Yes, I know.. I have become very slow in posting to this blog. TMGO (too much going on). But, here is a bit more in an attempt to catch up.
TUNE IN: Be careful in your Internet dealings.
I use TuneIn to access podcasts, but sometimes the advertisements bug the hell out of me. For instance:
Run along, little dust bunnies, run along!
What does this button do? What does this button do?
Those are for Geico, I believe. They play on and on, all day long, during podcast or news breaks.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to find out about Tune In Premium. The ad for Premium said that there would be no other ads to bother us. Instead, the ad spots would be filled with news items. (Perhaps that could be painful to hear the same news over and over..?)
I talked to a nice lady about Premium, but at the end of our talk I said that I was not going to get it.
So, of course, in my next Discover bill, I found an entry for a $99 payment to TuneIn Premium. There was a telephone number next to the entry. I called it and argued with someone for a while, to try to get a refund of my $99. I was told that because I "ordered Premium" from a "3rd Party" I should not get a refund. My answer to that was that if I did not get my refund, I would be telling my story to the local newspaper. They gave me the refund.
Coupons!
Whenever I buy a 50-50 chance at a church, carnival, or club, I get a ticket stub with the "potential" winning number... but it also usually says, in bold type: KEEP THIS COUPON
Now, tell me what I should do with all of these coupons?
Carnival Gambling 1
When I lived in New Bedford, the Portuguese Catholic Church would have carnivals in the Spring and in the Fall. They had them in a large area across the street from my house, so, it was easy for me and my friends to visit them.
We didn't have much money, so we just watched other people win or lose. One night, while we were watching a money wheel, we noticed that the triple six wheel face kept coming up whenever one of the wheel spinners would do his thing. Aha! A chance to make some money. We only had a couple of dimes.. but we put one one the six spot when our spinner twirled the wheel. We won!
We did this for a while and got richer and richer, until an observant priest found out what was going on. A new wheel spinner was assigned; we grabbed our ill-gotten gains and left quickly.
Carnival Gambling 2
Later, in Junior High School, I had a lot of jobs because our family was not very rich. One of my jobs was at New Bedford's Sargeant Field. I "manned" the ring toss game. My orders were to:
Let every 7th player win something, even though their ring didn't circle any clothes pin. (It cost 25 cents to play. The prizes cost something like 10 for $1.)
If the player's ring encircled a clothes pin labeled "81".. tell them that the winning number was "18."
Ditto with "99" .. "66." Ditto with "45" .. "54." You get the picture.
Of course, you know that I did not follow the rules when the boss wasn't looking.
Carnival Concessions
Sargeant Field had a large bleachers set up for folks to watch circus acts or baseball games. A bunch of us "rats" would sell hot dogs and soda to the attendees. Not bad for 12 year olds.. we got 10 cents for every $1 sale. Because I sold more that the other kids, I received 15 cents per $1 sale.
Besides making a few bucks, us kids got to see all of the circus acts for free.
My favorite was "The Great Lalage".. a muscular lady who twirled hundreds of times on a hanging ring. After her act, she would retire to her trailer, which was next to a fence that could be climbed by young boys who would then peak in her trailer window to watch her get undressed.
The circus "roustabouts" appreciated kids who worked hard, putting up, and,or, taking down circus tents and sheds. There were "managers" who had the kids line up for payment of 50 cents each at the end of the night. Once again, because I worked very hard, each "manager" let me on their line so that I could receive extra money.
Enough for now.
