The Contest

Our latest rehab project has been transforming a soul-sucking nightmare to a glorious and spacious commercial space. In putting the finishing touches on it, I noticed that there was some air infiltration between the units, which is no problem usually, except this infiltration was through a wall which divided a women's apparel store from the preparation room of a Chinese restaurant. The air from the chopping center was invading the shopping center, and, as much as I like the smell of fresh cabbage and onions, even I had to admit that the smell was sort of - well - out of place - in a ladies' clothing store.

We sought the assistance of Prolitec, a local company whose specialty is difficult air-quality challenges, such as casinos and clubs. For under $200.00 we were able to obtain a device which not only neutralizes the odors, but also leaves a faint hint of fresh, clean wood in the air. And this is not the obvious "urinal cake" solution you usually encounter in the attempted odor control business. This is not intrusive at all. I thought it was miraculous.

So, when Prolitec invited me to submit a testimonial in a contest, I had no problem describing my experience in three paragraphs. I wholly believed in the product, and the whole writeup came naturally and sincerely. Imagine my surprise when I received the following email yesterday:

Dear Gary,

We are happy to announce that you've won our Air/Q story contest!

Please respond, letting us know which prize you prefer: an Air/Q Whole Room Air Freshener unit, OR two fragrance cartridges of your choice (please indicate which fragrances). Please also verify that the address below is correct.

According to our contest rules, you have 10 days to respond to this email claiming your prize.

I won! The closest I've ever come to getting anything in return for my writing (other than the avid devotion of my loyal blog readers, of course) was my ebay sales descriptions.

While I'd like to share my entry, I did sign all rights to the entry over to them, and now need their permission to publish it. Should I obtain the permission, I will publish it here on Excelsior. It's the most I've ever gotten paid for my writing!