For Johnny -

There is unrest in the forest, there is trouble with the trees; for the Maples want more sunlight and the Oaks ignore their pleas.

EAT

No trip to Oregon is complete without a stop at this potential National Landmark. I do say "potential" because I don't really know how many people actually know about it. But anyone that that has traveled north on I-5 between Kelso and Centralia has seen the sign below:

Now as you passed by, you may have thought "ooh, what a dive - who would want to stop there, when there is a McBurger Queen in the Box just up the road." To those who think this way, I say good riddance - more fresh strawberry shakes for the rest of us! By the way, the town this oasis is located in is called Vader - how cool is that. Mrs. Beesley's, or as I like to call it, EAT, has all your typical roadside hamburger joint fare; burgers, shakes, fries, and fish & chips. I stick to the basic vegetarian options - shake and fries! I do need to add a commentary about the fries - served with tartar sauce; they definitely make the roadtrip a little more doable. Plus - they are crinkle-cut, just like they did at Hillcrest Elementary!

Here’s Lisa enjoying her Fresh Strawberry shake – look at her smile, knowing she’s about to taste pure goodness.

A large chocolate shake for this guy!

Now I do have one complaint – the rootbeer shake does indeed taste like fake rootbeer syrup. Normally, I am a big fan of the rootbeer shake, not so much at EAT. But, because of who they are and what they stand for, EAT has plenty of other flavors to choose from including fresh banana.

So while Cindy and Joseph were enjoying Michael Mclean; Lisa and I were filled with a different burning in the bosom – the heartburn associated with yummy, greasy fries and a tasty milkshake to wash it down!

Oh . . . Canada?

So this morning I happened to have found myself reading the fine print on one of our promotional lead slips and noticed something I never read before or at least never really noticed before:

For entrants in Canada: before being declared a winner, the selected entrant must correctly answer a timed mathematical skill testing question, without mechanical or other assistance.

Anyone else find this absolutely hilarious? When I questioned several co-workers about this, everyone was aware of the Canadian law, yet really didn’t think too much of it – “just another crazy legal requirement.” I wasn’t satisfied, as this was probably the funniest thing I have heard in several weeks. So I did what any red-blooded kid does these days – looked it up in wikipedia!

Skill testing questions are a legal requirement attached to many contests in Canada.

The combined effect of Sections 197 to 206 of the Canadian Criminal Code bans for-profit gaming or betting, with exceptions made for provincial lotteries, and licensed casinos and charity events. Many stores, radio stations, and other groups still wish to hold contests to encourage more purchases or increase consumer interest. A classic example of such a contest is Tim Hortons' Roll up the Rim to Win, that gives chance to win prizes with every cup of coffee purchased, with prizes ranging from vehicles to doughnuts. These organizations take advantage of the fact that the law does allow prizes to be given for games of skill, or mixed games of skill and chance. In order to make the chance-based contests legal, such games generally have mathematical skill-testing questions incorporated.

The most common form that these questions take is as an arithmetic exercise. A court decision ruled that these must contain at least three operations to actually be skill testing; for example, a common question might be "(2 × 4) + (10 × 3)" (Answer: 38). Enforcement of these rules is not very stringent, and especially for small prizes, the player may not be required to answer the skill-testing question to claim a prize. Anecdotally, getting the answer wrong is also often not an obstacle to claiming a prize. For contests held in the United States or other countries that are open to Canadians, the questions must also be asked of any Canadian winner.

The same section of law prohibits receiving consideration in exchange for playing the games, resulting in a related peculiarity of Canadian contests: the "free entry alternative", which is usually telegraphed by the fine print "No purchase necessary". Generally this means that it is possible to enter the contest for free by, for example, writing a letter to the entity sponsoring the contest and requesting a game piece or entry form.

I am not aware of what our “timed mathematical skill testing question” is, but I will find out and we can all participate in the fun that Canada provides to its neighbors to the south. On a side note, I was up there 2 weeks ago for work and took a bunch of pictures – stay tuned. I had to use my old-school Minolta film camera and I haven’t taken the rolls to Costco yet.