I first used the Stairmaster 4000PT as a freshman in college in the Fall of 2000, to help me train for stairclimbing races. I quickly learned to appreciate the usefulness of this elegant machine for both my athletic training as well as my studying. I found that my reading done on the stairmaster was much more effective than any done elsewhere, due to more intense concentration. Over the years, I continued to stairclimb, and continued to use this one specific model of the 4000PT (the kind with the console that has the magazine rack and bottle holder has a different function set that I prefer). I toyed with the idea of buying my own, but it always seemed like an impossibility, due to both price and the fact that I could always use them at the gym. Yet, these models are slowly dwindling from use as they get old and in disrepair. When I recently began my search to possibly buy a stairmaster, it was for two main reasons. 1) To capture this piece of history, which may soon no longer be available at my gym, or at the gym that I may use in my post-Michigan future. 2) To have the ability to have my favorite piece of equipment (both exercise and studying!) in the convenience of my own apartment so that even on days that I cannot make it to the gym (for weights, etc.) I can at least read on the stairmaster, especially as I enter the clinical years of medical school when time management will no longer be under my control and free time will be at a minimum. The main hurdle was the cost, especially the fact that the usual 1,000 price tag would be an additional 500 with shipping. As luck would have it, I found a good candidate on Ebay on Wednesday, December 6th, 2006. It was the exact model that I wanted, in Cleveland (so I could pick it up myself without paying shipping), "like new"/unused/undamaged (since the seller had used it for less than an hour since purchasing it new 6 years ago), and up for auction at a reasonable starting price. The next day, 12/7, I won the auction against some tough competitors who also seemed to realize the value of this particular piece. On 12/9, I drove to Cleveland with my roommate and we brought it home. I used it for the first time in my apartment that night, and have been happily stairmastering ever since.