I love going to auctions - not the fancy antique or art auctions, but the farm, household, surplus, might-be-anything kind of auctions. You just never know what you'll find, and it's interesting to see how much people are willing to pay for things. I like to people watch too, so that's always fun, wondering why people are bidding on certain items.

We went to one yesterday that was a county surplus auction. They had cars, furniture, office equipment, computers, printers, cameras, guns, etc. We didn't get a chance to look at everything before they began the auction. That's always good to do while you can see the item you're bidding on up close. Otherwise you might be at the back of the swarm of people and only briefly see the item you're bidding on as they hold it up in the air or point to it on the table.

But I had seen the particular item I wanted up close. It was a 17" or 19" flat screen monitor, in nice condition. So I bid. I got it very cheap, but paid too much. Alas, when I brought it home, it doesn't work. For some odd reason, it never occurred to me that they would auction off complete duds. I expect that at farm or household auctions, and usually pass up the $2 or $3 computers, printers, copiers, etc. because I don't know how to work on them, but I just thought that maybe the county had purchased some new equipment and was auctioning off old, not dead.

Buyer beware...lesson learned.