Saturday, March 12, 2005

Chocolate and Money

Not necessarily in that order.

The chocolate first.

I was at a local store called Ten Thousand Villages (which I persist in referring to as Ten Thousand Maniacs), buying something that my daughter had asked me to pick up, and saw some chocolate for sale. The name on the bar was Dagoba, and of course the first thing I thought was 'Does George Lucas know about this? Or Yoda?' But according to the wrapper, Dagoba refers to a temple, and below that information is this: "Chocolate is Sacred."

And here I thought it was only in Hershey that they thought that.

Now the money.

We get mailings from the GM Card offering to let us use earnings to buy a new car (or at least to put toward a new car). Well, thats very nice of them, but we don't buy a new car all that often, and at the moment, we're thinking that when the Regal gives up the ghost, we're going to look at the Accord hybrid. If GM comes out with one in the meantime,we'll check it out -- we're not fanatical Buy Americans, but we're aware of it, and if we can, we do. Either way, though, its at least a year away.

So we tend to ignore their mailings. Fortunately for us, my wife is better about reading the material than I am -- because it turns out that they also say, if you don't want to put your earnings toward the purchase of a new vehicle, you can get some of it back in cash.

What?

So, as a result of my wife's efforts, we're getting a check for two hundred dollars -- just for calling the toll-free number and saying "Sure, send it."

How about that?

5 comments:

Roger Stevens said...

Not that I'm cynical or anything - but I bet there's a catch somewhere. let us know when you find out what it is.

Roger Stevens said...

Was that comment a bit rude. Sorry. It wasn't meant to be.

We recently visited the Vatican in Rome. Considering just how many retail opportunities they've managed to cram into that place I'm surprised that there's not a Vatican Chocolate Bar - or a His Holiness the Pope Hot Chocolate Drink.

Or maybe there is.

Cerulean Bill said...

Didn't seem rude to me. I suppose I should assume that there is some catch. There is a minor one -- possibly not so minor -- in that they say that while they will apply the amount of your earnings -- in my case, about $650 -- to the cost of the new vehicle, they will only refund the earnings as cash that were acquired in the last year or so, and then, only in fifty dollar increments. And there is a good chance that the check will arrive with plenty of ads in the envelope -- thats how my credit card statement is, which is why, when it arrives, I yank out the statement and mailer envelope, then shred the rest without looking at it. Used to just pitch it until I noticed that they include preprinted checks so that I can get a cash advance -- or anyone getting the envelope before I do. Fears of identify theft, and all that.

As for the Vatican, I was thinking, the other day, that a) I don't know why its called that (I assume its some kind of Italian history thing...the name of a location,or something like that), and b) that we almost always say 'the Vatican, in Rome', as if there was another one.

I like the idea of the Pope's Chocolate. Now, with extra heavenly flavor, each packet include GraceCards with pictures of the College of Cardinals -- collect the whole set! I used to do a running joke with my wife about PopeNotes, the only sticky pad endorsed by the Vatican, for use with those shorter encyclicals. I assume they're on sale in the Vatican gift shop, too.

Amy said...

Ah, first you need to go back and buy that Dagoba chocolate bar immediately. Particularly if they have the roseberry flavor, which is a blend of rosehips, raspberry, and dark chocolate. It's divine. Transcendent. Sacred, even.

Also, I eagerly await the Accord hybrid. You have excellent taste in automobiles. I wouldn't hold my breath on a GM hybrid anytime soon. Corporate America is clearly not yet in a conservationist moment, and will probably never be.

Cerulean Bill said...

Gotcha covered -- I bought two -- one, dark chocolate with lime, and the other, the one you mention. We split the lime one last night. My goodness, that was tasty !