threesorryboys.com Blog

"Keep eating McDonald's, and you'll be THIS wide!"

Every year I tell myself that I am not going to play the McDonald’s Monopoly promotion.  And every year, I end up playing it anyway.  It starts off innocently.  I swing by McDonald’s and I tell myself, “You were going to eat here anyway.  Go ahead and get a few Monopoly pieces while you are here.”  I know I’m not going to win.  I would have better odds of winning the state lottery, but I just can’t resist.  Soon, I am telling myself, “Get a large fries.  Two more pieces!”  Before long I’m scanning trash cans to see if the game pieces are still attached to the cups inside.  Needless to say, these endeavors are both disgusting and fruitless.

The main thing that gets me angry is the online portion of the contest.  It works in the same way as the Monopoly board game, in which you are rewarded if you are capable of gathering a Monopoly (all of the properties of a certain color).  However, the online game is rigged such that you can never win.  Now, perhaps this is not correct, but I just don’t have any other explanation for it.

Here is my board from the online game.  You’ll notice that I am one property away from a Monopoly on every property color, except for the light blue properties.  Just from random chance, I should be able to get at least one Monopoly considering that I have entered 56 codes.  Yes, 56 is a lot of Monopoly pieces.  I’m not proud of that.  However, that means I have rolled the dice 56 times, not counting doubles.  It usually takes around 6 or 7 or rolls to get around the board, so my poor little dog token has circled the board almost 10 times in a fruitless quest to get a monopoly.  And, interestingly enough, the coveted properties that would give me the monopoly are the same properties that I don’t have in my actual game pieces.  It’s rigged, I tell you, rigged!

And yet, I can’t stop playing.  Thankfully, the contest is almost over, so I can go on my McDiet until they bring back this contest next year.

I have been enjoying the past several days spending time with my family in southern WV.  One of the things we like to do when we get together is play the card game, Rook.

Why can't I get this card, the 1, and the 14 every hand?

I enjoy the game, because even though it is a very simple game, it is hard to master, and it is different every time.  It is fast-paced, allowing you to play many games in one sitting.  And, when you win, or have a great hand, it is a great feeling.

But the game is also extremely frustrating.  Sadly, there is a lot of luck involved with Rook, so if you don’t get a good hand, or none of your team gets a good hand, you just can’t win — it’s over before it starts.  Also, while it can be funny when people keep forgetting what the trump color is, it can also get a little annoying, especially if you are behind.

Oh, Rook…why do you have to be so fun and so frustrating?

According to folklore, cutting open a persimmon seed will tell you what kind of winter we are going to have.  I don’t know if I buy that, but it’s interesting, as far as folklore goes.  Apparently, when you cut open a persimmon seed, there will either be the shape of a knife, a spoon, or a fork.   What do the shapes mean?

Knife: If the shape inside the seed is that of a knife, it is believed to mean the winter will be cutting cold — so cold the wind feels like its cutting right through you like a knife.

Spoon: When the shape inside the seed looks like a spoon it is said to mean it will be a heavy winter. The spoon represents lots of shoveling.

Fork: The appearance of a fork shape within the seed is believed to mean that winter will be easy with only a light dusty of snow.

So I was out with family today, and we visited Tom Sparks cemetery in Rockridge, near the head of Bradshaw Mountain.  It was a beautiful, peaceful cemetery.  A large persimmon tree, full of ripe persimmons, dominated one corner of the cemetery.  Curious about the folklore, my father cut one of the seeds open.  The verdict?

It's a spoon!

It’s a spoon!  Thus, it is going to be a winter with heavy snow.  At least, according to the persimmon seed.  We’ll see!

It looks like BoingBoing.net has picked up my video on their website, which has led to multiple tweets, facebook shares, etc. I didn’t expect this much attention, but I am grateful. It encourages me to do more YouTube videos (not necessarily with the Hitler meme, but I am sure I can come up with something). For those who are wondering about “The Dreamers” video, you can read more about it here. Thanks again for visiting!