It's all for charity.

So I've been on the other side of eBay lately. I'm selling to the last minute Xmas crafters and shoppers but I'm also bidding. The Mercury (a local rag) is having some benefit auctions to raise money for charity and I keep bidding. At this very minute I am the high bidder on the "vegan delight" (a vegan event cake and 50 vegan cookies delivered by bike) and the "hunky construction worker" (two hours of sweaty labor from the previous editor of The Mercury...Greg? Does Santa need to send a gift for the rental house?). http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/content?oid=84990

One of the reasons eBay is so successful is the whole auction experience. Bidders receive an adrenaline rush when they bid and it is easy to get hooked on that feeling which can cause you to keep bidding over and over again as you get outbid by others also getting high on the excitement. Before you know it you have bid $357 for a handcrafted shrine of Mr. Kotter! Well, I'll try to fight the urge tomorrow when these auctions end but I can't promise anything. At least the money is going to charity, right? So when I pay upwards of $600 to have The Mercury write a 1,200 word feature article about me (I look at it as the ultimate personal ad) or $480 to have my cat on the cover of The Mercury in a military uniform you will understand and not mock me, right? If nothing else I'll be able to feed you cake!