The day before the series of little events of yesterday, I had a small series of little events that led to an unexpected bit of cash.
On Tuesday we received a flyer in the mail from Northstar Ford about a drawing they were having for a new car, some cash, an ATV, or a lottery ticket. Since I no longer own a Ford I would have normally thrown the flyer away.
However, I was going out to Northern Tools to by a trailer dolly to pull our chipper around at the cabin. I could stop by NorthStar Ford on the way back home. Well, I missed Northern Tools on the way out of town. When I got to Midway Rd. I knew I had gone too far. I did see it on the way back. I missed the humongous sign because I was looking for a smaller sign, plus they had put a wall on the "near" side. It had been a while since I had been there, and so it was unrecognizable to me.
I had called in the morning to make sure the dolly was in stock and was told they had plenty. When I got there I couldn't find them and asked for help. A clerk pointed out where they were but the shelf was empty. He went to a register to check the inventory and found that there was one left. He asked another clerk who was more familiar without the inventory to help me. The second clerk walked to the same area and picked up the last dolly on the other side of the aisle! They had stocked them on both sides.
After all this delay, I could have gone straight home. But I decided to go to NorthStar Ford anyway. I first went to the Service Department to say hello to the service manager whom I had known for so long. I didn't see a familiar face and his office was dark. I went to the sales receptionist and asked about the drawing. She called a sales representative to help me.
It turns out one has to have a small interview with a sales person before one can get a prize. My number was good for a lottery ticket. When I got to my car I scratched the seven ways to win and found the maximum prize was three dollars. Wow!
Yesterday when I bought gas I turned in my lottery ticket. It wound up that the ticket was worth fourteen dollars!! Each of the seven spots counts.
So, my little detour of about fifteen minutes was worth $56/hour. Even if it was only a three dollar win, that would have been worth $12/hour.
Another example of nothing ventured, nothing gained.
If you still have your flyer from NorthStar Ford, the drawing continues through Friday, March 26.
