1400 Points. I'm done. I'm redeeming my points for the amateur telescope. I set a goal when I started this program and I finally reached it. I'm not going to chance that they are going to extend the program past Dec 2008, so I'm going to stop accumulating. March and Febuary were big months which included a lot of dumpster diving and asking people are recycling centers for their codes. Though the telescope can be bought for $40 online, I'm going to cherish this thing like gold. 1400 points in one year but only about 50 of those were bought by me. Here's how my monthly totals came to be:
Apr 2007 30
May 2007 119
Jun 2007 158
Jul 2007 193
Aug 2007 199
Sep 2007 241
Oct 2007 260
Nov 2007 332
Dec 2007 374
Jan 2008 417
Feb 2008 695
Mar 2008 1400 (705 this month!!)

In a way scavenging lifestyle will not be missed as I migrate over to PepsiStuff program. I don't have a goal yet, but this program tends to be more popular than the coke program. I still have some unused coke cap codes left if anyone would like to trade.

Also a treat to SA bloggers who collect MCR points, provide me an email and I'll send you a 3 point cap code.

Played in a small poker game last night with 12 others. After a dragged out up and down night I was able to pull out the win and take the $190 1st prize for a $20 buy-in and I didn't have to rebuy. Sweet, now if Kansas and win the tournament, I have a good chance of taking that pot.

It's always this time of year when I regret so much not going to a Division I school. There is so much pride during the tournament time, but I have no team to stand by. Though I saved tons of money with my school of choice and now have a stable job (knock on wood), I never get to see my school on an ESPN highlight. I guess I could have gone to Cal State Fullerton (or Long Beach St 2007).

It's this time of year when production slows down as we enter the end of the week when company's bandwidth is taken up by streaming videos of basketball games. I run the office pool at my office, but only half of the entries are from those that work here as I've incorporated others who don't have an office pool. Running the office pool keeps me from going to Vegas for the tournament because I have to collect the entries Thursday morning. The time, my entries, and the free entry I give out every year is all worth it.

Who are your Final Four?

Saturday was a bit of a crazy day with my sister's wedding happening. There were schedules to keep the the world was just working against the schedule. I had to pick up some window markers to decorate a car with. I read that the 99 Cent Only Store carried them so I dropped in to pick a couple. The check out lines were packed. I don't understand how someone can have a checkout total for over $50 at the 99 cent store. That's almost 50 items in a shopping cart. Of course when I finally reached the checker, their computer system went down. I had 2 items to pay for and the wait wasn't worth it. I dropped $3 and ripped of the bar code off one of the markets and told the lady to keep the change. A waste of money but I didn't have the time to waste. At the end of the night, my sister and her husband loaned the car to 2 of the groom's men to get back to their hotel. The newlyweds took a taxi and 2 guys took the carried decorated with "Just Married."

Here's a picture of the main course:

In contrast to

Debtkid's Dumbest Purchase contest, I would like to first add that one of the best purchases (dumbest purchase is below) I made was to buy myself a Nintendo DS Lite. After purchasing one for my sister, I enjoyed the games it had to offer, so I bought one for myself. It makes time in the waiting room go so much quicker. The ability to connect to other machines makes it funner to enjoy with others. I could always use another one for my nephew.

Now onto the dumbest purchase I ever made. It definitely is the 3-D camera I bought in the early 90's for $500. I thought it was the coolest technology at the time and spend almost all my savings on it. After months of expensive film developing cost and the lack of interst in the pictures I took, I realized that it was a waste of money. The pawn shop wouldn't take the camera so I was stuck. I chalk it up as the $500 experience.