I Don't Know Why I'm Surprised This Exists

So this is something that exists on Facebook.

And when I say "this," I mean as a niche on social media, because even a cursory look shows me there are many more than just one or two groups where people are swapping - and actively selling - McDonalds Monopoly game pieces.

For the unwashed masses, McDonalds has done this promotion yearly for I don't know how long, where on certain food packages they offer deeds from Monopoly. The idea of course is to collect a set of deeds as in the game to win fabulous prizes.

But these folks are a little, uh, deluded. 

Take selling these pieces for $10 each. Meaning selling the most common pieces that anyone with a glutton's urge for McDonalds food could collect as they wait for that one rare strike to get the one piece that's going to complete the set. Because that's all you're getting on these sites: The common pieces. Spend a half hour in these groups and you'll know which of every deed set is the rarity, and thus the winner. And you know they ain't selling those.

So these are groups for the not-so-bright who think they're going to find the white whale but more filled with people who are selling worthless pieces at $10 a pop to the gullible or lazy or whatever.

Now maybe I'm wrong, but I know I'm right.

(Start at 1:12 for the reference)

Dear Elder Davidson No. 9

1 November 2026

Hello Isaac,

Here’s to hoping we get to talk tomorrow. I just had a lot going on last Monday . . .

So I told you last week about the excitement of replacing the ice maker. This week you get to hear about the excitement of . . . REPLACING HINGES. Yes, the door to the laundry room and the door to the craft room have new hinges, so the doors actually open and close easier now. I can’t forget to say the both doors also have new STRIKE PLATES and the craft room even has a new DOORKNOB. I don’t know how I keep up with the excitement around here. The doorknob for the craft room has a lock on it, but I made sure it was on the inside so Mom could lock us out and nobody could lock her in. Of lesser excitement is the fact that I only had to buy three hinges, as I already had one hinge left over from another project. I also had the strike plate and the doorknob kit, so this excitement only cost us $9 in new dollars. I know this is valuable information that will sustain you as you continue your missionary adventures.

The hinge thing is pretty significant, though. They replaced the hinges on one of the doors to one of the men’s rooms at work. Replacing the hinges did something, but now the door won’t close at all and they’ve had to prop it open with a sign on it saying not to close it. So my project could have gone south really fast and led to me having to post a similar sign on the craft room door, which would not have made Mom think I did anything to improve the situation.

I don’t know what else to say – this may be a short letter.

Thinking about vacation time. Trying to come up with a really good reason to visit Arizona round about Christmas time. Unless of course y’all are gonna get rain. We’re in our second straight weekend of rain now. We should be grateful for the water, and from what I hear it’s actually snowing in the mountains where the snow should be, so really I shouldn’t complain at all. Besides, nobody will listen to me complain anyway.

The dogs don’t like the rain at all. I had to take them out on the front porch again to tinkle this morning. Any time we get a little dry weather and sun, they want to go out and sit in the sun and just soak it all in. They probably wonder what they’ve done to be celled up with a bunch of people who don’t want to hang around outside all day long.

I’m trying to sell a set of ATV trailer ramps on Facebook Marketplace. We got two sets with the trailer. We’re keeping the good set and trying to get rid of the other set. I have them for sale for $25. The same day I put them up, a guy offered $15 and the excuse that “he had to do some work on them” for the low offer. That’s fine, my dude, I told him. $20 and they’re yours. He didn’t like that much. So I still have them. He’ll probably contact me again in a few weeks to see if they’ve sold, and I’m kind of in the mood that I’d rather chuck them in the recycling bin than sell them to him. Sure, I understand you’ve got to modify them a bit to work for what you need them to do. But right now they’re mine, and I don’t really care that you have to put some work into them. I’m of the mind that if I see something for sale, I’ll try to strike a good bargain but I’m not going to tell the seller my story, true or, not as part of the negotiation. The only thing that matters to the seller is price, and if we can’t agree on that, the rest is fluff.

 I enjoy hearing your mission stories. I hope you’re recording them in some way, whether through videos or a journal, as you’ll want to remember them as well when you’re an old man looking back on a life well-lived.

I got to reading my patriarchal blessing over the past few weekends (I used it as part of an object lesson in Gospel Doctrine last Sunday) and it said some specific things about my mission. I’m not sure I prepared myself well enough for what I should have done, so that’s on me. But I also have to rememer that “my mission” in France is only part of the service I could perform as a missionary. Maybe your mother and I will serve a mission or two after we’re retired, and I could be preparing myself for that service.

OK, I think this is it. They’re watching “Ernest Scared Stupid” in the next room and I don’t want to miss any more of it.

Love, Dad