Winner, winner...pants on fire?

I retired from my, a real job 10 years ago. I, then, decided that I would write novels and something I found interesting, at the time, taking surveys and entering contests, sweepstakes, so on and so forth. I can’t say that, in all that time, it has been lucrative, but I have won and received quite a lot of prizes.

During those years, I have received at least, if not close to $1000 in music, movie, and gasoline gift cards. Usually $10 at a time. Recently I saved enough $10 Amazon gift cards to purchase a backpack and a camping cook set. However, the two biggest things and most wanted things I have received were a 23in, all-in-one computer and a 55in TV, both in 2009. Nothing but Amazon and iTunes gift cards since. Of course, nothing in the lottery, or for that matter, all of those sweepstakes that offer million dollar homes and cars and stuff. Not a biggie though.

For the last year or so I have been watching a daytime TV show called Right This Minute, RTM. I got into it because they showed a ton of internet videos and I enjoyed most of them. Sometime last year they started offering iPad Mini’s and once a week a bonus prize, usually a LED TV, if you watched and sent, on the internet, your information and the “Word of the day” to their web site. That got me hooked.

I figured that if I play long enough I might win; then again, I might not win a thing. This sweepstakes usually lasted about 30 days, 3 times a year. This year I finally won that iPad Mini2. I always thought that if I won I would sell the iPad on EBay; I would rather have gotten the cash then the iPad, considering I already have a tablet and it does what I want rather well.

I received the iPad Mini2 this past Friday and, for all intent and purposes, it was a nice looking tablet. I, for whatever reason, decided to keep it. Then, I said to myself, WHY am I going to keep this tablet? I took all of the plastic off of the tablet fired it up and then started to add apps that I think I needed.

At that very moment I realized that having a second tablet was just a little bit much, overkill. I already have a laptop, a desktop, two smartphones and now two tablets. Both tablets doing much of the same thing. Moreover, an Apple device is a hard cookie to crack. There are a lot of little things my Nexus 7 does that the iPad doesn’t do and to me that it a distraction.

So now what do I do with it? Keep it in my bedroom and use it as an alarm clock? I can’t do that because my old and I mean old second smartphone does that. I don’t use it for anything else but wake me in the morning. It looks like I may end up selling it anyway, that is if I don’t find something for it to do.

Other than that, I guess I will just keep playing those online contests and sweepstakes. Now, if I can just win the lottery!

I've lost my mind and I can't get up...

About 3 weeks ago, as I was sitting in my car going somewhere, I took the tab, on my phone, off so I can charge my phone. It broke off of the hinge so now I have to keep tabs as to where I put it. For the love of me, I could not find the tab later that day. I practically cleaned my car out looking for the tab. The tab keeps the phone water-proof.

A few days ago, as I was reaching into the armrest, you will never know what I found. Yes, it was that tab. I have no idea why I never looked in there first. What I had thought was, I put the tab in my hat and when I went to put the hat on, I thought I saw something, little and black, fly by me. I thought it was the tab and I decided to look for it when I got out of the car.

This past Saturday I went on a 4 mile hike and I took a lot of pictures. When I got home, I could not find my camera. I tried to remember what I did with it. Again, I searched the car, under the seats, in my backpack, in my hiking boots, to no avail. This morning, just before the alarm went off, I woke up and tried to think about where and what I did to lose my camera. 

 I turned it over in my mind for 10 minutes or so. I got to the part where I took the camera out of the camera holder I had attached to my backpack and I remember getting into the car with it. After that, everything drew a blank. I got up and went about my daily grind. I went out on my daily walk and the thought of not taking picture got me angry, for a moment.

A few minutes ago, as I was taking a shower, I happened to think about that tab, and I had to chuckle. Then it hit me! I remembered where the camera might be. I put my clothes on and went downstairs and out into the garage, opened the car door, lean in and opened the arm rest. Sure enough, the camera was sitting there laughing at me.

I am really going to have to give up drinking or when I am on a hike quit picking and eating them mushroom! 

I got nothing...to write about

I got nothing…nothing to write about this very minute, nothing. I am sitting here watching the Lion’s football game and it’s at the end of the first half and of course the Lions are losing, go figure, so I am fuming, sort of. Heck, Michigan State lost last night and them damn Tigers lost, too. Really fuming now.

I just don’t have anything in mind to write about right but, I need to calm the *Frack* down. Anyway, them Tigers, what to do? They hold their fate in their own hands today, well, Toronto and Baltimore have to lose today. If that is the case, the Tigers will have to win, today, and win their make-up game tomorrow.

Now that I think about it, maybe I should just get up and wash the dishes, during the halftime show, and finish washing and folding my week’s worth of dirty cloths. Or heck, vacuum my rugs or just clean up. I am going to do something, just what…maybe take a nap. I'm due a nap right now. I didn’t drink a lot of coffee today so I am getting tired just sitting here and watching the Lion’s football game...I just bored watching the Lions lose. That’s too close to call…