Bidcactus?

WARNING:
By visiting the site below, you may be hooked into a half hour or even ONE hour of viewing almost worthless flash updates. This could cause damage to your eyes as well as waste precious time in your schedule.

So I have a MyPoints account. I've had one for about two years, after a coworker at DecisionWise told me how he clicked through emails and got free giftcards for his family. I want free giftcards! So I clicked through emails casually for a year and I was able to get Scott a $50 gift card to Macy's for Christmas, with which he bought a nice jacket and pair of clear sunglasses that he always wanted since he saw a picture Brad Pitt wearing them. I feel like it's totally worth clicking on emails to get $50 at Macy's a year. I usually don't even look at the sites, I just click and run. (If you want to join, I get extra points for recommending people!)

This is all besides the point, though. Just background information. So today, as part of my usual morning clicks of the day, I clicked upon two sites that I actually had to stop and read. The first site was called Alice.com, which is a site where you can buy household goods directly from the supplier for less cost and have it shipped to you from Alice for free. An interesting business proposition in these economic times. The second site was called Bidcactus.com. (Seriously? Bid-cactus?)

Now I'm not into online auctions at all and am thus more than surprised that I stayed as long as I did to view the goings on of this Bidcactus. In my defense, the functions of this site were MORE than intriguing... especially as I began to understand how it works. It looks like a totally normal online auction site, except that the first thing I noticed was that $75 gift cards to Wal-mart were going for $9 and $700 laptops were being auctioned off for $20. What? In my sim-mind world of auctioning, where I don't actually do it but rather play the what-if game, I would pay up to $60 for a $75 gift certificate, especially if I needed it anyways.

Theres more!

So it actually costs $0.75 to place a bid. You create an account and you pre-pay for "bid packages." Then each bid is worth $0.01 to $0.10 depending on if it's a large item or "Penny Auction." So every time you bid, you're paying $0.75 to get closer to winning an item for a fraction of the price. Of course, that means that people don't like to bid very often. So most people let the clock go all the way to 3 seconds left before trying to be the last person to bid on an item. That's really the game...

Except there's a twist.

Every time someone bids, up to 30 seconds can be added to the clock. So while you want to be the last person to bid because you're paying for every bid, you could add time to the clock which prolongs the bidding. It's hard to tell how or why the bidding stops, but I sat for quite some time, trying to figure out why more time was added when a bid was placed. All I wanted to do was see someone win a gift certificate, for heaven's sake!

Well then I got to thinkin', and you may have come to the same conclusion. It's obvious that at $0.75 for every penny or dime bid on an item that there comes a time, long before $60 bid, that the item is not worth paying for. If you bid one penny, 100 times, that's actually $75. You've already paid for the gift card without winning it. But the card isn't going for $1.00 (which is what it is worth in bids paid). The winning auction for the gift card was $8.79. That's 879 bids at $0.75 a piece... which means that Bidcactus.com is making $584.25 (assuming that they paid the full price for the gift card). Who is the genius that thought of that?

Now I'm not encouraging you to bid on Bidcactus, by any means. I have no plans to waste $0.75 on even one, one penny bid. But really?! There are so many people sitting in front of their computers at home (or in there office, slackers!) that would be totally willing to get in on this game, especially if it means getting a gift card for what appears to be $9. Don't be fooled though! And try not to get hooked watching these fish try to swim upstream.

Mock Trial with J. Reinholt

About a month ago my friend and coworker, Ellen, convinced us that we needed to borrow her seasons of Arrested Development. I had heard of the series and even remember seeing part of a show aired in the past, but I had never watched a full episode. And to be honest I wasn't completely interested. Scott was though! We had exhausted Psych and The Office reruns, and he needed something new.

So we borrowed season 1 and Ellen was excited for me. She kept saying she wished she could go back in time and watch Arrested Development for the first time again. (I thought that was kind of weird.) And we started watching.... Both Scott and I had to try and find the humor in the first few episode viewings. Then in episodes 4 and 5 of the first season, we found ourselves laughing out loud. Suddenly we latched on to the characters and even found the first episodes funnier than we remembered. The show highlights so many of the actors we love from popular movies and tv shows too. I often catch a glimpse of a 30Rock or Office character with non-speaking roles. The show also collaborated with so many comedic actors that I'm surprised it didn't have higher ratings.

We plowed through season two and are now in the final episodes of the third and final season. Arrested Development apparently lost viewership in 2005. The show's narrator was even reduced to begging on air to share your love of the show with your friends. The third season is by far the funniest. Last night we watched the episode entitled, Fakin' It, featuring Judge Reinhold (actor, not real judge) in a mock courtroom and William Hung (tone deaf American Idol contestant) and band as the "hung jury." I could not stop laughing at this image and their monotone rock melody "Mock Trial with J. Reinhold!"


Really hilarious! We are sad to see it end, as I imagine viewers who knew of the show during it's prime were sad to see it go off the air. I did read the other day, though, that Arrested Development is the most watched show off the air right now. Maybe it's hitting with a different generation. Or maybe that sense of humor needed to be developed. I would guess that the producers are slightly dissapointed that the show caught on 3 years too late. Though there are rumors that an Arrested Development movie is in the works, and that will be more successful now than before for sure. Especially if the movie features William Hung!

The Lost Pictures of My Life

Okay, so I didn't get my digital camera or beautiful Mac back... but we finally got a memory card reader for our digital camera. Scott's digital camera has been incompatible with all USB connections and memory card readers for the past six months! Well... i guess it's been incompatible since it was created, but I've only noticed since my digital camera was stolen. So I haven't been able to post any pictures from activities we've done.

I'm sorry for borrowing all your pictures that you took of Scott and I since January! I am now making up for it by posting pictures that go along with archived blog posts. AND... as an added bonus, I'm throwing in some pictures that I forgot existed because we couldn't upload them.

Updated Blog Posts w/Pictures:
Procrastinating Great Stories - Part 2/4 - Sundancing and Shopping

Procrastinating Great Stories - Part 4/4 - Pasta, Pistols, and Passion

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Old Photos!

Rexburg Ice Caves - when Scott and I were dating...

(This is me feeling car sick because Steve Thornock drives really fast on back roads to the ice caves.)

(Scott enjoying the ice caves without me.)

Alaska - January 2008

(This is the trip where Scott "asked my parents" for my hand in marriage. Can you read the slogan on his t-shirt?)

Honeymoon Boat Cruise in Hawaii

(Another time when I had motion sickness.)

New Photos!

The Bees Game in SLC with Maura and Cole

(Our Handsome husbands, analyzing the game. Notice everyone left the stadium because it rained!)(The picture where I looked drugged or tired)

(The picture after Maura told me to open my eyes... I think she ended up with a better pic on her camera)

(The real entertainment of the game, and reason we stayed... intoxicated guy trash talking with foam finger)

Stadium of Fire

Somehow I was able to convince Scott that this year we should volunteer at the Stadium of Fire so we had something to do on the Fourth of July. He's not really big into volunteering at things that should be fun, nor picking up chairs after late night concerts. Nonetheless, he committed to volunteer, for the love of his charming wife, AND he convinced his cousin Josh and his wife Chelsea to come along (probably because he wanted friends in his service misery). We only had to visit the stadium once before the show for instructions, and then we tried to find the sweetest job to help us enjoy a night of fire and screaming girls.

And WE DID! We were privileged enough to welcome in the local military groups who had reserved spots on the field to watch the show. We quickly grabbed the task of giving them wristbands and tickets in the shade outside the hot stadium. Military families had already started lining up when we arrived to LaVell Edwards Stadium at 5:30 PM to get into the show! They were more than early. Once all the families were checked in, we were able to snag some extra seats for our cousins Erik & Michelle, and we all sat down on the field (awesome seats on the grass) to watch Glen Beck, SheDaisy, and The Jonas Brothers.

SheDaisy was awesome! I love their sound. They sang some new songs as well as Mine All Mine, which is one of my favorites. I haven't really kept up with them since I listened to them on country stations in Rexburg, so I forgot how much I enjoy their style.

In addition to some good music, there were amazing firework and flame displays. I guess last year that was a malfunction with some flaming iron trees, so the Stadium of Fire committed to have even more fire this year. They had a whole fire dance, complete with flame twirlers, jugglers, break dancers, and jump ropers of FIRE! The fire works of course were amazing.

But nothing could be more breathtaking than the Jonas Brothers! I'm kidding, of course. I have never heard a Jonas Brothers song in my life before July 4, 2009, and to be honest I don't feel like I'm missing out on too much. Maybe that was because I couldn't really hear or understand them when a stadium full of tweens were screaming at the top of their lungs. OR maybe I didn't enjoy their concert as much because half the time they were letting the crowd sing their songs. Scott turned to me at one point during the concert, when the Jonas Brothers announced that they would be singing a song from their movie Camp Rock and asked the crowd to help them with the words. Scott asked, "If they wrote these songs, why do they need help with the words?" The crowd totally loved it though.

At the end of the concert, the oldest Jonas (I didn't memorize their names) announced his name after introducing the band and told the crowd that he loved them. There was a loud roar and I'm pretty sure several girls fainted.

Disregarding, the screaming gaggle of girls, the stressed out concert coordinators, the volunteer couple that made-out throughout the whole concert, and the debris that flew into the field after close explosions... I really enjoyed the experience. It was neat to be with military families as they celebrated the 4th and thank them for their service. I liked having a free firework show and concert and didn't mind the effort I had to put into it. In fact, after picking up chairs after the show, Scott has a new found appreciation for NOT leaving spectator trash at an event. I call THAT a mission accomplished!

I would volunteer again, though I would definitely have to reconvince Scott. And if I did it again, I would want a better camera. I keep taking awesome pictures of all our fun activities, and have not been able to remove them from the camera for posting. Someday! Until then, feel free to swoon over this borrowed picture of the Jonas Brothers.

It's the Swine Flu COUNTDOWN!

Have you ever heard the song Final Countdown by Europe? That song has been going through my mind constantly these last two weeks, except I replace the words with Swine Flu Countdown. Doo do doo doooooo, dun nah nah nuh naaah!

Yes, sadly someone in our office contracted swine flu. It was inevitable. There are now 1 million cases of the swine flu in the U.S, according to WebMD. I've been told that the incubation period is 14 days for swine flu. So we created a paper chain at work with pink and yellow paper strips (It reminded me of pigs. I got to choose the paper.) to count down the days until we were safe. WebMD though says that if you contract swine flu you need to be quarantined for seven days (How many days did a Q last in Ricks Hall at BYU-I?).

Let's just be honest! I don't have the best immune system. Mr. Crohns is not the kindest to me in that sense. In fact, once swine flu became a pandemic and entered the MTC in Provo I started taking my multi-vitamin regularly and made the Purell readily accessible at my desk. A sufficient sleep is also necessary for me to survive, which is why I've been going to bed EXTRA early. We all know that on a normal night I fall asleep earlier than many children, but now I am making sure to take my fair share of rest after work is done.

I'm hoping that with rest, multi-vitamins, and a conscious effort to keep my hands clean and not bite my fingernails, I will be able to withstain the strain. I've concluded, though, that it would just be safer overall to have the whole office to take the week off... paid of course. It's not my choice that someone came to work with a swine flu aura. Quarantine BYU for 7 days. Is that too much to ask for our health?