Free Stuff - FreeStuff's Blog - Bakersfield.com

What toy did you never get?

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:40:20 PDT

Just about everyone had some sort of toy or item they desperately wanted as a child but never got. Mine was this remote control truck thing, back in the early 80s. You programmed in a series of directions (forward, forward, left, right, backup, etc.) and then the thing took off and followed the pattern. That and the Death Star playset (still pretty sweet if I say so.)

Share your stories of unrequited toy love and you might win these sweet remote control race cars. You've got a week to send in your stories.

As usual you can find the rules on our profile page. And per the labelling on the package, if you're under three years old you can't participate. Sorry kids.

Plumbing nightmares

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 11:07:34 PDT

We've got an interesting item up this week for Free Stuff. A Liquid Plumr 'Power Jet' instant clog remover.

This is a normal spray can with a special nozzle on top. Looks like you just push it down over the drain and it shoots the cleaning stuff right down the pipe.

Anyway, this got us thinking about our worst plumbing nightmares. Clogged drains when you have a house full of guests, the toilet that overflows while you are at work, etc.

The person with the best story wins the drain cleaner. And title of Free Stuff Champion of the World!

As usual, click on our profile to read the rules and fine print.

Worst gift ever?

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:36:57 PDT

A unnamed staffer here at the Bakersfield Californian/Bakersfield.com handed this little gem over to me the other day for our Free Stuff blog.

This cookie jar was apparently given as a gift to this employee. I guess it just didn't match their decor. Now while the employee didn't complain about the gift, it certainly triggered the 'bad gift' alarms for a lot of us here.

Any gift is obviously a good thing. When someone is willing to fork out some cash or effort to buy/make something for you, it's always nice.

So with that proviso, I invite you all to share your best tale of your worst gift (given or recieved) and you might just win this beautiful cookie jar. You've got until next Monday to get your story in.

As usualy, the rules are here.

Your favorite urban legend/old wives tale?

Wed, 16 May 2007 15:38:22 PDT

OK, last week we went a little crazy with the Free Stuff. So we're gonna take it down a notch this week. Just one item and we're gonna give you until the end of next week to come up with the winning comment.

The item is a copy of 'Never shower in a thunderstorm' and it's a compilation of columns from the New York Times written by Anahad O'Connor. The premise of O'Connor's column is he takes a health-related myth and finds out if its true or not.

This thing is chock full of cool myths. Like....

Will eating poppy seeds make you fail a drug test?
Can you fight off a shark by punching it in the nose?
Does Spanish Fly really exist?
Can drinking coffee stunt a child's growth?

So share your best myth, urban legend, old wives tale. The best one wins the book....and the title of Free Stuff Champion of the World and Beyond (for the following week only.)

Are you a lawyer? Party pooper? The rules are here.

Free 'Forever stamps'

Wed, 09 May 2007 18:23:17 PDT

We just had to do a special midweek Free Stuff post in honor of the new 'Forever stamp.'

This is the stamp you will be able to buy to avoid any future stamp price increases. It comes just in time for the latest postage hike, from 39 cents to 41 cents.

Anyway, I don't know how, but we got our hands on a book of 20 of these gems.

You want 'em? Then tell us why in the heck you still need stamps, much less stamps that will last forever.

And the story better be more exciting than "I need to send in my PG&E and cable bills"

As usual, the rules are here. I figure we'll let this run through the end of this week, so get those stories up!

Arrg! Be you a pirate?

Mon, 07 May 2007 17:30:48 PDT

In honor of the new PIrates of the Caribbean movie coming out in a few weeks, we're putting up "The Government Manual for New Pirates" on Free Stuff this week. This tome has everything from a guide to conjugating 'to be' for new pirates (it's always 'be') to a page with a paper eye patch you can cut out (presumably when you need an eye patch in a pinch.)

Share your favortie pirate story, memory, photo, whatever. The best wins the book.

As usual, you can read the rules here.

Share your lawn nightmare stories

Mon, 07 May 2007 15:29:35 PDT

It's getting warm and sunny and that means lawns will be growing fast for the next few months. I'm sure there are some great lawn horror stories out there. Or maybe some wonderful story about how your lawn saved your life, marriage, etc.

Share them here and you might win our latest Free Stuff item, the book "Lawnscapes." This a cool little book that has all kinds of tips for making your lawn a work of art. This looks like one of those novelty books (what with the fake turf on the cover), but there is a lot of serious mowing knowledge inside.

As usual, please check out our rules here.

Are you a big Dodgers fan?

Tue, 01 May 2007 10:47:11 PDT

Our second Free Stuff item for the week is this blue Dodgers bag. Again I'm not sure why this was sent to us. Did the Dodgers think we had forgotten them?

Whatever the reason, it's yours if you have the best Dodgers story out there.

Go!

As said before, you can find the rules here.

New free stuff

Tue, 01 May 2007 10:30:50 PDT

We had a big turnout for the first week of Free Stuff, so to avoid a let down I figured we would offer up two items this week.

The first is a bottle of McCormick's Root Beer Concentrate. I'm not sure when or why this little bottle showed up here. Probably a few months ago.

One note: I originally thought this was just a bottle of root beer flavoring, but upon reading the back of the box I discovered you actually use this stuff to BREW root beer, using yeast and fermentation and everything! You have been warned.

So how do you win this curiousity? Post your best root beer memory. here.

Extra points for anyone who actually has made root beer at home.

As usual, you can find the rules here.

And the Free Stuff winner is...

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 14:23:18 PDT

Last week we asked folks to post their worst job ever. The best story got a copy of 'You think your job stinks!' by Patrick Regan.

Well we got more than 50 responses and it came down to two entries.

'cembad' with this tale:

"Chain saw operator at a rendering plant during the summer. Imagine a bloated animal carcass that has been 'ripening' in the hot sun for a day or two and is too large to feed into the process. You get to be the person to reduce it to parts small enough to fit."

And mtracy with this tale:

"Working at a feedlot, my brother and I had to clean out infected scrotums on steers which had been castrated and transeferred from Mexico. This involved picking off the scab which had formed, and scooping out the pus, and following up with disinfectant. No, we did not have gloves. Not a pretty sight or smell. At least the steers were happier afterwords. This was about the time I decided to go back to college."

After consulting our crack staff of bad job judges it basically came down to a tie. So we flipped a coin and mtracy came out the winner. Congrats!

Had a lame job?

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:08:00 PDT

Welcome to Free Stuff, our new blog and junk distribution system. If you read this you will learn that the Californian is inundated with weird junk every day. From books to CDs to t-shirts to drain cleaner.

Because of our journalistic ethics we cannot accept these items and they generally are sold/auctioned off for charity. But many items never get sold.

So we're gonna give you all a chance to clutter your home with some of this stuff.

I'm hoping to post a new item each week, but we'll see how the flow of cool junk goes.

So without further ado our first item is a little book called 'You think your job stinks' by Patrick Regan. In it he has photos and short one-liners about some nasty jobs. This is one of those annoying books they keep by the cash register at the book store. The kind you peruse but never buy.

Anyway, here is your chance to own it. All you have to do is share your story of the worst job you ever had.

Mine was working at a parking citations office, answering the phone and handling 'complaints.' Let's just say I will never be shocked or offended at anything people say to me on the phone. I've heard it all.

So share your story and if we deem it the best at the end of the week (or maybe next Monday) we'll leave it for you at the front desk.

For the rules of the contest, please view our profile.