Many restaurants offer little perks if you sign up on their websites, including free appetizers and desserts. Here are some sites to check out…

Cold Stone Creamery: Free Like-It ice cream creation in a cup for birthday (valid within 1 week of birthday)
Moe’s Southwest Grill: Free cup of queso for signing up (valid within 1 week from email)
Buffalo Wild Wings: Free dessert for birthday (valid within 2 weeks from email)
Red Robin: Free gourmet burger for birthday (valid within 2 weeks from email)
Schlotzsky’s: Free small sandwich for birthday (valid within 2 weeks from email)
Del Taco: Two Free chicken tacos for signing up (valid within 2 weeks from email)
Chevy’s Fresh Mex: Free appetizer for signing up (valid within 4 weeks from email)
Claim Jumper: Free small bite desert for signing up (valid within 30 days from email)
TGI Fridays: Free Appetizer or dessert (up to $8) for signing up (valid within 30 days from email)
Carrows: Free dessert for signing up (valid within 60 days from email)
(Info thanks to Tim P.)

There’s so many more of them, basically, if you take the time to get on a restaurants bulk mail list, you’ll probably get some freebies. Most restaurants seem to offer you something free for your birthday, if you ask on the spot. You only risk hearing a weird happy birthday song.

Free food is not always limited to restaurants or your birthday. There’s free food samples at Costco, free taste tests at most ice cream shops, candy shops, and free taste testing at many vineyards, breweries, and at factory tours, such as cheese factories.

Some other random freebies:
Free Disneyland ticket for your birthday in 2009 (http://tinyurl.com/3zjqno)
Free pre-season Portland Trailblazer tickets (for being an email subscriber)
Free tickets to TV shows (if you’re ever in Hollywood) (http://www.hollywoodtickets.com)

Beware of some free offers
Many credit card companies will give you free stuff for signing up, but I don’t recommend it. It’s not worth messing with your credit history and increasing the likeliness for you to pay interest and fees. You will commonly find ‘free’ software through rebates. That’s not recommended either, because you are not guaranteed to receive your rebate. If you have to pay something for something to be ‘free’, it probably isn’t completely free. Learn more free services to avoid…

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Yesterday I had my ACL reconstructed. The surgery went well and I feel better than I thought- not feeling much pain. It was performed in Vancouver, WA by Dr. Roberts of Rebound, a well-respected surgeon in the Portland area. He previously did Trailblazer Greg Oden’s knee surgery.

The new makeshift ACL was constructed from a hamstring graft, but Roberts has his own unique way of fastening it. As I understand it, he doesn’t just use bioabsorbable screws, but a couple of titanium screws and washers, along with a 55mm x 3mm titanium pin placed in the lower femoral bone. This gives the new ACL (hamstring) something secure to loop around and tie back. He said he’s been doing these for 10-12 years and believes it’s the best fixation.

My right knee was injured when I was playing ultimate frisbee. The surgery came after a lot of thought and research on which graft to choose: patellar vs hamstring.

The rehabilitation will be quite involved. I have quite a laundry list of tasks to do, including various strength-building exercises, constant icing using a fancy Game Ready ice machine, and making multiple trips to the physical therapist. I think it will be worth it.