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Monday, Sept. 30, 2002 - 8:30 p.m. (If you didn�t read Part 1 of this long story, you might want to click here and read what you missed. Just wanted to warn you before you get started and wonder what the hell I am writing about today�.) After the big items all went out of Lease�s reach (or ability to pay, anyway), the remaining lots were slim pickings. There were two different certificates for an eye exam and a pair of non-prescription sunglasses at a local optometrist. A bunch of two and five night stays at a local budget motel. Some $50 and $20 food coupons (Lease had invested about $100 in buying papers at the Friday �bonus drawing� spots. She picked up about $40 million of her dollars this way, and managed to draw out the $1,000,000 ball several times.). If she won one of those, that would have meant she would have lost money on the contest. One thing she had said all along was that she just wanted to walk away from the auction with SOMETHING for her work. Since so many people had helped her gather up the money, to walk away with a box of newspaper play money wasn�t an option for her. As I scanned down the remaining lots, one item caught my eyes. It was from a local spa. The beauty kind, not the Roman baths kind. It was for a once a month (for 12 months) visit to their facility. It was described as a �total body wellness� package. If you just glanced at the listing, you might have came away with the (wrong) impression that it was for only one month. The wording was sorta vague because they tried to cram too much in the small caption area. Early in the auction, when everything was going for crazy-high prices, Lease had turned to me and said �Forget the things we circled. Just try to win something!� SO that�s what I did. The bidding on the spa treatments started at $20,000,000. A few people half-heartedly raised their placards, including me. By the time it was up to $60,000,000, it was just one other person and me. This was the point where Lease noticed that I was still bidding. She said, �Stop! What are you bidding on! I don�t want this!�. I raised my placard again at $75,000,000, and told her, �There is nothing else left to win! I want this item!� �No you don�t. Let it go!�, was her reply. I raised my arm one more time at $85,000,000, and I waited to see the other person�s response. The other person dropped out. Going once�going twice�.Sold to #728! It wasn�t until after we won that Lease realized what I had been bidding on. She thought I was trying to win the eye exam! After she figured out what we had won, she was both happy and upset at the same time. Happy, because she has always wanted to spend a day at one of these places. Now she would get to spend a day there, once a month, for the next twelve months. Upset, because she wanted to win either something for the house (home improvement-wise), or something like the party so she could share it with everyone who helped her fill the shoebox with play money. I told her that nobody would be mad at her for not giving them something in return for their help. They all did what they did to help her effort, and wanted nothing in return. She found that out when we came home. Lease spent the next hour or so, calling everyone she could to tell them how the auction had went. Everyone told her that they were happy that she had won the item she did, and told her they hoped she enjoyed it. That�s all I wanted her to come away from this auction with, by the way. This had been her project all summer. We spent a lot of time cutting money out of stacks of newspapers that friends and neighbors had bagged up for her, and stacking, counting, and bundling the results. It became almost a hobby for her, and every time she reached a milestone amount a smile appeared on her face. Will she do it again next year? Hard to say right now. The fact that many of the big items went to some pretty shady individuals put a damper on her day. Time will tell��. If you stop by here occasionally, you might be wondering why I never mentioned this whole �Mega Millionaire� contest before yesterday�s entry. Simple. It was Lease�s project. I had no idea how the whole thing would play out, so I didn�t want to say anything about it until it was over. If things had gone badly, I just wouldn�t have mentioned it at all. Since the end result was good, I didn�t think Lease would mind me telling y�all about it�. One last thing: Since we still had almost $65 million left (and my Dad was with us, making him eligible to win, too), we stuck around for a little while. My step mom and dad would have enjoyed a weekend stay at the bargain motel (she can�t travel anymore, and a couple of days of room service and lounging around the pool would have been nice), but all of the remaining rooms went for over $75 million. As far as that goes, everything went for more than that. People finally came to their senses and realized that holding back huge amounts of money had been a mistake. How silly did things get at the end? There were 5 $20 party platters to a national submarine sandwich chain. They went for $70, $65, $70, $75, and $75 million dollars! My dad really wanted a $50 certificate to a local steakhouse. There were 8 up for bid at the end of the auction. The went for : $125 million. $135 million. $135 million. $150 million. $155 million. $140 million. At this point, the couple in front of us turned around and handed us their box of money. The wife said that it contained around $80 million. Since they couldn�t win, they wanted us to give it a try. So now we had $145 million. The next lot went for $155 million. Crazy! The whole auction, there was a mother-daughter team who had bid on but lost several items. They were sitting on about $150 million (I know, because she had been the last bidder before the previous lot sold, and the mother said she was just short of having enough to beat the $155 million bid that beat them). I knew we couldn�t beat their total. I asked Lease and my dad if they wanted to give our money to them, hoping that it wouldn�t go to waste. They agreed, so we gave it to them just as the last auction started. They now had almost $300 million dollars. That was $70 million dollars more than the winning bidder had spent on the $5000 Caribbean cruise! You guessed it: The last steakhouse certificate went for $305 million dollars. Sometimes, you just have to laugh at what people do����.
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