so I placed a bid, as well as a maximum bid. I did the same with Final Fantasy
IV: bid, set a maximum bid. I left both alone, knowing if I checked on them,
I’d get anxious about it and probably terribly upset when I lost the auction.
Leaving the listings alone until after the bidding ended would keep my mental
health in check.
Funnily enough,
I forgot about them until I received emails about the listings after they’d
ended. I suppose between the stress of school and work, combined with the
stress of living in a hotel (believe me, that’s not fun by any means), it had
slipped my mind. To my amazement, I won both auctions. I had to see for myself
how many bids were placed and headed to eBay. Final Fantasy II was won with
seven bids, which was interesting to me since I didn’t hit the maximum bid on
it.
How many bids
were placed for Final Fantasy IV?
Eighteen.
I was stunned.
Apparently, someone had tried to get into a bidding war with me at the last
minute and failed to bid high enough before the auction ended. Even more
surprising was the fact I still didn’t hit my maximum bid; I paid
less for the game than I’d planned.
Although the
games came from different sellers, I received them on the same day. I could
receive mail at the hotel, so long as I informed them of incoming mail and
included my room number in the address. It ended up being a pain, though,
because the hotel owner checked the mailbox only once a day in the morning, so
mail could sit in the box for nearly an entire day with no one able to get it.
When I got my
games, I was incredibly happy and excited to have them, and played them both
right away. When my sister and I travelled to Arkansas at the end of November
to celebrate Thanksgiving with our mom, I brought my PSP and Final Fantasy IV
with me to play during the flights. I never beat the game, but I sure enjoyed
playing it a lot during that time, and I always love telling the story of how I
won it on eBay with eighteen bids.
