Well, dear readers, I must tell you about a wackier than wacky auction I was watching online yesterday. I don’t know when auctions became a sad joke, but, like everything else in the world, they have. I’ve been speaking about this for a bit now, but this one really took the cake. I became aware of this auction house about four years ago – they had some estate of someone and I got a book or two really cheap, bidding online. So, I’ve been getting their e-mails ever since but never really even look. But since I’m now deciding on where to put some other stuff I’ll be auctioning off, I decided to check it out. Now, most online only “live” auctions work very simply – you watch, you bid, and when there’s no action they give a five-second warning and there are either more bids or the lot closes. But this was a different kind of auction yesterday – online and called “live” but with something called the thirty-minute rule. Here’s how it goes – the auction closes at five o’clock California time. Then, the countdown begins on a thirty-minute clock. If nothing receives a bid in that thirty minutes then the auction closes. But if, say, two yahoos are going at it like rabid tennis players, then the clock keeps resetting. They say they do that to protect bidders from folks who snipe at the last minute. Here’s my suggestion: Don’t do this kind of stupid auction. In reading the rules, unless I completely misread them, if a specific lot doesn’t get a bid for thirty minutes it is closed. But I’m watching the auction, and it’s now eleven-thirty and STILL going on, it appears that ALL lots are open and that you can bid on them. I haven’t tried, of course, so I suppose they might be closed, but some items I’ve kept my eye on haven’t had bids for over four hours – those lots should be closed – for them to remain open means that someone could wake up in the morning and outbid someone after something hasn’t received a bid for twelve hours. I hope I’m wrong and that the lots with no bids after thirty minutes are closed, but that’s not what I’m seeing. I’ve actually written the auction house to complain and ask them why they would do such a thing. If I were a bidder and my lot hadn’t received bids for thirty minutes and someone waltzed in a day later just because this thirty-minute rule was still in effect, I would actually seek legal council. But we’ll see how it unfolds when I get up in the morning. Wacky, no? Wacky, yes.
Otherwise yesterday was a day. I woke up at noon after nine hours of blessed sleep. I got up, answered e-mails, and as soon as I had my wits about me I made a show order for the Kritzerland show. That took a bit of time, and then I did a jog, after which I went and had my usual chopped salad with a bit of ham and avocado, but this time with no bagel. So, that was super low calorie especially factoring in the jog. Later I had some almonds and dried cranberries, a slice of low-cal low-fat Swiss cheese, and then some Rice Pilaf, which is exactly four hundred calories. So, all told I think I came in right at my daily goal of 1000 calories.
After that, I came home, did some stuff on the computer, and then buckled down, Winsocki and wrote the commentary, which took the entire evening. People ask why it takes so long, and it’s because it requires a lot of looking up things, finding the fun in the facts, and BKing it with humor. Because we have more than the usual number of put-togethers, it took much longer than usual. But I got it done and I don’t have to think about it again for over three weeks, when I’m sure I’ll finesse it during rehearsal week. After that, there was no time to do anything, and yes, as of midnight when these here notes will go up, the auction is STILL going on, the clock just having been reset AGAIN. I went into one of the lots that hasn’t had a bid in over five hours – I put in an amount and clicked to the next page, where I was asked if I was sure I wanted to make the bid – I didn’t, but it sure looked like I could have, which just ain’t right.
Today, I’ll do a morning jog, then attend to a few things, hopefully pick up some packages, and then I’ll mosey on over to the Pasadena Playhouse for our walk-through and tech meeting. I’m sure traffic coming home from there at four-thirty or five will be absolutely horrendous, but maybe we’ll have a miracle. Then I’ll only have an hour or two to relax, and then we have a production meeting that will probably last ninety minutes or so.
Tomorrow I’ll do a bunch o’ stuff, Wednesday I go with Nick to pick up his winning auction items, then I have a dinner thing, Thursday is a bunch o’ stuff and then a couple of folks are coming over to watch a motion picture, Friday there’s a work session here, Saturday I’m doing a birthday dinner with David Wechter.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, hopefully pick up packages, do a walk-through and tech meeting, then have a production meeting during which I’ll finally get to eat some food. Today’s topic of discussion: What diets have been the most successful for you, and which have been utter failures? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, whilst I try to put out of mind the wacky auction and the wackier thirty-minute rule.