Traveling

Last week was a busy one.

On Thursday I headed out to the airport for my weekly trip Las Vegas. When I got back the next evening, I checked my favorite weather Apps, Saturday looked good for a ride. I bundled myself up and headed out early Saturday morning for my last ride out to central Oregon for 2020.

If felt good to get out and blast around on my old GPZ, but the weather was getting cooler and the fall winds were starting to blow harder across the flat plains the farther east I rode.

My two hour trip turned into an eight hours ride as I raced around on all my favorite roads, when I pulled into my driveway later that day I had knocked out 400 miles!

It was still dark at 5am on Sunday morning when the Uber driver pulled up to take me the airport. I was heading out for my four hour flight to Chicago to see my daughter for a couple days. We covered a lot ground together. Sightseeing, visiting the museum and just hanging out with each other. But before I knew it was Tuesday, and I had to head back to Portland.

It was a whirlwind week, but it was all worth it.

Everywhere

Remember the call I got two months ago? I said yes to a fundraising auction that was to take place in a local Portland taproom. I got the call when the original auctioneer had backed out because she did not like the group's final selection of venue.

Well, it turned out really well! It actually turned out better than any one of us could have imagined. We ended up raising nearly double the net proceeds that they had in years past. They were so pleased with the results that they rebooked us right away for their next year's event.

I'm sure glad we said yes. It was a great group and a fun auction to work and we're looking forward to doing it all again next year. It just goes to show that success can be found anywhere and everywhere, as long as you open your mind and eyes to the possibilities.

Anywhere

I got a call the other day from an auction chair asking if I was available to work an auction on short notice. The original auctioneer that had been hired ended up refusing to work in the space that was selected for the fundraiser. In my entire time as an auctioneer, I had never heard that before!

While some venues may not be the ideal space for live auction, this one seemed completely workable to me. I have always believed that any space can work as long as there are these two things - a place that guests can gather and a sound good system with which the emcee and auctioneer can work.

So I got to thinking about all the places where I have worked as an auctioneer - hotels, schools, country clubs, golf courses, fairgrounds, basements, garages, parking lots, junkyards, airplane hangers, kitchens, sound stages, radio stations, galleries, courthouse steps, under the shade of a tree, a bowling alley. I have even worked in some unusual and harsh conditions; like in a rainstorm, a snowstorm, a thunderstorm in the Tetons.

Any kind of auctioneer can make any auction work anywhere!