An Uh-Oh

I've wanted a laptop for years. But as a (mostly unpaid) freelance writer who picks up odd jobs online when she can, I haven't been able to afford one. Instead I hog the family computer and struggle to focus on my writing in the midst of life with eight siblings. Well, one moved out in January and just got engaged this week (congrats, Stephen and Sarah!) so he doesn't really count.

Anyhow, a Dell catalog arrived in the mail Wednesday, taunting me with sleek laptops with steep price tags. That evening I went to look up lyrics to a Superchic[k] song and one of those little annoying ads came up. One that said, "Win a Free Laptop."

I took the bait. I clicked. They gave me three options to choose from - one had a 100GB hard drive. I remembered our old youth pastor's wife had mentioned something about actually getting a laptop from one of these ad things. You just had to be sure to cancel everything you signed up for.

Okay. I could do that. Write 'em all down, make a bunch of phone calls, mail a few things back. No problem. Much easier than earning $1000 at $10 or less per hour. Minus taxes.

I began going through the survey stuff at the beginning, then got to the first offer page. It offered a bonus. Sign up for this particular offer and get Microsoft Office. Home Sweet Word. If I still wasn't sure at this point, that clinched it.

I signed up for two silver offers. Two gold offers. And SIX platinum offers. I signed up for things I'd never use and others I'd been wanting to do for a while, like a DVD club (after all, the new computer was coming with a DVD player!). One even said they'd give me a $25 Walmart gift card, which would pay for everything but the DVD club.

And then, bleary-eyed (I'd started after midnight and it now approached three), I clicked the link to check my gift status. All the offers I'd signed up for were still pending, which I expected. But there was something else. I needed to refer two friends. They would need to click my link and also sign up for the ten offers, within the next 60 days.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Thanks for telling me about this up front.

But hey, I have friends, don't I? And I still need a laptop. And they could get a laptop too - they'd just also need two referrals.

So please. If this interests you at all (either getting a laptop or being really nice and helping me out), click on the link and check it out. I'd really appreciate it.

In other news, check back early next week for a quick preview of what's to come in the Waterfall Books newsletter, including a review of an awesome novel. There will also be details on how to win the novel by subscribing to the newsletter. But don't wait! Subscribing now could actually improve your chances of winning the book!