Interstate 66 highway traffic
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

Stuff On My Mind Which Has Nothing to Do With Travel — July 2017

If you are looking for a trip report or review or seeking advice on collecting frequent travel loyalty program miles and points, this is the wrong article to read, as I am simply imparting some stuff — read random thoughts — on my mind.

Stuff On My Mind Which Has Nothing to Do With Travel

The clock wound down to zero with My Coke Rewards last month, as Coca-Cola decided to end the incentive program through which codes found underneath the caps of bottles and printed on packages of cans were redeemed for frequent guest loyalty program points and free soft drinks — amongst other prizes and rewards.

Coca-Cola
Source: My Coke Rewards.

Oddly — on Thursday, March 23, 2017 — the banner displayed the following…

Say Hello to a New World of Rewards

We’re introducing a new experience from Coca-Cola®, but first, we’ll say
good-bye to the old. Soon, getting rewarded with your codes will be easier, more fun,
and more convenient than ever before. Watch the video below to learn more.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING DOWN – MARCH 22ND IS THE LAST DAY TO EARN MCR POINTS.
YOU STILL HAVE TIME!

Time’s up to enter product codes—get informed about the new Coca-Cola® rewards experience.

…yet an Enter Codes “button” was still available. Huh?!?

By the way, the “new experience from Coca-Cola” is little more than entering those codes towards sweepstakes which one has little chance of winning. Wow. Be still my racing heart.


Could the traffic become so clogged at Tulane University that it would need to be expanded to a four lane university?


I am not exactly a slow driver — I inexplicably survived driving in Egypt somehow — but was accelerating and wasting fuel really worth passing me simply to arrive at that red light 20 seconds before I do?


If the founder of BoardingArea decided to team up with the founder of One Mile at a Time and create a musical album, Lucky Peterson may be the result — although Peterson is not the same spelling as Petersen. Be careful, though — you may catch a case of the blues.

In his monthly communications with the authors of the weblogs of BoardingArea, Randy Petersen signs off with the salutation “Always thankful—still here.” Coincidence? Hmm…


Speaking of music, here is an unlikely little secret about me which few people know: as part of my humble side experience in acting, I have a cameo in the official music video of F.A.M.E. by Young Jeezy featuring T.I. starting at 3:45 — and the video has already been viewed almost 15 million times.

Not liking rap or hip-hop of virtually any kind, I did not think I could have any sort of a conversation with Jay Wayne Jenkins — which is the real name of Young Jeezy — but hanging out with him turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant experience.


A woman asked me where was the ladies’ restroom.


I watched an episode of Jeopardy! hosted by Alex Québec — that is what I call him — which aired on broadcast television on Tuesday, July 18, 2017; and the last category during the first round was Ice Cream Cohens. You probably guessed that not only had I felt obligated to watch that particular game; but I also swept that category — and if you want to take a stab at giving your answers in the form of a question, here are the clues:

  1. Cohen is the last name of one of the founders of this ice cream company
  2. A Bugsy Siegel associate, mobster Mickey Cohen ran an L.A. ice cream parlor before being sent to this island prison
  3. Bravo to this host of Watch What Happens Live, who says his favorite ice cream flavor is peppermint or mint chocolate chip
  4. This city, the largest of the Texas-Mexican border towns, holds an ice cream festival at Cohen Stadium
  5. As his character Ali G., this British comic once pitched the product ice cream gloves
  6. Bonus J6 Question: The New York Times said this Hallelujah songwriter liked root beer floats with chocolate ice cream

Why do people tend to congregate at doorways and entrances — effectively blocking access and egress to others — instead of simply stepping off to the side or in a corner to have their conversations?


What did the New York Yankees, New York Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Senators, Saint Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians and Boston Braves have in common?


Summary

Well, I suppose I will need to visit Cohen Stadium the next time I am that Texas-Mexican border town, as I did not even know that it existed…

…and worthless bonus points if you can guess after whom Cohen Stadium was named.

As for Ice Cream Cohens — well — that is probably more appetizing than if there were such a thing as Ice Cream Pizzas.

Now it is time for me to have some ice cream — after dinner, of course…

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

    1. I cannot bear to answer that question about my deer friends in Canada, James — probably because some of them are just plane fowl.

  1. Nice. I thought I was the only one that liked MCR and also bitter that they ruined this program. It actually got so bad I switched my soda addiction to Pepsi. As if someone could ruin and devalue a program more than Delta. Remember the good old days when you could redeem MCR’s for IHG and even on rare events, Hilton points. Maybe they should have teamed up with fellow Atlanta program Delta. Seems like a match made in heaven. Sad

    1. Oh, I remember those days quite well, DaninMCI.

      To be fair, IHG Rewards Club significantly tightened up the program; so I do not completely blame Coca-Cola. Earning points used to be much easier then than today; and My Coke Rewards was an excellent way of collecting those points.

      I am not loyal to any brand of soft drink, as I tend to only want one sometimes at lunch and more so at dinner — but you are correct in that there is no incentive to purchase Coca-Cola products anymore.

      By the way, I redeemed my last coupon today for a free twelve-pack of Sprite. Oh, well…

  2. oh those Coke points, one of my favorite hacking memories when I went to a Blue Angels flying show:

    In a Blue Angels airplane show I discovered that the drinks were Cokes. As in bottles. With the cap awarding Coke Reward points. Well son, grab some bags and get to work! I wish I had brought the whole family, we will have even more bags full of Coke bottle caps. Walking back to the car carrying bags full of caps and seeing others looking at us thinking we were bums collecting bottles for the recycling refunds, priceless! They had no idea that these were pure gold of course. Before they too devalued to oblivion!

    1. You are so right about the looks on the faces of other people with regard to those bottle caps, TravelBloggerBuzz.

      Now, I did not go around actively searching for bottle caps or twelve-pack flaps to collect; but if I saw someone disposing of a container which had a code, I did ask that person for it.

      They just did not realize how potentially valuable were those codes…

    1. I do not watch much television, Gene; so I had to look up the cast of that program…

      …and if David Caruso is the person to whom you are referring, I must admit that that is the first time that anyone has ever compared me to him.

      I hope that is a compliment. Thank you if it is a compliment.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!