11/02/03 (the symptoms) "Typical, I write a really spot-on post detailing my retail lethargy and nobody even comments on it. I hope this three week project that I'm planning stirs my readers into a bit more action than that."
12/02/03 (the launch) "Ulp, I'm stumping up £100 of my own money here. What if they decide I should spend it on something really awful. Not to worry, I'm sure I can trust my readers' taste... can't I?"
13/02/03 (phase 1 underway) "Phew, I did wonder if anyone would bother to vote at all. Thankfully the voting's kicked off in earnest. Still too early to tell which way it'll go, but please not clothes or home furnishings."
17/02/03 (phase 1 contd) "Oh good, electrical gadgety things are winning. I might almost be able to submit myself to retail therapy if they choose that category."
18/02/03 (phase 1 closing) "Hmmm, the online vote for 'Home furnishings' is increasing rapidly. It's almost as if someone is casting a spell to throw the whole project off course."
19/02/03 (phase 1 results) "Thank goodness the votes for electrical/gadget just outnumbered the vote-rigging for home furnishings. I was in serious danger of ending up down at IKEA there."
20/02/03 (phase 2 underway) "I wonder if anyone will nominate anything decent? Blimey, 22 comments! Unfortunately, very few of those comments are actually appropriate £100-ish nominations."
25/02/03 (phase 2 closing) "At this rate I'm going to be lumbered with a sandwich toaster that moos. If I trawl through all these suggestions there must be something worthwhile in there, surely?"
26/02/03 (phase 3 underway) "OK, so I found five gadgety things to put to the public vote. That iron had better not win. Three of the others are sort of OK I suppose. But those light brick things, they're really cool. In fact, even if they don't win I'm going to buy them anyway."
27/02/03 (phase 3 contd) "It's looking like a two horse race between the voice operated remote control and the light bricks. Even if the remote wins, I feel like buying the light bricks as well."
03/03/03 (phase 2 late nomination) "Hmmm, that global positioning device (GPS) sounds pretty good as gadgets go, even if it is officially too late to nominate it. Absolutely useless of course, but oddly fascinating, especially to someone who lives within a kilometre of the Greenwich meridian. I wonder exactly where that is round here. It'd be really interesting to buy one and find out..."
04/03/03 (phase 3 closing) "It looks like it is going to be a tie after all. In that case I'd have to buy both of the presents, and maybe the GPS as well... that could be three presents for £300 instead of the planned one for £100."
05/03/03 (the result) "The light bricks it is, then. Excellent, I really wanted those. Serve no rational purpose of course, but I feel the need to own them nonetheless. And I've never thought about buying a GPS before, and it's not even part of the project, but I want one and I think I'm going to buy one as well anyway."
06/03/03 (retail therapy 100% successful) "Thankyou for voting. My retail therapy has depended on you."
The retail therapy project (the running commentary)
