Safeway stores are currently running their Monopoly game. I am one game piece away from winning anything from a $5 gift card, a $50k home makeover, $78 Redbox movies for a year or $500k vacation home among other prizes. Looking back I think the best thing I've even won was concert tickets, to Sade (ahem yeah) which I gave to my Mom...who said it was so moving she cried (which is why I say the best). BTW, I won them back when I was managing the music/electronics department in a big box store, not from an easy listening radio station. FOCUS: What is the best thing you've ever won?
Besides the genetic lottery? One random night at a bar they were doing a bunch of raffle prizes for like a $1. One of the main prizes was a double folding picnic chair that also had a built in cooler and an umbrella. Apparently in my drunken stupor I gave one of the girls collecting money a buck and then just forgot about it. About a week later one of these shows up on my doorstep. Best $1 ever spent.
A 4 hour hot air balloon ride. My folks were ReMax brokers and their brokerage's time came up for the use of one of the ReMax hot air balloons. (The company owns and operates them but then lends that service out to their individual offices as promotional stuff). http://www.specialeventsteam.com/About-The-Team/What-The-Team-Offers.cfm Well, the folks threw a big BBQ and included a raffle for a balloon ride. Just before they were going to draw the 2 winning tickets, I saw that there weren't that many, relatively speaking. I figured that I'd gladly pay $100 for a ride, so I bought 50 of the $2 tickets. People were pissed as hell as they waited for all the tickets to be filled out, but I figured I had a 1 in 3 chance of winning at that point. And I did. It was awesome. As was the celebratory landing champagne. Not my pic or me in it, but you get the idea:
Got a couple of nice big sirloin steaks in a meat raffle one time. I won the first round and got to pick over everything. It was glorious.
Bar raffle: keychain bottlecap opener and a Das Boot. I think the Das Boot was more of a present. The owner expected me to go fill it 4 times a week at her establishment. When I do bring it, everyone oohs and ahhs and wants to drink from one of the big glasses. Savvy on her part. But it costs $30 to fill it, so no. I get a ton of use out of that bottlecap opener. Poker count? Out of 4 games so far I've won twice. Nice little bit of beer money.
I've won a few radio contests: a couple CD's win-it-before-you-can-buy-it. My Rush, Test for Echo CD has the gold foil "Promotional Use Only" stamp on it. One time, when I was working at Subway in college, the owner kept the in-house music on a local easy listening radio station. I was closing up, mopping, and all I head the guy say was ". . . and be our 10th caller to win." I called and the DJ answered and said "You're our 4th caller, try again!" I called right back and he said, "You're the 10th caller! Congratulations!" I said, "Cool. What did I win?" It was a weekend at a nearby mountain retreat hotel. One time, at a college basketball game, I was sitting with some of my fraternity brothers, and my girlfriend comes over. There's an open seat next to me, but she says can you move down a seat? I didn't really want to, but whatever. At halftime, announcer guy says, "and, now, check under your seats for a $100 Gift Certificate to the local Sporting Goods store." Ha, it was under my (new) seat. Suck it, girlfriend. She wanted me to let her spend half. Denied. We broke up not long after that.
30 dollars to fill the boot? How fucking big is it, a growler refill around here for a nice beer wouldn't be more than 12 bucks, that's for 64 ounces. I've never really won shit, so I generally don't buy into raffles that much. I did win a shot glass at a strip club once, does that count?
I really shouldn't have days off during the week. I end up going a little crazy with the online shopping. Oops... I never win shit. I once won a water bottle and a $25 gift card to Seasons 52. Woooooo!
I don't win shit. I do, however, file enough consumer complaints that I have shit sent to me all the time to appease me. I've gotten at least 8 cases of free beer, a free couch, free car parts, free groceries... So basically, I bitch a lot.
Back when I was kid we'd go down the Jersey shore every summer. Yes, to Seaside Heights, but way before Snooki was even born. Anyway, one day I walked to the boardwalk, went to the first wheel I saw -see below- and plunked down a quarter. First spin, I won a multi band radio I had coveted. AM, FM, CB, weather, television - this thing picked up everything. That's a $60 radio for 25 cents. Not bad. More recently, my wife and I went to our first tricky tray (known some places as a Chinese Auction) and won all kinds of shit, including an ice cream maker, and a basket of booze that included a case of beer, 3 bottles of wine, and a bottle of Smirnoff, some rum and mixers and stuff. We were hooked, and went to the next 2 or 3 tricky trays in our area, but won jack shit. And we noticed we'd see the same people, who all had little systems they followed, and these wand-like things they'd wave in the air when they won so the prize runners could see them. We've since retired from the Tricky Tray circuit.
When I was six the local FOX affiliate had a weekly call-in contest during the Saturday morning cartoons. On the last week before they stopped, I won a shiny new Gameboy. I also caught hell from my parents because the station's phone number was long distance, and I called it a shitload of times. That little gray plastic box probably accounted for at least 20% of my childhood.
Man. My bracket was looking so good through most of last night - I had Providence, UConn, Wichita State & Butler. But, then fucking Seton Hall and Dayton dropped their turds on me. Fuckers.
I won 1000 quarters on the Wheel of Fortune slot machine once at the Mirage. What a great night last night, threw about 15 people out and made exactly 0 car bombs. I am sorry sir but if you fall asleep standing up you have had enough and it is time to go home.
Turn of the century New York City Spoiler Even more interesting then the NYC skyline at the turn of the 20th century is the date this card was postmarked. September 11th, 1902. Exactly 99 years before the skyline was drastically changed in the blink of an eye.
Never won anything that great outside of cash at a poker tournament. They did trivia every week at a bar near where I lived in college and we always went. Usually won a gift card that was good for a few free pitchers. They always did a sex round and I'm convinced they pulled the answers out of their ass. For example: How long does the average guy last during sex? Spoiler: answer 2 minutes. In fairness to gender I think it has to be at least a little longer than that. Maybe by 'average' guy they meant 15 year old first timer.
Anyone who picked Middle Tennessee State over Michigan State is either drunk a genius, or both. Dam Watch this is the year a 16 beats a 1. Watch out Oregon
You know when it's the NCAA playoffs when the Big 10 starts shitting the bed to lesser teams. Basketball or football. Pretty sure there isn't a bigger loser conference in the country.