Val Pak

Usually, there's nothing worth much attention held within the Val Pak mailer, but we saved a cool $35 recently.

The secret to using coupons is to only pursue goods and services that you'd use normally. Just because you have a coupon doesn't mean you like something enough to use it. Coupons are good for exploring options when changes need made, but for the most part, coupons only indicate the product is over priced in the first place.

The money we saved through Val Pak was for swimming registration. As it so happens, the kids already are enrolled for swimming for the place using the coupon and annual registration was due.

Just like grilling is a luxury, swimming lessons aren't dire. Seeing that I hated water growing up due to my discomfort with swimming, I just assume having my children being adept thus allowing them to surpass me in that shortcoming.

Same could be said for Cubs Scouts. I could say some things, but I just assume not since the benefits of Cub Scouts are beyond words.

AARP is hurting for members if...

Regardless of the internet's popularity, I get a lot of mail. Mostly, I get stuff about credit cards. Today an application to join AARP fell out of the stack of flyers that was in the mail. It was a generic application, but it reminded me of last year when I got a temporary membership card in the mail when I turned 33. I'm still wondering how I got on their list.

Inbox purge galore

I have had a couple dozen or so e-mail accounts over the years. I use quite a few regularly. 1) I have my original school address from '96 that I was allowed to keep upon graduation as a gift, but can't use as my primary address. 2) I have my original yahoo account which I set up in '97. 3) I have a iwon.com account that I set up in hopes of winning something back when that domain existed as a search hub that I now use as a spam account. 4) I have my graduate school address, that I use when I want to seem less anonymous. 5) I have my ISP address. 6) I have a gmail account. 7) I have a "work" email as well.

I could have soooo many twitter accounts, but why would I do that? Back when I was young and full of ideas, I thought it would cool to create interactive extrapolations of characters to a book I was writing to give a ready made audience upon its publication. I developed the idea before social media boomed when things like collegeclub.com existed. The idea fizzled when I had other things that were prioritized thus left to be never followed though since it was tedious and ill fated given that I was basically spamming acquaintances with assumed names in hopes of getting a conversation going through those infamous forwards that you tell something about yourself and pass along like a chain letter. Not sure if trolls existed then, but it was of that same nature of antagonizing banter to generate a persona based on semi-fictional reactions. I needed dialogue and lacked a sense of character depth to think originally. Blogs didn't exist then, since Livejournal.com and Diaryland.com were years away to be able to appropriate others' thoughts. Very tedious endeavor it was.

Do chain letters still exist?

Anyways, I have a lot of email accounts that I use daily for things, when I could get by with just one since I forward most of my mail to one account. I have my accounts set up to forward copies, so that I have full inboxes when I only rely upon one account for any extended period of time. I cleaned out several thousand email from a few account yesterday. I wonder how long it will be before they are cluttered again.

Phantom Fireworks: Lighting Up Backyards of America from Coast to Coast®

Sorry, but "Lighting Up Backyards of America from Coast to Coast®" is essentially illegal in Ohio.

Never understood why it's legal to buy them in Ohio if you can't use them. Are there states where they are illegal to sell, but legal to light up?

Don't care. I'm not driving around with fireworks in my car. With my luck, I'd get pulled over and charged as a terrorist for taking explosives across state lines.

Being on Phantom Fireworks' mailing list means that I have a little more trash to be on the lookout during the month of June.