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SPAM Veggie Pita Pockets
Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 5:08 pm
I have a secondary email address at GMail, and I'm used to their advertisements. This is something new. I went to my junk mail folder, and at the top, was a rotating list of SPAM recipes! That's about the craziest thing I've seen all day. So...without further ado... SPAM Veggie Pita Pockets
Borders Rewards
Saturday, December 23, 2006 at 1:36 pm
Last time that I went to a Borders bookstore, I signed up for a Borders Rewards card. The basic deal is that you give them free marketing research by letting them track all your purchases, and then in return they give you tiny discounts that you never take advantage of.
That is, until today. David had accidentally kept my camera's memory card until after he flew back home for Christmas. He gave me the ok, and I decided to break into his apartment and take it back so I could have it this weekend. It took me about 30 seconds to slide in my Borders Rewards card behind the latch and his door just popped right open. I have to admit, that's far more reward than I ever expected out of the card. And I was lucky to have it, too. I would never have risked my credit or debit card - it was my only other plastic card!
The moral of the story? Rewards come in many forms.
God Will Provide
Monday, November 20, 2006 at 2:00 pm
Last week I found out that I had paid my credit card bill 5 days early (one that I'm using to pay for my laptop at 0%). Five days early, of course, means that I technically missed a payment. I didn't receive any mail, and the cheap non-human phone calls to tell me about my plight were unable to press 1 to speak with me. When I called about something else, I was informed that my interest rate was now 32% and not 0%, and that I also owed interest, a late fee, and a month's payment. I was able to take care of that, and pay the bill and it was resolved rather quickly, including my interest rate. That led me to a cash flow problem. In just a few days, I would be paying my rent and I was $108 short according to my bank account.
I've been in similar situations before. Sure I think, "What can I do?" but I always find myself wondering "What's God going to do this time?" See, most of these seemingly impossible situations get resolved in seemingly impossible ways. I knew it. Even though I'd been waiting 5 months for 1 mail-in rebate, and 3 months for another, they added up to exactly how much I needed. I decided on Friday that I would be getting those rebates on monday. I checked online - my Vonage rebate had been mailed to my old address on October 31. My AT&T Rebate had apparently been mailed that week! Still, how do two rebates, one going through standard mail, and one going through mail forwarding arrive at the same time?
Well, today is monday and both checks were in my mailbox - almost no surprise to me. Even optimists are going to say this is more than coincidence. I'm going to say that this seems to be what always happens when I'm in trouble.
P.S. And of course, some would say it's an act of God when rebate checks even arrive at all!
Philosophy of the Next Decade
Friday, November 17, 2006 at 11:42 am
When I graduated High School, I was proud to be in the nice even year of 2000. Even those hitting a life landmark this year can say it happened in '06 (that's "oh-six"). The '90s were easy too.
I may be getting ahead of myself, or getting ahead of a global holocaust preempting the need for this. What's going to happen in the next decade? We're talking about 2011 and 2012. '11 (pronounced "eleven") isn't gonna work. "Twenty-eleven" is long. What a painful time in someone's life! I wanna know what we should do. What do you call it? Someone needs to take a stand now and help our future generations through this. If it's any consolation, 2011 is a prime number. "I graduate in twenty-prime" sounds cool. I'm open to suggestions.
Twelve. I got nothing. I'm sorry.
The Side Effect
Friday, October 13, 2006 at 5:20 pm
BIOLOGICAL WEAPON WARNING: Potential side effect includes effective treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
That was my first thought after seeing a commercial for a new drug, HUMIRA, designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis. In yet another case of a drug with side effects worse than the symptoms they treat, this has to be the worst one yet.
Some of these complications include: tuberculosis (some fatal infections reported), flu-like symptoms, flare-ups of Hepatitis B, lymphoma, central nervous system disorders, and serious blood disorders.
