Free Stuff

Free Stuff ©

By

Michael Casey

Well my daughter is home from school so I’ve told her I’ll be with her in an hour after I’ve written this. She’s off out anyway to see some Mentor about some Church stuff. I like the word stuff its a great coverall word, like duvet or throw are. Though I’ve discovered some Americans don’t understand all my language, though Polish and Ukrainians do, even though English is their 2^nd language. But I digress.

Today I want talk about Free Stuff, such as all the ads we are subjected to all over the place. Buy one and get one free, or two for the price of one, though that is also a line from a song on The Visitor’s album by Abba, my favourite album of theirs. Go listen its on Spotify.

You also get free stuff offered by emails, after Microsoft haven’t read your emails but know enough about you to offer adverts perfect for you, because they have scanned your emails, which is reading them, or are they following my sites? Or am I just a fat silver haired writer in shades from Birmingham?

I mention pain in my writing as its part of my life, and so recently I’ve been offered CBD or some other letter combination. I had to Google it before I realised it was Cannabis, legal cannabis. If you knew how much I detest drugs, I take loads but they are legal ones called medicine that my doctors insist I take. So being offered drugs even so called legal ones just makes me want to puke.

I can get on a bus and have to smell the stuff as some routes have more cannabis users on them than others. And passive smoking of drugs gives me headaches when I’ve bumped into the haze accidentally. Skunk the strong version is terrible, and sadly the users think its cool. I’ve know about all this stuff for 50 years from when I was a child, every generation think they are the first generation. Imagination is the only thing worth having and you don’t need any substances to help you find your Muse.

So I declined the “you have been chosen michaelgcasey” invitation. I also got another junk email for pain relief from USA. The Opioid crisis in USA hasn’t reached us yet in England, so I’ll stay on the NHS medicines, and grin and bear and scream and swear, sounds like a dance routine, Google LuLu’s Shout song too.

I sidetracked myself as usual, what was I really going to talk about? Yes, Free Stuff. As far as food goes I only buy what I or the girls eat, and crisps and chocolate is top of the list, because they are girls, and its a change from all the Chinese food from Shanghai mum. So any offers or free stuff is always good. I never buy something I don’t need. I just had to buy three shovels and a pick, because the pick was free. You are not Snow White buying presents for the Dwarfs.

By the way did I tell you when my sister was in Normandy as part of her year abroad she went to the cinema and saw Snow and The Seven Dwarfs in French, she sat next to a family. On the Monday the PE teacher teased her and asked had she got a boyfriend yet. So my sister stood up in the Staff Room, which in France is more like a cafe, and Sung in French Some Day My Prince Will Come.

So let that be a lesson to anybody who tries to put down a Casey. You can also be tempted by holiday offers, which many people are thinking about now in January as Winter bites. Have two weeks for the price of one, which is very good, but will you have enough spending money to last? Far better to have a one week holiday somewhere really nice, and if you can bring 2 weeks spending money for that one week of holiday, now that’s a better offer.

Free is a strange word, so is Casey, who said that, I though I’d got rid of Boris and Lech and Gregorgi didn’t they win a free holiday to Davos, no they are just shoveling snow for a week, and no it’s not a metaphor. As I was saying Free does not mean free, well not to a sales person. It’s like a prostitute showing an ankle, you have to pay to see the rest, and as for anything else, you really do have to pay.

So Free this or Free that does not lead to the other. You can have it free then you have to pay, you thought it was free but you have to pay. Because it’s a trick. Offers for Computer Software can be like that, free for 60days, pay nothing at the checkout, but they have your bank details now.Other free offers ARE free you get it for a month then if you like it you sign up. Beware of free software offers because there are loads of sharks that will poison your computer, and if its a business computer you will be screaming and screaming because you fell for the free offer.

Just to remind you all you should do backups every day to 3 media, or even twice a day. If you lose your customer details what are you going to do? So even if it is just 3 usb sticks. That is better than zero security. You can get Free Email too, so if you have 3 accounts with 3 different email providers then you can email files to yourself and back files up to the One Drive or G Drive or whatever it is. Free yourself from worry. Computer Security gives you Peace of Mind, one place I worked nearly went bust, due to lack of security, almost. Remember I started in computers 40 years ago.

I’ve wandered all over the place today, but that’s the thing with Free Stuff it distracts you from what you really want and what you really were going to do. So be disciplined, have a list, at least in your head, and then if there is free stuff find it and use it. Even if its coupons for toilet paper, and yes I speak from experience, some of you in America may call me just a bum, but at least I have plenty of paper for my own bum.