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| Author |
Message |
swa
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Auction Donations
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Mar 6 07:37 UTC 2001 |
We're now looking for donations for the sixth (I think) annual (sorta)
Great Grex Auction. The auction is to raise money for Grex, so your
donations go to a good cause.
Some of the things donated last year include: a homemade scarf/hat, baby
papyrus plants, pans of fudge, board games, a dreamcatcher, bath salts, and
various and sundry machines.
Any interesting items lying around your house? Anything neat you know how
to make? Any skill you'd be willing to share with other Grexers during a
few hours of donated time?
You can enter your donations here or mail auction@cyberspace.org. Our
operators are standing by!
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| 77 responses total. |
aruba
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response 1 of 77:
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Mar 6 15:39 UTC 2001 |
I'll donate ten handmade envelopes, made in sizes and of papers of your
choice, plus one envelope template, so you can make your own in the future.
Minimum bid: $10.
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cmcgee
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response 2 of 77:
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Mar 7 15:31 UTC 2001 |
Those are stunning! Get your (high) bid in early.
I'll donate an hour of marketing consulting. If you're thinking of starting
a business, or feel like your current business is slowing down, bid on an
hour of experience in this field. I ran a marketing consulting firm in A2
for 15 years.
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scott
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response 3 of 77:
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Mar 7 16:35 UTC 2001 |
Same as last year, I'll donate the following:
Garden rototilling service
Rototilling of a garden plot in Ann Arbor, up to 100 sq. feet.
Minimum bid $30.
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aruba
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response 4 of 77:
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Mar 9 04:54 UTC 2001 |
Carol would like to donate:
One 10 oz bag of "Healing Garden" fancy juniper bath salts. It has a very
pungent scent.
One "boss mirror" for your computer. This is a convex mirror (2.75" in
diameter) that you put on the corner of your computer monitor, so that no
one can sneak up on you and catch you Grexing.
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danr
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response 5 of 77:
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Mar 9 12:33 UTC 2001 |
I'll donate a home-made apple pie.
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keesan
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response 6 of 77:
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Mar 9 15:17 UTC 2001 |
Jim would like to donate a computer monitor (or TV) holder, the sort with a
long arm that moves the monitor forward and backwards, and swivels. Clamps
on the edge of a desk (a heavy desk). Minimum bid $5.
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scott
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response 7 of 77:
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Mar 9 16:51 UTC 2001 |
I'd like to donate a small collection of interesting/decorative hard disk
parts. Included will be 5" platters (shiny!), spacing rings, head arms, and
a couple of ludicrously powerful magnets. Good for making mobiles, etc.
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jep
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response 8 of 77:
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Mar 9 17:03 UTC 2001 |
I'll donate a pair of gerbils. We still have several extras. Your
choice of grey (which some books list as "rare") or black, your choice
of male or female or one of each -- I'll try to give you what you
request.
No equipment is included. A ten gallon tank with a cover, a running
wheel, a water bottle, and a food dish and some hamster/gerbil food is
all you need. Or you can get a hamster/gerbil cage at a pet store.
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keesan
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response 9 of 77:
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Mar 9 20:10 UTC 2001 |
Re 7, these magnets are also said to be handy for attaching heavy objects to
your ceiling (assuming it is steel) or walls. Jim suggests that they can be
used to hold metal doors open in the wind. (WOuld it be difficult to get the
magnets to release the doors?).
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scott
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response 10 of 77:
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Mar 9 21:26 UTC 2001 |
It takes a number of these to do anything heavy in the real world (I've got
a ceiling fan hung from 8 of them). But they're a *lot* of fun to play around
with.
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gull
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response 11 of 77:
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Mar 9 22:10 UTC 2001 |
Other uses for hard disk magnets:
- Seperating Canadian and US coins (though the newer Canadian nickles don't
seem to be magnetic anymore)
- Picking up nails in the yard after a roofing job. Put the magnet in an
old pillowcase, and hold the pillowcase so it just brushes the ground. Walk
along the outside of the house, swinging it in front of you. Most of the
nails will collect on the pillowcase.
- Bulk erasing audio cassettes.
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aruba
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response 12 of 77:
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Mar 10 03:01 UTC 2001 |
bruin donates these two things:
Two (2) Prestige Tickets for Showcase Cinema, and two (2) $1.00 Gift
Certificates for Showcase Cinema. The Prestige Tickets expire November 30,
2001. They are good for seeing movies that have been out for more than 2
weeks. The $1.00 Gift Certificates are valid until December 31, 2002.
Minimum Bid -- $5.00
"Shaft" VHS Video (2000) Starring Samuel L. Jackson & Vanessa Williams.
Rated "R" for strong language and violence.
Minimum Bid -- $5.00
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jiffer
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response 13 of 77:
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Mar 10 05:34 UTC 2001 |
DRAFTING FOR THE THEATER (book for drafting scene design) By Dennis Dorn &
Mark Shanda (Copyright 1992)
This book is in fairly decent condition. Sprial type binding. .
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swa
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response 14 of 77:
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Mar 11 05:23 UTC 2001 |
Thanks to all who've agreed to donate! It's neat to see that we've got a
lot of interesting stuff already.
With one exception, I've entered the items mentioned above into the
auction files, so that the query program is now working again. (For
example, "!query donor bruin" will tell you which items bruin have
donated.) I'll enter them into the auction conference once there is one.
The one exception is the gerbils offered by jep. It makes me a little
uneasy to auction off live animals -- while ideally the person buying them
would be able and eager to care for a pet, there's no guarantee of that.
I know that there is no guarantee of that at any pet store, but... perhaps
I'm just nervous about the type of precedent that might set.
I mean no criticism of jep, who has long been generous to the auction and
to Grex. But I'd like to mull this one over a bit first. Thoughts,
anyone?
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keesan
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response 15 of 77:
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Mar 11 16:58 UTC 2001 |
I would restrict bids on live donations to people in the same area so that
you don't have to mail them. Otherwise I don't see any problems, in fact
these pets would probably get a better home than the average pet store
purchase since jep could give email support. I have seen pets in the Freebies
and the Farmers' Market. Jep is offering sort of an open adoption (I
presume).
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danr
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response 16 of 77:
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Mar 11 17:04 UTC 2001 |
Also, I don't think my apple pie would mail very well, either.
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slynne
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response 17 of 77:
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Mar 11 17:53 UTC 2001 |
Heh, I have a feeling that jep would be willing to give the gerbils away
for free. ;)
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keesan
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response 18 of 77:
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Mar 12 03:36 UTC 2001 |
The monitor stand would be very difficult to package for mailing.
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ea
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response 19 of 77:
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Mar 12 12:59 UTC 2001 |
I'm willing to donate a walking tour of the Syracuse University
campus. Suitable for prospective parents and students or just anyone
else who wants to see the campus. Transportation to Syracuse and hotel
arrangements would be the responsibility of the bidder. Minimum bid
$15. Date of the tour would be worked out between the buyer and myself.
Note: I'm not 100% sure of my summer schedule yet. I have to be out of
the dorm by May 11, although I may leave earlier. The first day of
classes is August 27, and I think I have to be back on the 20th, but
I'm not sure of that yet.
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jep
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response 20 of 77:
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Mar 12 16:23 UTC 2001 |
Heh. Maybe I should talk about the quality of life the gerbils have
now. (-:
In truth, yes, I'd be willing to give the gerbils away, and regard this
auction as an opportunity to try to do so in a different forum. If it
can benefit Grex, that's fine by me as well.
I expect anyone winning a bid for them to feed and water them. They
don't need much else. I'll be happy to answer any questions I can about
them.
However, if Grex doesn't want to offer them through it's auction, I'll
understand and I have no problem with that decision.
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aruba
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response 21 of 77:
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Mar 12 20:24 UTC 2001 |
I'm OK with it. Thanks jep!
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aruba
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response 22 of 77:
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Mar 13 19:12 UTC 2001 |
jh sent me this in mail:
I'm nearly done with a new flute design. It's a different key than the
other one. I'm going to put the grex logo with the colored columns on some
if I can. I'll donate the ones that don't melt when I apply the logo. I'll
let you know soon the exact number.
I'll work up a little sales pitch for them when the auction gets going.
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swa
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response 23 of 77:
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Mar 16 05:03 UTC 2001 |
Well, my reluctance to auction gerbils comes from two sources.
First, when someone sells or gives away their own animals, they have the
opportunity to be selective, to define the terms of that sale/gift and to
inspect the animal's new owner carefully and ask them questions and so on.
In an auction setting, the donor is surrendering control -- the person who
will end up with the animal is going to be the person who bids the most
money. Agreeing to give the animals to the highest bidder, whosoever it
might be, is potentially dangerous, methinks. Grex tends to have a
disproportionate number of animal lovers, and the odds are that that
highest bidder would be someone pretty cool. But if it *wasn't*, and
their lack of attention or good care resulted in harm to the gerbils, I
would never forgive myself. That potential leads me to think this is not
a responsible thing to do.
Second, as I said above, I'm very very leery about the sort of precedent
this might set. Yes, gerbils don't need a *lot* of care. But would those
of you who've said you're okay with it feel equally okay about auctioning,
say, a puppy?
Grex is supposed to be about making decisions by consensus, and maybe it's
unfair of me, when the consensus seems to be that people are okay with
this, to unilaterally say "no." (Especially when my co-auctioneer
shares the majority opinion.) But I would very strongly prefer that jep
sell or give the gerbils to someone on his own. (You're welcome, jep, to
encourage the new gerbil owner to donate money to Grex, of course.;))
Does that make my position any clearer? Does it still seem unreasonable?
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beeswing
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response 24 of 77:
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Mar 16 06:18 UTC 2001 |
::bees feels odd about auctioning, selling, or trading any animals as
though they were property.... though by saying that she is not
insinuating that jep is callous or irresponsible or mean. Bees doesn't
even like gerbils all that much, but she does like cats and dogs and
other creatures. Though in bees' world, all domestic animals would be
loved, doted upon and cared for responsibly in homes. Sigh.::
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