Show us your lights!

@Thumperchick me neither, think they will notice the age/quality of the light strings if I dig out a photo of my husband riding his motorcycle with trailer in tow and a Christmas tree in the trailer??? The photo has to be about 20 years old :)

@sligett I took a similar picture.

@ACraigL Schrodinger's lights.

@ACraigL Brilliant.

@Pavlov We can not know if they are lit, or unlit.

Only that we most likely are, indeed, lit.

@Pavlov damn, first thought I had when I saw the box. Well played.

@jaremelz I don't know about that. One of my strings was definitely unlit.

@phatmass Yes

@cinoclav A prize was never mentioned, now was it?

@MEHcus But we have total faith in you to provide the unsaid prize. Ooh, I just rearranged my non-lights into a blazing display celebrating your new marriage. Can you visualize it? You and your lovely bride overlooking the ocean with the lights sparkling brightly in the sky above.

@cinoclav Technically it's illegal to hold a contest without actually specifying what the prize itself will be ahead of time, what criteria will be used to select a winner, when the prize will be shipped out etc. There is way more to it, but I don't wanna go on a rant.

Now, the prize where you had to guess the last number of the sales to multiply your order, that one was illegal.

Sweepstakes are also different from contests. They require no effort to participate in, and the winner is chosen at random.

@cinoclav If someone decides to enter this contest which clearly has no prize, and a meh employee incidentally sends that person a gift somewhere down the line, I have a hard time seeing the connection.
http://koin.com/2015/09/06/smoke-buddy-sells-containers-gives-away-free-pot/

hi I came here for the legally ambiguous free presents

@cinoclav I won't tell if you won't.

@lichme Really? Because the state lottery doesn't tell you what the final prize will be, just an estimation there of.

@cinoclav @lichme Also remember this is a "competition" and not a "contest". Lawyer me (I don't have a JD but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express) says we are good to go!

Just add "minimum purchase required" to the site's TOS/AUP.

@lichme Yeah, I didn't want to get that deep into it but I'm aware of the regulations. I actually learned a lot about it when a local ski shop sent out an email last year offering a prize but a purchase was mandatory to enter. I knew it was illegal but didn't know all the facts until I researched it. After contacting them they changed the wording. Ironically, they sent an email out just this week with yet another prize requiring you to send or post your picture with your purchased item. I emailed them again letting them know that I was pretty sure some unscrupulous lawyer would be happy to pursue the issue. Got a quick reply blaming it on a changeover in marketing personnel and informing me the wording would be changed. I'm probably banned from their stores at this point.

@tightwad A lottery is just that, a lottery, it is not the same thing as a contest.

Also, just because I posted about it above, doesn't mean that I care that Meh is doing it.

Was someone having fun?

@lichme I assumed you weren't concerned that Meh was doing it but instead interested in discussing it as it makes an interesting case study etc.

I have come as well for my "no purchase necessary" prize. Thank you in advanced.

@Bogie Everybody get a trophy. No?

@medz No it was not legal. Woot has fancy Amazon lawyers now, they tend to stray from doing stuff like this these days.

Even the Haikupons they do now, they include a premade copy/paste haiku for people to use, because requiring somebody to write their own counts as "consideration", which you can't require for a sweepstakes.

@lichme You can require an element of skill for a contest, which would work for the Haiku contest. Interesting easy read: http://sarafhawkins.com/blog-law-is-your-giveaway-legal/

@tightwad You can, but then you cannot choose the winner at random, it has to be judged based on the quality of your entry, and the judge has to be knowledgeable on the subject.

@medz @lichme - Ooo, I was coerced into buying those lights (still in the unopened box). Tag me when the class action suit begins.

(Please note, J/K for anyone about to argue ethics)

@KDemo We should stick it to 'em. It ain't right what they done to us. It ain't right, I say!

@medz Yeah we suck

@MEHcus - Oh, oops. I meant the woot-off lights. I was a whore for a boc, never having scored one at the time. Buying the lights didn't work, either.

@MEHcus I meant the woot lights. Sue woot for that. You guys are cool. This contest is totes legit.

@curtise You'll need a permit for that flask in Texas.

@curtise Fantastic! Also, I'm sorry that the lights appear to have caught everything on fire.

@MEHcus theme sing options:
Midnight Oil - Beds are Burning... (most à propos title)
Billy Joel - We didn't start the fire...
The Prodigy - Firestarter...

Thank goodness I worked on it in the guest bedroom so my bed is 'unburnt'!

@AttyVette They're not. Can you upload them to imgur.com? Just paste the direct image link here and it should show up immediately.

@ACraigL thanks for your help-- the link posted from imgur to my pictures but not the pictures themselves on this site...Not sure what I am doing wrong...

@AttyVette your image links should be pretty simple. Hostingsite.exension/filename.type
Your links have % and redirects in them.

@Thumperchick wonder if the problem I am having was because I am using an iPad not a computer??

@AttyVette Some sites just don't play as well with the forums. Looks like whatever posting URL you grabbed from postimg was wonky as hell. I see you found imgur - stick to that and you shouldn't have too many issues.
FYI - you published your pics to the imgur public gallery, leaving them open to commenting and voting - that's optional.

Also - READ THIS

@Thumperchick thanks for the read this link;) I definitely am going to read that!!!

There's the first three, easy way is to right click the image on the page you linked to, click "view image", copy and paste that image's specific URL back here (it is a direct link to the image on their server). Then the image will automagically embed in the forum.

@Pavlov thanks I owe you:).. Sigh, guess you can tell I'm definitely not a technical person..guess you can say I'm technically challenged ..guess it's the lawyer in me...thanks again @Pavlov

@AttyVette It's just a baby. Are you going to officially adopt kitten ? : ) I vote YES. Just in case you wanted to know.

@ceagee I have been feeding it's mother and its four siblings..I've been trying to find someone to adopt them as we have three dogs plus, I am extremely allergic to cats ( I still feed them anyways) plus I work all week out of town .. My spouse and I tried to make sure they wouldn't be feral by letting them all ....sigh ...right now I am feeding these five, a feral mother cat and her two kittens, and two more feral cats. There really are too many cats here but I don't want to take them to our local animal shelter as black cats and dogs are the last ones adopted and I don't want them killed. :(.

@AttyVette Have you thought of TNVR -- Trap Neuter Vaccinate Release ? Since you can handle them you probably don't need to trap, you can just get a carrier or two or three. See if you can find a low cost spay/neuter.
Try to find homes for the babies. ( If you can get them fixed first all the better) SCREEN prospective homes. I've got some sample applications from our shelter I can share w/ you if you like.and charge enough of a fee so that anyone wanting them for nefarious purposes will not be interested.
( unless of course it's someone you know ;-)
The adult cats are harder to place.
Since they seem to be safe outside. If you can offer them shelter and food and some occasional TLC, its more then they would get otherwise, and they could have a very nice life.
For more on TNR check out http://www.alleycat.org
and I'd be happy to answer any other questions you might have.
Sadly , because of the lack widespread neuter/spay the cat population is greater than the need for homes. Even if you travel, if you can leave food out or have the person who feeds your dogs feed them, and as mentioned offer shelter, and water too. It's all good.
The most important thing is that they get fixed. ASAP.
Young ones can get pregnant as early as 5mo.
Mom cats can get pregnant while they are still nursing. Have them ear-tipped -- the universal sign for a cat that is being feral/ unowned but cared for.
You might even find a local rescue that will help you place them.

Let me know if I can help you further.

@ceagee long story, I contacted the one low cost spay/neuter clinic in our county and they said they are booked up for the next three months ( they only do low cost sprays/ neuter on Thursdays and I am always gone out of town in Thursday). Three years ago, I rescued two young cats/kittens from the woods by my work but it cost me several thousands of dollars (one young cat/kitten broke its leg sometime when I was back at home as they were living in the woods by my work ) I put cat shelters in the woods for them to stay in and asked other employees (who lived in that town) to feed them on our days off. Anyways, when I came back to work after being off, I discovered one of the young cats/kittens had broken his leg. I rushed it a veterinarian and paid to have its leg fixed and boarded while it healed.) Furthermore, I boarded the other sibling too as I feared for its safety ( there were three cats/ kittens but the third sibling disappeared the same weekend the sibling broke its leg) .Finally a rescue took the young cats/kittens in but I had to prove by pictures where cats were from, and all the bills I paid in their behalf (including shots , neutering ). They won't take these cats as I live in a different county and the cats are from this area.
I contacted rescue agencies even in Facebook and no one can help as they said they have too many homeless cats in their areas too.

A year ago, I took six kittens ( that showed up ) and paid for their shots. All of them disappeared one by one never to be seen again. Not sure what happened to them because I am gone out of town working all week. I am guessing the difference is the five kittens here are still alive because their mother doesn't leave them.

@ceagee so if you know anyone in Texas that would love tame kittens let me know. I am worried about them being out in the weather and getting cold. Right now, though , they are inside boxes ( I placed dry towels in the boxes) placed under a Bench that is on our front porch.(The momma cat sits on the arm of the bench watching over them at night).
My spouse said thank Goodness there haven't been any stray horses that have shown up here or I would be feeding them too.

@AttyVette
Well Meh is in TX. Start a Kittens need good home thread ;-) Maybe meh needs a cat or two to take care of mice in warehouse ? They can be there the weekend alone if they have food and water out.

Tip: Straw is the best insulator as it works wet and dry. Cardboard and towels soak up the dampness from the air. You can see how to make a shelter online through ACA. just use plastic storage things. These kitties need to learn this is there home and there is food source attached to it. If the prev. 6 kittens had shots but weren't fixed they will disappear when they go in heat or looking for females. If they were fixed, then that's a different story.

I can offer some more info but blasted headache.
BBL

@djslack yeah one of them I used dud the flickering too but wasn't sure if it was because we are doing weird shapes with it...

@Lotsofgoats I think all the legal talk dimmed the lights on this one! Total buzzkill of a contest

@Lotsofgoats I don't know. I'm pretty sure I am both going to win and lose this one.

@AttyVette they didn't say which monday.

@AttyVette With this plethora of submissions, aren't we all winners?

@jaremelz

@Pavlov

@jaremelz winners or losers we may be but why oh why no closure to this contest is a mystery. We tried our mehest for this quest, all we wanted to do was have fun even if in jest. Monday came and went in a flash , so dear mehest employees where must we now dash?

@AttyVette @Mehcus just thought everyone was missing @JonT ;)

@djslack Did someone seriously make Avatar: The Musical???

@curtise Yep. Cirque du Soleil did. Tonight was the opening night, they've rented out the arena near where I live since like August to put the show together. After Saturday they take it on the road, with a half dozen or so dates heading up the east coast before the official world premiere in Montreal I believe.

It's called Toruk: The First Flight.

@curtise http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/11/exclusive-first-look-avatar-cirque-du-soleil-show-flies-james-cameron

Yup - now playing in Bossier City, Louisiana. Montreal on Dec. 21. Vegas soon after.

@curtise

I will say it is an impressive production. The visual effects,scenery, and puppets are outstanding. The story didn't really grab me, but the show is definitely worth going to. I did miss the first 15 minutes thanks to the restaurant we had dinner at being a complete clusterfuck, so there was probably something important I missed out on. The entire arena was done in 3D projection, immersing you in the Pandora environment.

But then, those rope lights. It made me sad for my poor little sucker display.

@djslack @pavlov I'm honestly not sure whether to be awed or flabbergasted.
Flabbergawed?

@AttyVette we are all wieners!!!

@xPTCx they look great!

@stardate820926 Neat swing!

@stardate820926 Cool! Neighbors will have no trouble spying on you now.

@brhfl Thanks! It was a housewarming present from my godparents.

@medz We have pretty tall fences up on both sides and an empty lot behind us. I'm fairly certain we aren't interesting enough to spy on haha