Fifty B4 Forty-Nine Intoduction.... The Unscheduled Trip.
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Bear with me while I set this up….. Last October, My wife and I talked with some friends from our military days about doing an Alaskan Inner Passage cruise. It is the only cruise that we have ever been interested in. We began gathering information and planning our trip. We were saving our pennies for the cruise and in doing so, had to pass on our annual February trip to Cancun.
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Meanwhile, the NFL season is in full swing. Near Thanksgiving I noticed an ad by State Farm on the Fox pre-game show to enter a contest called “Your Game, Your Call” which featured Howie Long. The winner would go to the Pro Bowl in Honolulu in February. I went online, registered and entered each day until the end for entries arrived around January 5th. I thought nothing further about it.
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On January 15th shortly past noon, I received a call on my cell phone. A lady introduces herself and says I am one of five grand prize winners in the State Farm contest. Since I have been known to pull some pretty good scams on my friends, I thought this was payback time. Not so says the voice on the other end. She says I will receive an email in a few minutes with all the info and instructions including getting papers notarized. Okay again, I will believe it when I see it. Two hours go by and no email. I call the lady back. She says I should have received the email, and she will send again. Several hours go by and still no email.
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At around 7pm that evening, I am online as I usually am (I know… get a life…) when the 11 page email finally arrives… it says in part….
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Dear Ben,
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Congratulations! We are delighted to inform you that your entry has been selected as a Grand Prize winner in the State Farm. Your Game. Your Call Promotion.
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You have won a trip for you and three (3) guests to Hawaii for the Ultimate Pro Bowl Getaway between 2/7/08 and 2/11/08, a $1,000 State Farm VISA Card and a meet-and-greet with Howie Long and Anthony Munoz!
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Trip includes round-trip coach air transportation for four (4) from major U.S. gateway airport nearest your primary residence in the U.S., 4-night first class double-occupancy hotel accommodations (two rooms), bus passes to/from and entry to the official 2008 NFL Pro Bowl game on February 10, 2008, and four (4) 2008 NFL Pro Bowl game tickets.
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Wow! Now we’re talkin’!!!!! Can you say Aloha?

Yes, it was exciting, until I recognized that I also had to save up to pay the taxes on it next April.

damn IRS!