I hear ya' Slow. In these times, I don't have $300 in my discretionary income to spend on a lantern, for sure.
Funny, I was doing some thrifty shopping at the Family Dollar the other day, speaking with the clerk about the price of peanut butter! I don't know what happened to the peanuts, but the generic brand peanut butter is up to $5.00 for the bigger jar! This is the off-brand peanut butter, not JIF or something. And I got kids, not to mention I like the occasional peanut butter/banana sandwich myself, we go through some peanut butter around here. Milk, bread, butter, cheese, (COFFEE!), gasoline - Its all going through the roof! I gotta be careful, because I'll hijack the thread - But certainly $300 is a lot for a lantern. Although - It is a pretty yellow lantern!
Also, like you said, I always lose the auctions the last 5 minutes! Usually, I put one bid what I'm willing to pay, and that's it. It'll be down to last few minutes, I'll be in the lead, then bam-bam-bam, bids will start coming in the last three minutes and I'll be out of the game!
AL
