be on the look out for money in the mail

[Tam-i-am]

So this evening I was sorting the mail and in the junk pile went an envelope from Neilsen.  Kevin stopped me and said he was curious what they wanted as if we couldn't guess.  So I opened it and out fell two brand new crisp one dollar bills.  It was "their way of saying thank you" for filling out their survey. 

So how much of that money do you suppose goes to landfills, recycling centers or in my case burned?  It doesn't seem like a very cost effective marketing program.  Why not send a check?

So now that I have been guilted into it, I filled in the 15 question survey and they are going to send me 5 more dollars so they have to send a check anyway.

[terrifictimbersllc]

I once got a $50 savings bond from them for doing some kind of survey.

[Magicman]

Pat and I both did the week survey last Fall.  It was very straightforward and no problem.  After it was over, they sent a couple more bucks.  All cash....no checks.   

[Ron Wenrich]

I got that back in October.  They sent $2 in the application, and gave me $2 to fill out the diary for a week. 

We also get a dime from the March of Dimes from time to time.  Also get postage stamps in some junk mail.  Once you send anything like that back with a donation, you'll have them calling you several times a year asking for more money.  Sometimes it's cheaper to throw the money away.

[r.man]

I pay our hydro bill at the bank and very often don't open every bill, the amount doesn't vary much from month to month. About two years ago I threw a hydro bill envelope in the recycling and my wife fished it out to at least look at it. Inside was a 75 dollar rebate cheque for some odd reason. If my wife had not retrieved it I wonder if they would have reissued it or would we have lost out on the 75 dollars. I learned my lesson, I open every envelope.

[yukon cornelius]

I only get to send money out in the mail. I never seem to receive any in the mail. Good lesson though. Open all mail!
 Now, what to spend it all on? The options are limitless!

[Just Me]

Neilson sent me one of those. It as easy for me to fill out as we do not watch television.

[Tam-i-am]

So that still leaves the question where does all that money go if no one opens it?  Postal workers, trashmen, etc.  is someone looking for it?
We have people who go through our recycling for bottles.  $2 in that envelope is much better than any bottles he is going to collect from my recycle bin and a lot less work.

[Chuck White]

We used to get a survey request, usually every year in the fall and we'd fill it out and in 1-2 weeks we'd get a mailing from them and in it would be a $2.00 bill.

[John Mc]

Once they get you to realize that there is cash in their envelopes, they've now guaranteed you'll actually open their mail.

[Ron Wenrich]

Doesn't mean I read it.  We burn our trash, so all that unopened mail ends up in the burning barrel.

[pine]

...................... or in my case burned?

Doesn't mean I read it.  We burn our trash, so all that unopened mail ends up in the burning barrel.

Interesting that you are still allowed to burn your trash. 
I thought most states had banned the burning of trash by now. 
Must not be as wide spread as it seems.  The ban that is.

I will be on the lookout in the junk mail.  In all my life I have never seen any mailing from Neilsen about any survey or log of watching habits.

[Tam-i-am]

"Interesting that you are still allowed to burn your trash. 
I thought most states had banned the burning of trash by now. 
Must not be as wide spread as it seems.  The ban that is."


not burning trash, just some paper in the wood furnace

[Darrel]

Who is this Neilsen you speak of.

[D.Andersen]

Interesting that you are still allowed to burn your trash. 
I thought most states had banned the burning of trash by now. 
Must not be as wide spread as it seems.  The ban that is.

In my county we are suppose to get a "burn permit". I almost never do, perhaps just my age, but I just do not feel I need the Government's #$%€* permission to strike a match on my property.

I will go thru the nonsense if I am doing a large fire, or something with a lot of smoke, just to avoid the hassle.

Suppose the Feds will read this and place me on some kind of "watch list".....

 

[Tam-i-am]

Who is this Neilsen you speak of.

Neilsen rating, how they determine what people watch on TV. 
other than to ask what my favorite show and station was the rest of the questions were about how much radio I listen to and to what. 

[Magicman]

Mine did not include anything about TV.  It was a week's diary listing the radio stations that we listen to.

[beenthere]

Nielsen started out years ago, wooing the TV industry and making big bucks feeding them what viewers watched. Claimed to have vehicle(s) that would drive the streets and could monitor what channel was being watched. Always hear about the Nielsen ratings for new (and old) TV programs. 95% of them would be gone in a heartbeat if it was up to me. 

I suspect now, that they are collecting listening-info on radio stations to sell their data to them.

[Raider Bill]

Nielson is a big employer next county over. They used to pay to put a box on your set to collect data.
 
Local DJ Bubba the love sponge clem just got caught trying to bribe participants into giving him a better Nielson rating.

[Woodhauler]

If you guys will all send me a five dollar bill in the mail I will be sure to open the letter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Den Socling]

Makes me think about today. Everything in the mailbox went into the recycling bin and never made it to the office. We're expecting a final payment of $16K from a customer. I made sure it wasn't in the stack!

[Magicman]

I did not get a check today for $16K either. 

[Woodhauler]

I did not get a check today for $16K either. 

Why do we call it 16k, not 16grand??  16gs??? How did the k come along???

[Jeff]

 The simple answer is that Kilogram means Thousand. K is for kilogram, so k is for 1000.  Grand is slang, K is an actual form of measure.

[Brian_Weekley]

"kilo" or "k" (small k) = 1000

kilogram (kg) = 1000 grams (weight), kilometers (km) = 1000 meters (length), etc...

[Woodhauler]

"kilo" or "k" (small k) = 1000

kilogram (kg) = 1000 grams (weight), kilometers (km) = 1000 meters (length), etc...

So we should be converting our money to euros or something! 

[Brian_Weekley]

So we should be converting our money to euros or something! 

No, we can still use kilodollars.  In fact, you can learn to take advantage of it...

Honey, I'm thinking about buying a new pickup truck.  Well how much is that *$#@& thing going to cost?  Don't worry honey, it's only 25 kdollars.

See, it doesn't sound that bad now!