freebie

apply for freebies

Hidemi WoodsLeave a comment

As a cheap person, I’ve vigorously applied for
online giveaways and free samples on the
Internet for three years now. I suspended it as
of today because I’m moving to my new place
and my address will soon be changed.
I take this opportunity to go over the result
of my three-year applications. The best freebie
I won for a giveaway was two dozen cans of
limited-edition beer with an antique label. It
was worth over $60. I got two dozen cans of
cheaper beer or soda for a couple of times and
a box of eye cosmetics, too. But mostly what I
got were small packets of shampoo or
cosmetics. Although it took time to fill out my
personal information and answer a survey for
the application, I was often disappointed at
what the company sent as a reward.
While they extravagantly announced that I
had won the giveaway on a letter, what they
enclosed was a teeny tiny packet. I sometimes
saw the similar packet handed out for free at a
store or on the street. I may have wasted so
much time to apply for freebies online after all.
But there’s still the even worse result. In these
three years, my eyesight has deteriorated
significantly. If it has to do with spending a
long time on the Internet to apply for freebies,
that certainly did more harm than good…

Episode From Surviving in Japan / Hidemi Woods

Audiobook : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. Apple, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total

Podcast: small rural town in Japan

Hidemi WoodsLeave a comment
Episode from Hidemi’s Rambling  by Hidemi Woods 
 
Audiobook 1 : Japanese Dream by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. 
 
Audiobook 2 : My Social Distancing and Naked Spa in Japan by Hidemi Woods On Sale at online stores or apps. 
 
Apple Books, Audible, Google Play, Nook Audiobooks,  43 available distributors in total. 
 
 
 
Let me report how a small rural town I live in has been lately. Since  there are many skiing slopes in the town, the forlorn main street has  ski lodges, B and Bs, souvenir shops and rental ski shops. Quite a few  had been out of business as the skiing boom was gone. One out of every  three shops is closed now along the street. The other day I found that  my favorite shop there hung a sign saying ‘For Rent’. The shop was my  dream shop that carried imported foods and goods from U.S. Imported  merchandise is usually costly, but that shop sold selected Costco-brand  foods at almost the same prices at Costco or sometimes lower prices.  Considering the membership fee at Costco, they cost less here. The stamp  card of the shop was also magical. They gave the customers stamps  according to the sum of purchase and the accumulated stamps were  exchanged for the merchandise. Those stamps were ridiculously easy to be  collected and I couldn’t count how many bottles of salsa I got for  free. In addition, the shop often held a prize drawing event. The  drawing always came out with a prize and I got numerous freebies such as  pouches and stuffed animals. I had never left the shop without  something free in my bag. It was almost charity for me and I felt the  more I shopped, the more the shop was in the red. That maybe proved  true. The shop has been closed for good and sadly my strange rule that  my favorite place is almost certainly to be out of business worked again  just as I had been afraid of. The number of children in the town has  decreased and several schools were merged into one. That one school is  also small and the local bus started to be partly operated as a school  bus. Noisy kids rush in the bus in the afternoon and I can’t use it any  more. My favorite modern restaurant in town has had more and more closed  days. Now it closes on three days of weekdays and opens only for three  hours each on the remaining two weekdays. One of the B and Bs on the  main street newly got out of business and came into the market. The  price was unbelievably low. Even so, nobody bought it and the price got  even lower. It’s less than a tenth of a typical house price for three  times the space of a typical house. It was cheap enough for me to think  of running a B and B myself.

I may have wasted so much time to apply for freebies online

Hidemi WoodsLeave a comment

As a cheap person, I’ve vigorously applied for online giveaways and free samples on the Internet for three years now. I suspended it as of today because I’m moving to my new place and my address will soon be changed. I take this opportunity to go over the result of my three-year applications. The best freebie I won for a giveaway was two dozen cans of limited-edition beer with an antique label. It was worth over $60. I got two dozen cans of cheaper beer or soda for a couple of times and a box of eye cosmetics, too. But mostly what I got were small packets of shampoo or cosmetics. Although it took time to fill out my personal information and answer a survey for the application, I was often disappointed at what the company sent as a reward. While they extravagantly announced that I had won the giveaway on a letter, what they enclosed was a teeny tiny packet. I sometimes saw the similar packet handed out for free at a store or on the street. I may have wasted so much time to apply for freebies online after all. But there’s still the even worse result. In these three years, my eyesight has deteriorated significantly. If it has to do with spending a long time on the Internet to apply for freebies, that certainly did more harm than good…

big fat lip

Hidemi WoodsLeave a comment

A couple of days ago, I found a small swelling under my tongue. I was horrified if it was cancer. The next day, my lip slightly swelled. I suspected some kind of allergy. I’d never had an allergy before and I recalled what I’d eaten for the first time lately. I’d had sukiyaki sauce that had been thrown in as a freebie when I bought groceries at an online supermarket. Also, I’d started taking blueberry supplements for my eyesight, as it had become blurry for some time and I’d felt fatigue in my eyes. I stopped having either of them and the swellings subsided. I convicted sukiyaki sauce of allergy. I resumed taking blueberry supplements and today, I woke up with a big fat lip. I look like a cartoon. My funny face is even funnier. I misjudged sukiyaki sauce and the criminal was the supplements, which I dared to invest for my eyesight although it was costly. I can’t go out today like this as I planned…