Beyond the Rhetoric

I cashed in the first of my free birthday meals yesterday when I paid a visit to Boston Pizza. That was a couple of days early, but that’s the beauty of receiving the e-mail coupon ahead of time. You might remember that Boston Pizza is one of the places that you can get free food [...]

Not surprisingly, I received a little bit of a negative backlash from the fake contest I announced for April Fools’ Day. It was not my intention to upset anyone; it was supposed to be in good fun. That doesn’t mean that I don’t do giveaways anymore. In fact, there are no fewer than two contests [...]

A penny saved is a penny earned. It’s an old adage that many of us know, but so many of us neglect. You don’t necessarily have to deprive yourself of life’s little indulgences to adhere to this philosophy, because money can be saved in many different ways. One way is to buy used rather than [...]

This is a little pet peeve of mine among people who can’t resist every sale that they encounter. They’ll see a sign that says they get a “free gift” with purchase and they jump all over this “fantastic” promotion. After all, it is a “free” gift, right? No, not at all. It’s not free. You’re [...]

I’ve been to my fair share of trade shows. Even before I officially embarked on this freelance writing adventure, I covered several local events for The Commentary. I’ve been to everything from food tastings to pet expos, tech events to video game conferences. And what I’ve found is that these trade shows all handle the [...]