Papa November

I was looking at some recent photos and noticed that in all of them I seem to hold my shoulders constantly shrugged forward. Concerned, I looked back through some older photos and I was shrug-free in all of them. I started to worry that my mild sculiosis was becoming major, or that being married to a short woman was turning me into a hunchback (no more hugs, Shell). Then I realized that I am still, 6 years after my heart surgery, protecting my chest and easing the tension on my sternum by rolling my shoulders forward.

Happy 6th anniversary, aorta! Keep up the good work.

Posted by joe at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I was looking for some candy online and stumbled across this exciting explanation of the new Hot Tamales packaging;

HOT TAMALES® brand candy now has more kick than ever — more intense cinnamon flavor has been added. The HOT TAMALES® logo has been spiced-up and the HOT TAMALES® sun has transformed into a searing fireball to reflect the extreme energy of the product and today’s consumer.

What makes todays consumer so full of extreme energy? How is this reflected in their buying habits? Do they commando roll into a store and throw their choice and money at the cashier while chugging Red Bull? Who is the primary consumer of Hot Tamlales? Skydiving 9 year olds with mohawks? A better question is, can we tap into this energy source to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.

I’m glad to see that Hot Tamales are so on top of current trends. Didn’t this whole Mountain Dew guzzeling, free-climbing, hang gliding, everything to the Max thing die out in the 90’s? Next year they are going to introduce the new grunge Hot Tamales theme song. Come to think of it, the 80’s have been back in style long enough that grunge should be hip again any day now. Maybe they are just ahead of the curve. I think I’m going to invest in flannel, I see some big dividends coming up. Thanks Hot tamales, I’m sorry I doubted you.

Posted by joe at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I didn’t really learn how to use a computer until my sophomore year in college (Josh would say, and does, that I still don’t know how to use one). The internet was so uncommon my freshman year (‘93) that only one person in my dorms had it and as far as I could tell all it allowed you to do was talk to lonely computer programmers about Star Wars, so I forgot about it. I was a missionary in Houston after my freshman year of college and with all of my possessions fitting in a suitcase and a milk crate and living in a very poor part of the city, I didn’t see the internet again, let alone a computer for a good year or so. When I did, I remember being blown away by the little rotating AOL icon. It was spinning! On the computer! Like it was TV or something.

My three year old son on the other hand, already can navigate a web site. He will happily click away exploring sites looking for pictures to print or Magic School Bus videos to watch. He actually just asked if I was checking my email right now. That makes me worry that maybe he already has his own email account and visits chat rooms to talk about Star Wars with computer programmers.

The other night I told Grant it was his bed time. He ignored me and kept playing. I told him again it was time to head up the stairs and go to bed. No response. The third time I told him he better get to bed he looked up at me calmly and said “it’s loading”. I was confused. “it’s loading” he said, “sometimes it takes a minute. You have to be patient.” I am installing a new password on the computer tonight.

Posted by joe at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)