November 5, 2020
In QB 218 I told you about “National Give Someone a Dollar Day.” You may have thought, like I did, that’s not very much (and it isn’t, but it is better than a sharp stick in the eye). So I began to search for things you can buy with $1.00. Here are a few:
A song from iTunes. If you’re into the latest hits, you’ll probably have to shell out $1.29, but you can still find songs for $.99 on iTunes.
A small coffee at McDonald’s. You can get a small premium roast hot coffee for $1.00, or upgrade to a medium for an extra $0.29.
Ten 4x6 photo prints at Walmart. They’re only $0.09 each! If you’re looking for something larger, 5x7 prints will cost you $0.78 each.
A slice of pizza in NYC. A meal will cost you a fortune anywhere else in New York City, but not at the dollar-pizza joints. Head to 2 Bros Pizza (it’s not David’s and Kyle’s) for an inexpensive slice. But you have to get to NYC, and quarantine for 3 days.
Side Bar Your Honor: When I was a student at FSU (Frostburg State University – not the other one), someone would frequently wander through the dorm announcing that he was ordering pizza, and you could get a slice or two for 35 cents each. Get 2, spend 75 cents, and avoid NYC (my pledge class for Sigma Tau Gamma went to NYC, but that’s a story for another time. Or not at all).
A souvenir penny or two. Most penny-pressing machines – one of Bonnie’s favorite souvenir purchases – will charge you two quarters, plus the penny you choose to elongate. She squished a Euro dime in Cartagena, Spain, but it cost two Euros to do it (about $2.25). So that doesn’t count for a dollar purchase.
A Wendy’s small classic frosty. The classic frosty (chocolate or vanilla) is $0.99. You can also get a junior cheeseburger, a crispy chicken sandwich, and a four-piece chicken-nugget pack for less than $1 each. For a limited time only.
One more, and this one is worthwhile: 10 meals for men, women, and children facing hunger in the US. Every dollar you donate through https://www.feedingamerica.org/ways-to-give will provide 10 meals to hungry Americans. The organization offers different donation suggestions, but you can also choose a specific amount of money you wish to give.
👉 I wrote about Monopoly in QB 204, Scrabble in QB 205, and Backgammon in QB 206. A reader suggested I do a piece about one of her favorite games, UNO. So here you go.
UNO is a shedding-type card game that is played with a specially printed deck. The game’s general principles put it into the Crazy Eights category. In a shedding game, players start with a hand of cards, and the object of the game is to be the first player to discard all the cards from one’s hand.
In Crazy Eights, 5 or 7 cards are dealt to each player, the remaining cards of the deck are placed face down at the center of the table as the stock pile, and the top card is then turned face up to start the game as the first card in the discard pile. Players must either match the suit of the face up card or the number. 8s are wild and the player who uses one can change the suit for the next player.
Playing a Queen causes the next player to miss their turn. Playing an Ace reverses the direction of play. Playing a two forces the next player to draw two cards, unless they can play another two. If a two is played in response to a two, the next player must draw four. I could not find a verison of Crazy Eights that has a Wild Draw 4.
If you are thinking, “That sounds a lot like UNO,” you are correct.
UNO was originally developed in 1971 by Merle Robbins in Reading, Ohio. He spent $8,000 to have 5,000 copies of the game made which he sold from his barbershop. Robbins later sold the rights to UNO to a group of friends headed by Robert Tezak, a funeral parlor owner in Joliet, Illinois, for $50,000 plus royalties of 10 cents per game. Tezak formed International Games, Inc., to market UNO, with offices behind his funeral parlor. In 1992, International Games became part of the Mattel family of companies.
There are more than 300 versions of UNO including: Barbie, Avengers, Night Before Christmas, Green Lantern, Peanuts – A Charlie Brown Christmas (this version has not yet gone to cable TV), Star Trek, Star Wars, Auburn Tigers, New York Yankees, Boston Celtics, and Super Bowl XL Pittsburgh Steelers Special Edition (hopefully there will be a Super Bowl LV Pittsburgh Steelers Special Edition).
Back to Crazy Eights. A popular variant is Crazy Eights Countdown, where players start with a score of 8. A player’s score determines how many cards they are dealt at the start of each round, and which rank of card is wild for them. Initially, all players are dealt eight cards and 8s are wild for everyone; after one round, the winner of the round will be dealt seven cards and 7s will be wild for them, but 8s will be wild for everyone else. The first player to reduce their score to zero wins the game. No penalty for failing to call “One Card Left.” That sounds a great deal like another shedding game, “Phase 10.”
👉 Today is National Donut Appreciation Day. Doughnuts are deep-fried pastries, and today they are given all of the appreciation they deserve. The first doughnuts in America were little “nuts” of dough, and they were introduced into the United States by the New England Pilgrims (not the New England Patriots who would have filmed their competitors and then lied about it, or they would have made some with less air in them).
The first mention of doughnuts in print was in Washington Irving's 1809 book History of New York. By the middle of the nineteenth century, doughnuts with a punched-out center became the norm, because they were easier to fry and used less dough. If anyone is making a donut run, make mine an original cake donut from Dunkin’ Donuts. But you can’t get them anymore – since the company changed the formula of the batter, the handle won’t stay on. So just get me a plain cake donut.
👉 Today’s close is from Faith’s Checkbook, by Charles Spurgeon.
You Make the Trenches
“And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts” (2 Kings 3:16-17 KJV).
Three armies were perishing of thirst, and the LORD interposed. Although He sent neither cloud nor rain, yet He supplied an abundance of water. He is not dependent upon ordinary methods but can surprise His people with novelties of wisdom and power. Thus are we made to see more of God than ordinary processes could have revealed.
Although the LORD may not appear for us in the way we expect, or desire, or suppose, yet He will in some way or other provide for us. It is a great blessing for us to be raised above looking to secondary causes so that we may gaze into the face of the great First Cause.
Have we this day grace enough to make trenches into which the divine blessing may flow? Alas! We too often fail in the exhibition of true and practical faith. Let us this day be on the outlook for answers to prayer.
As the lady who went to a meeting to pray for rain took an umbrella with her, so let us truly and practically expect the LORD to bless us. Let us make the valley full of ditches and expect to see them.
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