A Willing Prisoner?

I'm currently reading two books at the moment (apart from all the others I started then cast aside to read at a much later date), one is Joe Hill's nightmarish Christmas tale 'NOS4A2', which focuses on a woman trying to save her son from a vicious, supernatural killer who has set his sights on him.

Christmasland: A Psychedelic State?

The second book I'm now reading is 'The Monopoly Companion', which was published in 2007 by Phillip Orbanes. 

It includes tips on Monopoly, information about Atlantic City, Monopoly tournaments, and even recipes inspired by the game and Atlantic City.

Now the funny thing was that when I read the first chapter of The Monopoly Companion', titled 'The Unexpected Invitation' the author of the book pretends to be in Mr.Monopoly's house to interview him and the author sits down with Mr.Monopoly and says, "I'm your willing prisoner".

Then I read this chapter pictured below from 'NOS4A2' where Lou goes to buy a chicken salad in a Mickey D's at the Logan Airport in Boston only to give in to his own weakness and buy what he has always bought since he was 13 years old when eating in a McDonald's fast-food restaurant. 

No such thing as a free lunch ... or parking?

I started thinking just how weak people are with addictions that they could easily break if they really wanted to, but don't and that really most people, myself included, are like the star of the English TV drama 'The Prisoner', where SPOILER ALERT we find out in the last episode that he was his own prisoner.

But after me reading that chapter in 'NOS4A2' about the fat guy who couldn't slim down and make a healthy choice while eating at a fast food restaurant, I step on my bathroom scales yesterday morning and give myself a mental lecture about not eating any junk food till Christmas Day, because my scales nearly read 80kg when I step on them and while I'm not really fat, that's the heaviest weight I have ever been in my life and I don't want to have to start buying the next size up in clothing, if I wack on much more weight.

But I'm out doing my Christmas shopping and, on the way, home I wonder what is something cheap I can get for lunch, as I was hungry and tired.
I look into my wallet and there is a McDonald's coupon for a cheeseburger and small fries for $2.
My mind slips into self-lecture mode reminding me of not only my vow on the bathroom scales that morning, but also about not eating at McDonald's because of seeing what an a#sehole Ray Croc was when he built up the McDonald's chain. 
Birdman/Founder

But my stomach mentally throws two scrabble tiles at my mind (F&U) and my mind gives into my stomach and I go through the drive-through in my vehicle and get a cheeseburger and small fries.

Would have to read NOS4A2
 to get it probably 

I then wonder just exactly is in this burger and apart from the official McDonald's site telling you what's in the cheeseburger, I find this site. 

Which has this video about the fat in a McDonald's burger.

Yuck ... I'm not lovin' it, I'm sick of it.
That video above is nearly as scary as Donald Trump:-)

Time to scale back my consumption of junk food from restaurants and clowns that like playing Monopoly with people's lives and stop being their prisoner willingly. 
Big Mac Index

"The Big Mac Index is published by The Economist as an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and provides a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries. It "seeks to make exchange-rate theory a bit more digestible".
The index, created in 1986, takes its name from the Big Mac, a hamburger sold at McDonald's restaurants."
The Big Mac Index Converter

"There’s no way to overstate the insane reach and impact of the Big Mac, 550 million of which are eaten each year in the United States and which appears—in some form or another—on McDonald’s menus in six continents. 

Last week, Jim Delligatti, a McDonald’s franchisee and the inventor of the vaunted sandwich, passed away at the age of 98.
In a nod to their ubiquity, several obituaries noted The Big Mac Index, which The Economist introduced 30 years ago. 

The index serves as “a lighthearted guide to whether currencies are at their ‘correct’ level,” by tracking the cost of a Big Mac around the globe. 

But for all these triumphs, Delligatti never enjoyed much fame or celebrity in the wake of his creation. 

In fact, he constantly battled the misconception that the world’s best-selling sandwich had made him billions. 

“Everybody thinks I did,” he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette back in 2007. 

“But no way. 

All I got was a plaque.”"

As that other great clown once said, "Fool me once..."

After reading about what a willing prisoner I am, destroying my health while some rich guys play a real-life game of Monopoly, I think I need a smoke;-)

'Santa' robs US bank after handing out candy canes
"A man dressed in a Santa mask has held up a US bank in festive style.
Memphis police said the thief initially appeared to be spreading Christmas cheer.
"At approximately 10:00am, a lone male wearing a Santa mask entered the Memphis City Employee Credit Union," police said in a statement.
The man then approached the teller and handed her a note demanding money, police said.
After obtaining the cash, the thief fled.
Police said no-one had been arrested over the incident and the investigation was ongoing."

White House Snowman Prank Gives Obama The Chills

"President Barack Obama was creeped out by the snowmen's icy stares even before his staff pulled this prank.
“There’s a whole kind of Chucky element to them,” Obama told People Magazine in November."