Random Ramblings

Rambling Point 1: I am gullible. I fell for a big ol' gimmick. A few days ago, I received a call telling me that I had won a 3-day, 2-night stay at a luxury resort, and all I had to do was go to KIS Golf at Discovery Mills to pick up my prize. The lady on the phone told me that there was no catch, that I had genuinely won this vacation, that I was under no obligation to buy anything, yadda yadda yadda. Now, the reason I thought I might have actually WON something was that I had filled out an entry form for this prize at the mall. (The grand prize was a pimped-out golf cart that I was planning to sell on e-bay if I won.)

Well, after watching a 45-minute video about KIS Golf (which is basically a company that sells custom-made golf clubs, golf simulators, and travel club memberships) and getting a 45-minute hassling from a sales guy, we got a pamphlet about the resort weekend, which involves so many hoops to jump through, it isn't worth it. We also got a $25 gift card to Outback, which we used immediately to get some dessert. (I'll talk about the dessert later.) We weren't really angry about it (Darryl, I think, knew we were in for a sales pitch but went along to humor me) because the whole presentation was just so funny. The film was like a classic infomercial--our favorite part was when they said the golf simulator doubled as a home entertainment systerm. I don't know if everyone is familiar with a golf simulator (I take my golf lessons on one), but it is basically a big film screen that you hit the ball into, and it tells you all kinds of stuff about your swing. Well, just imagine a big film screen and video projector, not unlike a regular film screen and projector you would see for any kind of presentation, as your home entertainment system. What an eyesore! What a hoot!

Rambling Point 2: If you haven't had the Chocolate Tower at Outback, try it. It's delicious--moist layers of chocolate cake with rich chocolate filling. Yum!

Rambling Point 3: I have got to get this diet under control! No more Chocolate Tower! I have a month to get the scale to go in the other direction.

Rambling Point 4: I finished Anita Shreve's A Wedding in December. I hated it. The characters were annoying, and the whole plot was about "what might've beens" instead of the "here and now." I know there are some passionate Shreve fans out there, so I'm hoping that her other works are better. I'm not inclined to give them a chance anytime soon, though.