So a call comes into the helpdesk...

...and no, it wasn't another heavy-breather.

A gentleman calls into the helpdesk today asking for information about an Oxford X-ray Fluorometer ED 2000 Detector listed on our site. He indicates that he's not looking to buy it. He just wants to find out what it is.

You see, there's one in his garage.

It seems this guy recently moved into a new house and lo and behold, it seems that the former residents went and left their fluorometer behind. So this guy calls and basically wants to know what this thing in his garage is. I tell him, 'it's a type of detector used in liquid chromatography'.

Silence.

"... which means?"

Really, I couldn't offer more information, so being the good little CSR I am, I say "Well, we don't directly deal with any equipment. In fact, I see probably 100 of these things a day but couldn't tell you what they do. Let's see what good old wikipedia has to say on the subject"

If any one is interested, here is what good old Wikipedia has to say about High Performance Liquid Chromatography.

Confused? Yeah me too.

Here's where it gets crazy. The same unit listed on our site was being offered for 38K+ Euros, which is roughly the equivalent to $52,000 USD.

So picture this..

You're a new homeowner and upon moving in, you find a rather expensive looking piece of scientific equipment in your garage. Not knowing what it is, your first thoughts are probably along the lines of:

"Oh hell. Am I going to have the EPA invading my yard?"
"What the hell is this thing?"
"I wonder if I can sell it?"

I may mention that the gentleman on the phone indicated that the one in his garage was in good shape and carefully crated to protect from damage.

Now imagine that upon looking up this equipment you see the equivalent on sale for over fifty thousand dollars.

FIFTY. THOUSAND. DOLLARS.

Happy friggin' birthday. I bet this guy is just crapping his pants.