Pointing out the obvious

My dear and loyal readers have failed me. I blogged multiple times earlier this week that I am donating my services as a designated driver for the MBA Food Fight silent auction. I am sure the irony has dawned on at least couple of you. Come on ... all those times that I drove you guys (former co workers) to lunch and the near misses and close calls we've had. (Wink)

Speaking of driving skills. They will be put to use tomorrow as I take this blog on the road with me to Alexandria, Virginia where I will attend the wedding of a good friend of mine

A few items of interest

The bidding for the auction ends this evening. As of an hour ago, there were no takers (other than my initial bid of $10) for my offer to drive someone to the airport for Thanksgiving break but we've received several bids for my services as a designated driver.

One item that I have been watching closely is the opportunity to have dinner at the Carolina Club with a beloved retired Kenan-Flagler professor. This professor spoke to us back in August during the Monday morning of our orientation and gave us a video "walking tour" of the Carolina campus. I contacted him over the weekend and he agreed to take three students out to dinner and even offered to pay out of his own pocket. His exact words were "I miss being around students." 

I submitted bids for several other items; two apple pies baked by a second year student, a lemon lime pie donated by a classmate and his wife, the opportunity to shoot (ammunition and guns provided) with a classmate who participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and a glass gin bottle retrieved from the bottom of a river in Nigeria that is more than a century old. The only auction that I am currently winning is fresh cookies baked and delivered by a classmate and his wife. I don't particularly care for the cookies and plan on saving this (if I win) for a special occasion next semester when someone does me a favor or I am in the mood to brighten a particular person's day.

Turns out the "have your house cleaned by a student dressed in a French maid outfit" was a joke. The student whose name was listed is a male who was volunteered by his friends. He stopped by the table this afternoon to withdraw the item but before doing so he submitted the final bid of $30 to outbid every other bidder. I am glad he was a good sport about it.

The fleecing of Carolina

The folks at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina sent me a nice letter earlier this week informing me that starting January 1, 2006 my health insurance monthly rate will be $104.  Since the letter made no reference of what the current rate is, I had to go look it up to find out that the current rate is $93.

I hear so often companies justifying their rate increases by saying that they are simply passing on the higher cost onto their consumers. It's just too bad there is no one else I can pass along my higher costs to.

Food fight anyone?

Last week’s Apprentice had a competition where the teams competed to raise money for a charity by organizing a charity auction. Students in my class had the chance to do that this week as Kenan-Flagler participates in the annual MBA Food Fight.

 

The MBA Food Fight is an event organized by students at the Ross School of Business where schools compete to raise money to fight hunger. Within Kenan-Flagler, there is an internal competition where each of the eight sections is competing against one another. The fund raising effort at Kenan-Flagler revolves around a silent auction where the members of each section donate items to be auctioned off.

 

In the past, items donated range from tangible items such as artwork to services such as golf lessons or a date with a consenting (and hopefully attractive) student. I helped out by donating my services as a driver. One of my items was to drive the winner to the airport for Thanksgiving and the other was to drive the winner home from the bars on a night of his choosing.

 

The bidding began this week and by Tuesday night I was embarrassed that my items had not attracted any bids. I decided to help get the ball rolling by bidding on my own items. I had previously calculated that volunteering to make the drives was going to cost me a certain amount of time and I was willing to pay an amount up to my value of the time to get out of having to make the trips.

 

In addition to bidding on my own auctions, I also submitted bids on other items donated by others in my section with the intentions of driving up the prices. But for the few special items that I really do have an interest in, I am going to hold off and keep my powder dry until right before the auction ends to submit my bid so I can snatch them up at a good price.

 

PS: I feel legally obligated to tell you that in some states, it is illegal for a seller to participate in his own auction. But let's just say that because the money from this auction goes to charity, I don't expect the North Carolina Attorney General's office to be calling anytime soon.

CBS Evening News with Aaron Brown?

"CNN ousted its longtime prime-time anchor, Aaron Brown, today in favor of Anderson Cooper, who has received extensive media attention in the wake of his widely publicized coverage of Hurricane Katrina."  - New York Times article

I have always liked Newsnight with Aaron Brown and thought Brown is an elegant presenter. But I am going to make a prediction here that he will end up as the next anchorman (or one of many) over at CBS Evening News.

Happy Belated Halloween

The above is the bust of Henry M. Flagler as seen on Tuesday at the main entrance of the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Sexual harassment lawsuit against The University Club of NYC

I was at The University Club two weeks ago at a Kenan-Flagler alumni reception as part of our fall break career trek to New York City. Sunday's New York Post had an article about three female employees suing the club for on-the-job sexual harassment.

"The University Club, a bastion for bluebloods, power studs and A-list celebs, has a "serial sexual molester" on its staff who gropes banquet waitresses during classy parties and ritzy weddings, a lawsuit charges."

Here's a set of login/password to use with the New York Post Online Edition.

xwqz@lobeman.com
awesome