Life is Funny

Here’s the thing..

Many of us go to local casinos… We walk in with spendable cash. $200 is a nice number. We’re hoping to turn that cash into a few thousand.

WRONG

Of all the people that walk into a casino, say 300 people, most will walk away with nothing or very little.

Few of them may walk out ahead $100 or $200…

…and out of 300 people, if its a lucky day, someone will walk out with $5,000 on a slot machine, or a massive side-bet on blackjack which gave them “lucky ladies” when the dealer had a black jack.

But the rule of thumb is..

Walk into a casino with $200 or $300…

Walk out with none.

So it’s an expensive form of entertainment. The dopamine and adrenaline to our brains is what we’re after… The thought.. the chance… it feels good to be there and hope. Casino’s wouldn’t last, if they didn’t give us those chemical bursts to our brains…

..and thats all it is…

So, if you are planning to have fun gambling.. let it be that.. But why bring in $200, $300 or even $600? If you want that dopamine / adranaline effect.. even $50 works..

We have to sit back and realize what it is that the casino does for you.. It surely won’t pay your bills.. It won’t put you in a better financial position. It won’t solve your problems. If anything.. the way you were “before” entering the casino.. was a better situation!! You had spendable cash. Walk out from the casino, now you don’t..

Casino’s are full of bright lights, action, people, sounds like the place to be…

But guess what, strip away the bright lights, strip away the people trying to win who haven’t.. and it’s a cold desolate place… akin to standing in the line at the bank. Its a financial decision nonetheless.. and a poor one at that.

Be wary of casinos — they have a mission, and even if they do pay, they’ll own you next time.

I was watching an infomercial last night. I watch them because some of them are quite amusing, almost like a comedy show. I figured I’d write about some of them every now and then..

Last night was John Beck’s program on how to buy houses worth 180,000 for as little as $300

While I’m watching, they are flashing nice looking homes on the screen, and coming up with numbers and testimonials. “I bought this house for $427.65!”

They go on and on… Now while it all sounds amazing.. at some point, a logical person has to go..

WHAT IS THE CATCH? Surely if homes worth $180,000 can be bought for $300 and THESE INFOMERCIAL people know that..

What the heck are they doing advertising how to do it? Surely they would be running around buying as many of these homes by themselves and turning profits.

Well think about that … think about it again.. and then again…

Why would anyone pick up a phone and order the program without some advanced research? I can tell you why. People watching the program late at night are overtired, some have been drinking, people’s minds don’t work right and they just go “ah, what do I have to lose”

Well today, I did some research, and YUP, there is a RipOffReport about this:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/177/RipOff0177451.htm

So people, if you are reading this blog right now.. It means YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.

..and if you do have access to the internet — whenever an infomercial advertises something you might be interested in, DO SOME RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET BEFORE ORDERING!

Simple concept. Yet millions of people don’t think. They pickup the telephone and grab their credit card without doing any research whatsoever. The excitement of watching something on TV that you want to be part of, confuses the logical part of your brain.

Have you ever been taken advantage of by an infomercial? If so, let’s hear your story. Be honest — many of us can learn by hearing about any misfortunes you might have experienced.

Ok, about a week ago, I heard my first song of “Jingle Bells” in the mall. Remembrance Day wasn’t even here yet, nor was the U.S. Thanksgiving Day.

Now we all know how commercialized Christmas has become, but isn’t there any reasonable etiquette on how early is TOO early to start playing holiday music in stores?

I know some people like to do their holiday gift buying early. That’s fine. But atleast get Remembrance Day and Thanksgiving Holidays out of the way first.  How are we suppose to remember our fallen war heroes while Jingle Bells and Silent Night are playing over the mall’s speakers?

I mean, why not start advertising Easter now? Perhaps easter  bunny chocolate should hit the shelves in November?

To be honest, the over commercialization of the Christmas holiday season is what ruins the holidays for many of us. By the corporations pushing the season down our throats, they are taking the true fun and spirit out of it.

By over advertising, over marketing, and over promoting — it’s caused a lot of us to turn into holiday scrooges who end up turning our backs on the whole concept.  The “specialness” of hearing Christmas music at that time of year has worn off of me.

If I hear Jingle Bells while snow is falling, a week before Christmas, I’m joyeous and happy.

If I hear Jingle Bells a few days before Remembrance Day in November, I’m pissed off, annoyed and upset.

How do you feel?

Nagravision 3 (Nagra3) has recently hit BEV and Dishnet. This is causing a stir in the satellite FTA arena. Apparently currently FTA receivers cannot decode this latest encryption algorithm.

Now, I myself, pay for my BEV subscription every month, so I am not affected.

However, those satellite FTA people who have been using Viewsat and Coolsat receivers that previously decoded Nagra 2 (Nagravision 2) since 2005, now are running around wondering what they are going to do..

The truth is, that these temporary viewsat and coolsat binary firmware fixes (bin file), are exactly that — temporary. How could you feel confident watching TV for a couple days, and then having to download a new fix for your receiver?

I don’t understand why people would invest so much time and effort into trying to get a fix. Isn’t your time worth something?

Now they claim that people are already out there trying to get a hack for nagra 3. Everyday they are checking all the fta forums, hoping and waiting.

Now I do agree the cost of having a satellite subscription is probably 2X as expensive as it should be. Mostly because I read somewhere that over 2 million people illegally decode satellite signals (atleast under the old nagravision encryption scheme) at any given time.

Well perhaps if satellite providers were to charge 50% of what the current retail rate is now, for TV subscription, and they would give everyone 100% of the full channel offering, that includes pay-per-view and the porn channels… Guess what? I hardly doubt 2 million people would bother to try and obtain satellite TV illegally.

That would be more money in their pocket. Less worry about devising new encryption schemes. Less time policing people, taking them to court, etc.

It’s similar to the argument “legalize marijuiana” — if it was legal, there would be less crime, and you could tax it.

Well if indeed over 2 million people are waiting for a nagra 3 fix for their FTA satellite receiver bin files, why not take this time to talk to these people and win them over somehow?

Sounds like a lot of business ready and ripe for the BEV and DN (dishnet) marketing team to sell them on the idea while their receivers are down.

I read a statistic which said that out of 100% of tickets sold, 96% of them win less than $3,000. Now most of us do not buy a scratch and win ticket to only win $5 or $10. We want a chance at a big prize.

Furthermore, how many times do you spend $3 on a scratch ‘n win ticket, and it says “congratulations! You win $3″

Shouldn’t it say “congratulations! You win nothing. You get your money back”.

I really don’t think that “free ticket wins” or where you win exactly the cost of the ticket back, should be considered part of the winning odds printed on the back of the ticket.

Pull tabs are equally discusting. I don’t know if your local bar or pub has pull tab tickets, but here, they come in a 16 lb package, with 3,600 tickets in them.

On the front of the 50 cent pull tab it advertises:

3 winners of $100
3 winners of $75
4 winners of $25
8 winners of $10
25 winners of $2
100 winners of $1

Well, let’s add that up.. Out of 3,600 tickets there will be 143 winning tickets totalling $935

But if you bought the whole bag, it would cost you $1,800.

Now naturally no one wants to win $1, nor $2, nor $10. Everyone is out to win a minimum of $25 on a 50 cent pull tab ticket — thats the reason you play.

In that case, out of 3,600 tickets, there are only 10 real winners that mean anything.

3,590 tickets are sold, and 10 walk away with a real prize.

Doesn’t sound so fun to play anymore does it?

If someone announced a huge gathering of people, got on a Microphone and said to a crowd of 3,600 people “attention please. I would like everyone to dig in their pockets, and give me 50 cents. I guarantee that 10 of you will walk away with a prize of $25 or more”

Guess what? The crowd would disperse, and people would walk away cursing and laughing … “what a joke”

BUT THE REAL JOKE IS:

This is what goes on everyday, in the hundreds of bars around in this province. Bags of 3,600 tickets are dropped off at each bar, they get sold, and only 10 people per bag actually win anything worthwhile.

No one likes to do the math — but if you do, it’s a very scarey situation out there.

Be aware and forewarned!

If any of you are avid keno players, you may stare at the result screen and see patterns emerging. The number 56 may come up 3 draws in a row. Sounds like a good bet to play 56 over the next 5 draws, because the chance of the number coming up again is high.

WRONG.

Casinos, lottery corporations, and the like, have spent expensive money from people like www.gtech.com to ensure that their number picking server is choosing unbiased and unpredictable numbers through true RNG (Random Number Generation).

Yes, patterns will materialize with KENO. But guess what? They are random patterns. To the human eye and brain, we’ll associate random patterns with logical patterns. We’ll figure that the computer must be locked into some mode that is generating patterns and if we could only figure out the pattern and the frequency, we’ll dominate Keno.

Not true. Well, actually a correction. It was TRUE in the earlier days of Keno. You can read news articles from many years back, where random number generation was based on the time cycles of the computer when it was switched on, and everytime the computer was switched off and turned back on again, the same random number sequences would produce predictive random numbers.

But that was identified, and corrected, and is no longer present in today’s society.

Similarily, cooked potato chips may have a burned or bruised marking on them. If you sift through 5,000 bags of chips and examine each one, you may eventually find one that has the marking of the Virgin Mary, Jesus, or even a NIKE symbol.

Does this mean that you’ve found something sacred? No, it just means that if you look at randomness often enough, eventually random patterns will emerge, and as humans we can identify them. But all you are really doing is identifying something totally random that happened to produce a pattern.

So when you are losing your shirt over the long term playing KENO, keep in mind you are competing with a random machine. Randomly, you WILL win. However, randomly you WILL lose too. Keno is suppose to be an entertaining game, for FUN, with the chance of winning a random prize.

If you feel that if you play the game enough, and try to beat the system — well the long term odds will get you to lose money, and the keno operators will eventually profit from your failed investments.

I still play KENO, but with a very different attitude now. I’ll throw a couple bucks at the system, but no longer will I try and capture patterns. I’ve analyzed it enough and done research. I think its funny when I sit in a public gambling establishment and hear people freak out and exclaim “wow! Look! See!! 56 came up again! Make sure you put that number on the ticket.”

In true random number theory, 56 can come up 30 times in a row. But then again, it can stop coming up for the next 30 times. There is no rhyme, reason, or pattern to why KENO numbers come up.

If you’d like to read a little more about the history of KENO, I recommend this website

Sorry if I’ve burst your bubble where you had hoped to one day dominate Keno patterns. It isn’t possible. But don’t you feel better being well informed?

Ok, once in awhile, we all like to go out to eat. Sit in a semi-fancy restaurant, eat about $8 worth of wholesale food, and pay $17 for the opportunity to have someone else cook, someone else serve us, and someone else do the clean up.

So.. For the extra bucks, what are we all expecting?

First of all, we expect that our dinner will be cooked to perfection. Someone trained and qualified to cook our food the way it should be, without burning it. Someone who knows how to season the food correctly, and for the ingredients to be fresh.

Secondly, when our beverages start to run dry, whether it is coffee, tea, soda pop, or even just plain water. Never should we spend almost $20 a person to go “out” and eat, and sit there stupidly parched during our meal.

When you go out and dine, which most of us only do only once or twice a week… You want it to be a favorable experience. After all, you are expected to pay triple the amount of what it would have cost you to prepare the meal yourself. Plus you have taxes added… not only that, but you are expected to tip your server.

What can ruin the whole night, is to have a lazy waiter or waitress, who lets your water glass run dry. Who serves you your meal and then doesn’t come back 5 minutes later, to ask you if there is anything else you need, or if everything is OK.

Today that happened. Four of us went out to a golf & country club, for an “elite” breakfast brunch buffet. Each plate cost $25. The food was great. The atmosphere was great. The service “sucked” which basically ruined the whole meal.

There is nothing worse than enjoying a cup of fresh coffee with your meal, and then finding yourself looking all over the place for your waitress — trying to make some eye contact which basically says “hey! I’d like a refill of coffee please.. is there any chance you can pay attention to the customers in your section?”

So now we get to the concept of the ultimate gratuity or tip that the staff is expecting.

But if my coffee cup has to go empty, and I have to search around like a scavenger for a coffee refill.. What does that say about how well the waiters & waitresses performed?

Keeping your dining customers happy is quite simple. Insure that their beverages are filled. Insure that their food is digestable and is fine.. and best of all..

Wear a smile and be attentive, whether or not it is in your job description.

When people are dining out and spending hard earned cash to enjoy a meal at an expensive restaurant… They don’t want much. They just want to be noticed and treated as if they “matter”.

Out of 10 times I’ve dined out, I can safely say, its is only about 50% of the time, do I have a good experience, whether it is food quality, freshness, and taste — or simply service by the wait staff. That is a very bad ratio.

If the food service industry did its job, 90% of the time, people would be totally content with dining out, and only 10% of the time would anyone ever have any complaints.

Let me know about your dining out experiences..

Video games on our cell phones. PS3, XBOX, and Wii in our homes. Video games on the PC, on your web browser. Anytime you want to play a game, it is only an arm length away.

What about pinball? Any of you remember that? The big shiny stainless steel ball that rolls around the lit table, and you slap it with the flippers, one on each side?

Or is this something only 35+ year old people remember?

Tonight while picking up a pizza, I saw two pinball machines. That use to be the standard fare before. Visit a pizza joint, play pinball while you wait.

It’s actually a lot of fun.

Pinball is something that seems to have been lost in this day and age. The thought of playing something mechanical, yet electronic, based on skill seems to have been lost.

Today I had about 15 straight minutes of fun, for less than a dollar.

Even bowling costs more..

Maybe it is time to re-introduce pinball into our daily lives. Its a fun game, it just has been shunned over last 10 or so years, because so many new things seem to have replaced it.

But guess what? Nothing compares to pinball, we just need to stop forgetting about it.

With the addition of the internet, people nowadays can book their flights and hotel packages online. This lets you get past having to pay a Travel Agent for their services (or artificially raising the price).

Here’s something I learned, and I’ll share it with you.

We were looking at booking a trip to Las Vegas from British Columbia, Canada. We were thinking of booking a package with Westjet as the carrier.

On a whim, while passing through the mall, we saw a travel agent that did not seem busy. (They are really not being given the business that they should).

We stopped in, and talked to someone. After logging into their specialized agent system, which was somewhat of a website backdoor into various airlines, she quickly gave us a quote that was about $s250 less than if we booked it ourselves.

“How can that be?” we asked.

Well she said, you have to be careful on the price breakdown that the retail travel websites give you. Everyone looks at the airfare price, and then quickly move through the ordering process, not reading the fine print. By the time you are done, there are all sorts of extra surcharges, levies, penalties, reservation fees, etc, that get tacked on to inflate the price.

When you book through us, we avoid a lot of those common pitfalls.

She quickly pointed out.. “Look here. See this, if I go through the website, it automatically adds on priority boarding surcharge of $20 and it didn’t even give me that as an option. It just added it on its own. Now look here, you said you were only going to bring 1 bag, but they’ve added a charge for 2.  You didn’t want cancellation protection, but again, they’ve automatically added it”

She then went on to explain how the taxes are much lower by flying out of Bellingham, Washington USA, than in British Columbia. You can save yourself another $150 just by driving to the other airport across the border.

She then went on to say “if you book it yourselves, and the airline carrier goes out of business or cancels the flight (and it does happen in the USA because airlines are having financial issues), you would not be protected. However, if you book through our travel agency, you are completely covered in the event of a complication like that”..

She added a lot of insight to the while thing, and it wasn’t just a sales picture. We actually saw the savings in our travel itinerary if we went through the travel agent.

We thanked her, and took a business card. We signed nothing, paid nothing, and were under no obligation. It was a very calm, informative experience.

Understand that while you may only book yourself a couple trips a year…

These people do it 9 to 5, five days a week, every week. They know where the deals are..

The airlines, the holiday package websites, are all made in such a way, to secure the most reservations while tricking the customer into spending the most..

Don’t be fooled, and don’t cheat yourself. At the very minimum, speak to your local travel agent before you hit the “charge my credit card” button on the website when booking your next vacation.

Good luck.

It is no secret that we are paying a premium for our gasoline these days. We also know that a tiny bottle of soda pop at a gas station is going to cost 2x to 3x what you’d normally pay in a grocery store.

The trip to the pump, is where you can drop $50 to $100 quite easily. Count in an expensive bottle of oil, and the whole gas station trip hits your wallet hard.

Now that’s just a fact of life, and something we all have to deal with.. But here’s a major pet peeve of mine. More often than not… actually the MAJORITY of the time, when I go to wash my car windows, they have just plain old water in the squigee bucket.

Is it really that expensive to put some soap in there?  For $3 you can buy a whole bottle of washer fluid. That would probably last the gas station 3 days… They could water it down as much as they wanted, but at least leave some suds in there.

No.. the gas stations these days would rather save $30 a month, by giving you water to wash your windows with.. with no soap.

Now they get away with it, because people would rather overlook the small things in life, and we look past it. It annoys and irritates us, but who has time to make a big deal out of these things? If you bring it up, people think your a little nuts and off your rocker.

Well I’m bringing it up anyway.

So if you’re reading this, and you work at a gas station, in any capacity, and have some control over adding a little soap to the washer fluid.. listen up..

That tiny bit of suds, will probably please a minimum of 20 or 30 customers that day who wash their windows. It will make people feel that little bit more comfortable to stop at YOUR gas station and bring their customer dollars to that particular street corner. We should be paying attention to customers, and trying to save $30 a month in soap, is ridiculous.

It is akin to a fine restaurant having a roll of toilet paper on the table to be used as napkins, because dinner napkins are too expensive.  Well maybe not that bad.. but guess what.. they are still WRONG THINGS TO DO!

Get some soap in those window washer buckets, and do it quick before I lose my patience!

We all know plenty about Las Vegas and the vast number of casinos there are there. We also have a good idea about the hundreds of thousands of people who cycle through that city in any given month.

As a result, there are huge prizes to be won on slot machines. You can win cars, diamond rings, huge piles of cash in a glass box, and more.

In addition, the casinos will give you free complimentary alcoholic beverages while you play, they offer nice buffets for $2, and they’re payouts are quite reasonable. Spin 10 times on a lot machine, and you’re bound to win something, even if it is only 1/2 your bet back.

So, let’s rewind to the casino in your neighborhood or an hour drive away from your home.

They advertise huge progressive jackpots like $250. Oh please..

The’re buffet runs from $9.95 to $19.95 … again, no biggy there.

Roll a slot, and amazingly 10 spins later, you have yet to win even one single credit back. (Sometimes you do, but sometimes you really don’t.. and that gets frustrating).

Last “domestic” local slot machine I played, it was $2.50 a spin on max bet. I hit a shiny silver star on all 5 reels. The credits started counting, I started getting excited, and then it stopped at $20

At $2.50 a roll, and with all 5 symbols on all reels… it seemed kind of cheap to me.

I looked up and the progressive (which stopped counting and stopped at $200) was another reason I thought I should leave.  Think about that… a progressive jackpot means that it keeps incrementing until someone wins it. WHY WAS THAT MACHINE’S progressive pot STUCK at $200 and it wouldn’t increment any further?

Are they suggesting that the $200 should have gone off a number of times, but rarely does? Are they worried that the machine will count too high because of the low payoff odds that are programmed into that slot machine?

What would happen if they let it count, even by adding a penny everytime the slot machine is spun? Would the progressive be up to $900,000 by now? How often do these guys pay?

Casinos in your home town may be regulated. But a high amount of the regulation, is based on the Province or State wanting their “cut”. That’s probably 80% why they are regulated. The other 20% of the regulations is to promote fair game play.

But what exactly is fair game play?

Another casino I went to, had a 1 cent machine. The LED scrolling at the top said “Play for only pennies”. Guess what the max bet was on that machine?  20 lines x 500 credits. That’s right, a whopping $10.00 a spin!

I started playing that machine for awhile, and figured, let’s try the max bet thing, surely it will give me something. I may not even win my bet back, but I should win something..

I did 6 spins at $10/spin = $60.00

NOT ONE SINGLE CREDIT was awarded to me. That’s 180 combinations of lines… and not one of them matched a single symbol to pay me a cent.

So I think its time to make a new rule.

Save your $200 casino night outs, and shove it into a bank account. With only 5 abstained trips to your local casino, you can buy a weekend package, which includes airfare, hotel, and even a few meals for under $1,000

Spend your gambling money in Las Vegas, and go for that car, diamond ring, or glass box of cash. You’ll have a much better time, and even if you do walk away with nothing, you would have enjoyed the trip away from home. Atleast then, you’re competing for more than just a “stuck” $200 progressive.. and going for the $200,000 and counting prize in Las Vegas.

At a local casino, if you lose $200, you think “oh well”, I came for the fun anyway.

But if you win and walk away with $400, you figured hey! I doubled my money.

WELL GUESS WHAT…

You risked $200 to make $200. That’s not that good of a payoff. Especially since 3 out of the 4 times you visit a casino, you’re going to lose in the end.

So you gamble $800, and lose $600, and one time you walk away with an extra $200

The casino’s getting paid by you all the time. So if you’re really out for a fun night gambling … do it where it’s right, a lot more fun, and much better payouts… That would be Las Vegas…

Most have us have seen the standard buffet All-You-Can-Eat restaurants. Many people like buffets because it means that you can choose your own plate, eat until your heart is content, and come back for “seconds” of the good stuff if you like.

The whole concept is decent, based on the fact that:

a) You have some say on what is served to you, based on the look of the food item

b) You can choose how little or much you want of the food items available

c) You can keep coming back for more as long as you are still hungry

d) The buffet / All-You-Can-Eat price is generally affordable… Less than $20 per person.

———-

From the restaurant owner’s perspective, this is a very dangerous game. Yes, some people will definately eat much less than the buffet price. However, those people who are (for the sake of argument) say “pigs” who overload their plates, eat until their stomaches are stretched to the max, and even waste food unnecessarily… ruin the business plan completely.

There have been even some fraternity initiations that have taken place at all-you-can-eat buffets, where the business proprietor has had to foot the bill, simply by having to live up to his advertised offering.

Since this has turned into more “the restaurant gives, and the customer takes” scenario, many buffet / smorgasbord owners will deliberately do things like:

a) Water down sauces

b) Re-heat and re-serve expired food

c) Over deep fry, and serve over-breaded items, since they expand in your stomach

d) Sprinkle MSG over almost everything (Monosodium glutamate) to which is officially known as a flavor enhancing drug, to make foods taste better

e) Serve the cheapest of meats, instead of expensive chicken breasts or wings, serve drumsticks or theighs, etc.

————–

Now while all this is going on, between restaurant owner and clientel, I have a major complaint:

People who stand in a buffet line, put food on their plate, and rather than wait 5 minutes, they begin eating right there, sampling food from their plate while they wait to get to the next dish.

I want to ask these people… Is there a reason why you must eat, right there in the buffet line, rather than wait 3 or 4 minutes for you to return to your table?

Why do you feel so comfortable chowing down right infront of me, with your fingers, with no cutlery whatsoever? Smacking your chops, eating with your mouth open, acting as if you are home, in your own kitchen?

This is a public place dammit. Have the decency to return to your own table. Sit down, put a napkin over your lap, and eat privately at your own table.

I really don’t want to see how impatient you are, that you must feel comfortable standing in a buffet line slopping down food, because you are so desperate to eat, you don’t care who is watching you..

People who sample food, or eat food while standing infront of a sneeze guard at a buffet line discust me. They are acting very informal, behaving in a childish manner, and show they have no patience or regard for the public setting they are actually in..

Let’s get away from food for a moment… To reillustrate this point.

Let’s say, you are out in the country. You’re by yourself, and you have a flatulence issue where you feel the need to “fart”. No one is around, you’re alone. So you let it your body’s internal gases release.

At the same time, if you were sitting at a table in a public restaurant, would you feel the same urge to publically fart and let your flatulence arise in public without excusing yourself to the restroom?

No?

Then why is it ok, to publically act like the restaurant is your own kitchen and dining room, where manners mean nothing? Is it really that impossible to load your plate of food and return to your table before you start chowing down?

I find it extremely disrespectful to those around you, to stand in a buffet line, and sample food from your plate, with your fingers, smacking your lips, acting like you are at home.

You are NOT at home, and this is not your own place. Stop acting like a pig, and pick up some manners… It is completely rude to eat before you return to your table.

Is it just me, or should we all act like we’re all standing at home, and no respect of formality should be taken when we are in public?

Online gambling sites are illegal in many parts of the world. In order to run one in North America it isn’t easy. Therefore, many setup shop overseas. Once you do that, people worry about trusting the establishment, since they seem so unreachable. (Ie: Not easy to drive over to their office, or file a complaint with the local authorities).

So it’s about trust. It’s no secret that the early online casinos and online bingo halls were run by fraudsters and tricksters who would modify their software to give few few payoffs.

Things have changed now. I’ve been playing one tonight named www.bingosky.com and it seems very legitimate. There are rules and regulations that you do need to know about, but other than that, it seems like a real legitimate outfit.

For instance, in order to keep your “bonus dollars”, you must make a deposit (minimum $20) every 45 days, otherwise you just get to keep your current cash balance and any winnings. So when you are awarded a 500% bonus when you first login, it is important to make note of that fact.

If you do not keep your account “active” which means either buying bingo cards, or making a deposit once every 6 months, all money you have in your balance is forefeited and donated to charity.

These are big deals that many people do not read when they first login. So before you make that spontaeous decision to start playing. READ THE FINE PRINT. It is there to protect the online gambling site, but also to protect the consumer too.

Now that we’ve talked about the negative aspects of online gambling, let’s talk about the positive ones. You can gamble from the comfort of your own home. That saves on gasoline, wear and tear on your car. It saves on expensive food bought elsewhere. It guarantees you a comfortable seat, in a comfortable setting (your home). You have access to your own private washroom. Using a cellular phone or regular phone in the middle of the session is perfectly ok.

It’s really enjoyable to spend a bingo night at home.

The way I found www.bingosky.com was in a magazine advertisement. Right on their website it says that they have received a stamp of approval from the Internet Gaming Commission.

After doing some more reading, it appears that the Internet Gaming Commission (IGC) was actually a fake watch dog site, a parody of the real “Internet Gaming Council”

So what I’m basically telling you, that if you are gambling, realize, that the whole concept of gambling online is a gamble in itself. You might get paid, you might not. The payoff odds might be correct, or they may be in the house’s favor.

Either way, it is fun. Just be careful with how much you spend. Keep an eye on your credit card balance too.

Good luck to you.

Here’s the thing.

You reading this.. have your family. You have your friends. You speak english, so do I.

We’ve all sat in restaurants or cafe’s and overheard a conversation one table over…  We hear their issues and can identify with them. We look at them as people, same as us.

We almost want to go over and say “Hey, how are you?”, but society dictates we can’t. We’re not suppose to ever know people we’re not introduced to…

It’s OK to listen, it’s just not OK to introduce ourselves.

This is where society is totally f*cked up. Why can’t we say hello to people near us? That’s the way the 50’s were (and I was born in the 1970’s).. but from what I understand, this is the way the 50’s were:

1. Anyone could say hello to each other on the street, and it was politeness, not a come-on.

2. Any adult could disipline any child that was misbehaving in public, or throw a punch to any adult that was completely out of line. If a cop pulled up, they’d ask what was going on, and the story would dictate whether or not the adult was out of line.

Here were are in the 2000’s, soon to be the 2100’s…

You can’t pay a female compliment without it being border line harassment. You can’t spank your kids without them taken away for child abuse. A lot of how we came to be, is completely gone by legistlation, laws, policy, and the way society dictates.

There was a time when people policed themselves, and only needed police when logic and simple right-and-wrong was not able to dictate how we behave.

Now… Something is lost.

We can no longer say hello to someone on the street, a complete stranger, without them wondering “why is this person even talking to me?”

Somehow, we think we are so much better than those people in the 50’s. We are so much more graduated in society.. a higher level of thinking. A better society.

So then..

Why is it so weird to say a simple hello to a stranger?

Why is it so weird to say “how are you” or “how’s the weather” ?

We’re so in the fight as a society to become better and more mature, but someone has to realize, we’ve lost plenty in the process…

So the next time I’m in a restaurant or cafe, and I overhear a conversation with people I can identify with, and want to introduce myself and feel welcome in their conversation…

Instead, I’ll sit away, realize my “place”, and realize, its the 2000’s, and its against society policy to ever talk to strangers. We can all co-exist, but NEVER EVER should we bridge the gap that we’ve created amongst ourselves over the last 40 years

Because.. that’s how life us is. Same language, same situations, same people, friends on the horizion. But NO… don’t do that. Don’t ever talk to someone you haven’t been formally introduced to, because, that makes you a freak, and no one likes a freak.

Without blogs, we couldn’t talk about this either. But you’ve all been in those positions at some point to… Thank god for the internet. Atleast we can talk openly without someone slapping us and saying “why did you say that?”

We all enjoy going out to eat. But the guys in the kitchen work hard, and at some point they have the chance to realize whether or not they are going to serve a stale bun, or a hair (cuz they’re not looking).

What goes on in a restaurant kitchen, is somewhat sacred. The point is, none of these people are suppose to serve food that they wouldn’t eat themselves.

But in a busy environment, in a busy commercial kitchen, some things happen that shouldn’t.

So the question is… Do we all stop eating out? Or do we realize, this stuff goes on, and we’re suppose to accept it?

If you want it made exactly right, I firmly believe you should cook / make it yourself.