9-23-09 Wednesday (Redemption)

Anyone who knows Jim, knows that he does a great job of saving money or getting free stuff.  He’s always getting credit card points or Diet Coke points and then redeeming them when something good comes along.  Tonight we made use of some freebies.  We saw Final Destination for free with some AMC certificates tonight.  The deal also included free beverages which is always nice, since the purchase of said drinks usually includes an application fee and mortgage.  We did have to buy popcorn though.  For the price of popcorn, we could have bought a popper.  Really. 

I remember when the theater was new.  Now?  Well, our movie time was the ONLY showing at 4:50 for this movie.  I suppose it’s on it’s way out of the theater.  As we walked the corridor to theater 13 (spooky), we passed an abandoned concession stand.  No, really, abandoned.  All fixtures were removed, only counters remained.  Pretty unsightly.  The theater was and remained empty.  It was just us for the movie.  The movie was advertised to be 3D.  I ran to the operating concession stand and asked if the movie was 3D (if so, where’s my glasses).  This theater wasn’t equipped with that.  Fine.  I wondered if the theater is equipped to be open much longer either.  The movie was predictable and too similar to it’s predecessors. 

After our non-3D movie, we went to Macaroni Grill with a gift card we got from  some other points.  We were seated, and almost left after feeling neglected by a server.  Servers were all around.  Which was ours?  Where is he/she.  Finally, an overly friendly “I’ll be with you in a moment” statement from Dani.  Overly friendly, you ask?  Well, yes, that fake sarcastically friendly type.  The problem was, that it was all the way through, to her core, and genuine.  Scary.  I think she’s going to snap some day and snatch a baby or something.

We did something different.  We ordered salads to help fill us up.  Then we got Dani to bring us some take-out containers before the meal even came.  We split our portion in half immediately upon it’s arrival!  I’m glad you asked - Jim and I both love the Penne Rustica.  Oh, and that’s what we had.  We split a loaf of bread and then split a second into our doggy bags.  We still ate too much. I’m sure.  At least it was half the portion.

 

I’m not finished with “free” stuff yet.  We stopped into a Publix for a couple of things.  This store has a DVD rental kiosk.  It wasn’t a brand we’ve used before.  It was a new Blockbuster DVD unit that was celebrating it’s arrival with free movie rentals.  The code to get a movie for free was posted on the machine.