I have a sickness...It is called "Obsessed with the Wisconsin Public Television Auction" sickness. I think its fatal!
I can't explain how I caught this sickness or how long its supposed to last but every year the week after Memorial Day, it rears its ugly head.
But seriously, i'm unnatural. I'm obsessed with this auction. For those of you who don't know about this auction, WPT (Wi Public TV) each year has a big auction to raise money. It starts the Tuesday after Memorial Day and runs until Sunday night of that week. They have a plethora of items, everything from gift cards to certain restaurants to packages put together of items from around WI to bigger ticket items like trips around the state.
Last year I won my first item, the Wisconsin Cheeseman Book, and as you can imagine, this year I was out to win more items. Now mind you, I stayed up each night and watched THE ENTIRE THING--which means I was up until 12:30 every night last week, still getting up at my normal time of 5am. So needless to say I was tired, but nothing was going to stop me from winning items and I had hopes of seeing an item that I got beat out last year on.... (more on that in a minute).
I won my first item on Thursday night. You can get the best prices/deals either early in the night right at 7pm or late like 12 midinght. I bid and won a scrapbooking kit. It was valued at $60 but I got it for $22.

I wasn't satisfied with that...
Friday night (yes I was home Friday night watching this damn auction, but I also had to run on Saturday so I would have stayed home anyway, at least that's what I'm telling myself so I don't feel like a complete loser) I won my second item, a commemorative Auction 2009 T-shirt. Its red, so I liked it. It is valued at $15 but I actually bid $16 because anytime you over-bid an item, you get coupons from the over-bid sponsors, this year it is Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. I over bid last year and got these coupons and they are actually good coupons, free pizza/pasta and free lunch at the other place. I placed bids on a few other things but got beat out :(

Saturday rolls around. I had a busy day Saturday but I wanted to keep the auction on in the background while I was home so I could hear if my special item was announced. I also laid out on my porch on Saturday afternoon but kept the auction on loud enough to hear outside so I could listen to it. (My neighbors might think I'm a freak now if they didn't already!).
Saturday evening I won my 3rd and 4th items. A speciality cutting board, a $55 value to which I got it for $25 (I needed a new cutting board anyway) and I succumbed to the pressure at midnight Saturday night and bid on a chocolate package, valued at $63, got it for $46. This buy gave me buyer's remorse big time because I knew I"ll be eating all those chocolates after I get the package, but it just looked so good on TV!


I also FINALLY saw my Cranberry Basket, my special item I had been waiting for. I was frantic in my bidding.... I COULD NOT LOSE THIS. Its valued at $75 and it includes everything Cranberry. I luv cranberries by the way.
To back up a second, there is actually an art to this bidding thing. Its not as simple was just calling, placing a bid and hoping you win. If you do that, you'll never win anything. The auction announces the board once, you write down you item numbers you want to bid on. Then they go through other boards or speciality items and come back to the board you were looking at with a 'Last Chance' sign by it. Now you can see how high the bids are, and then its all about timing to get your bid in so you are the last one to bid. Once I bid on something I really I want, I call back every two minutes to see if I still have the highest bid--that's the trick. People are tricky so they'll out bid you by even a $1. So when I call just to check a bid, if its not mine, I out-bid.
Anyway, back to the Cranberry Basket. I called several times, made my bids and when they officially closed the board, I thought I had it. I saw my amount that I bid up on the board....but I never got a confirmatory phone call. If someone calls in right before the board closes and bids over you, but they don't have a chance to write it up on the board, that person wins. I was out of luck, I lost it! I was devastated.
I had one glimmer of hope because usually they don't just have one of those baskets, they usually have two or three. I was determined to win it...
Sunday I got up early, worked out, grocery shopped and made sure to get home in time for the auction to start. I was intently watching each board to see if the Cranberry basket would show up. By 2pm I was defeated, discouraged, ready to call it quits. I went outside to lay out, never heard the Cranberry Basket announced.
Around 5pm, I had all but given up hope and started watching Ice Road Truckers and I just happen to flip back to the auction and OMG, OMG it was there! The Cranberry Basket, last change on the A board! Holy Shit. I gotta call in.
I called in three times, each time having to raise my bid a couple bucks. My last call, the lady wrote down the time I called, I gave her my information, I bid $63 and she says, "Oh the Board has closed, but don't worry I got this bid down with the correct time." OMG, could I have done it? 20 minutes later, I got my confirmatory phone call. I had won. Ah, what a great feeling.


The sickness has subsided for this year and I'll prepare for it next year. I know this post is troubling to some, but its an obsession, we all have one. Mine is the WPT auction. What a crazy world we live in?!? :)