The Cost of Free

While enjoying our coffee this morning, the wife and I were listening to this podcast from NPR’s Planet Money.  There is a new podcast from Planet Money twice a week and we are a week or so behind.  I will not go into details about this particular podcast but I recommend listening to it as it is worth 20 minutes of your time.

The story looked into a short period of time when the Red Cross started to charge the US soldiers for doughnuts during WWII.  Despite the fact that they were told to do this by the US government and despite the fact that they protested before following orders, some veterans still hold the Red Cross in a bad light for this one thing that happened 70 years ago.  Toward the end of the podcast they talk to several economists about why this one thing has had a life of its own for so long.  One economist’s hypothesis focused on the concept of “free” and how the relationship changes between two parties when something goes from free to not free.

In one example of this hypothesis the economist asked us to assume how we would react to being asked by your mother to pay $10 after finishing Thanksgiving dinner.  You would not question that $10 was not a fair price for the meal but it would dynamically change your relationship with your mother from family member to service (for a fee) provider.  It would tarnish everything going forward and they way you interact with her would forever change.  This is what happened with the veterans and the Red Cross.  They way that the veterans viewed the Red Cross changed since their relationship went from one thing to another.

Now, with most things in life, my take away from listening to this was different than the wife’s.  She took away what most people took away, namely that companies have to be careful in dealing with their customers.  There are actions that are taken that, while they could be quickly reversed, would take years (or in the case of the Red Cross, decades) to repair.  Instead, I thought about how I might charge for things that I give away for free (like the mother in the example charging for Thanksgiving dinner).

For the most part, the rest of my immediate family (that is to say, the wife and kids) are very touchy / feely people.  They like physical contact, hugs, kisses, etc.  I am not against this but there are times when I prefer not to be touched (or for that matter near anyone).  Sometimes I don’t like it when someone, even my kids, just run up and hug me with no forewarning.  This probably sounds absurd to most of you but the kids have learned (for better or for worse) to announce first that they are going to hug me before diving in with the affection.  I know that some day I will look back on this issue of mine and know that I was in the wrong but for not it is what it is.  But this podcast got me thinking, what if I charged for hugs and kisses?

Come with me for a moment on this crazy thought.  My goal is to be happy and if my level of happiness is lowered by making others happy then I need to associate a cost for their happiness to compensate for my loss of happiness.  If I could set a price per hug then the child (or the wife) could decide if the happiness that they would get (by my hug) is worth the cost of that hug.  Since the kids only get so much for allowance then there would be a limit to how many hugs that I would have to give out.  I see my own veterans / Red Cross issue forming though.

I see several problems with this (besides the painfully obvious ones like me being seen as an unfit parent).  First, there are times when I am more inclined to give out hugs for a lower price or even free.  If I were to set a price for hugs then it would have to be a price that went up and down, probably on an hourly basis.  This would involve having to set up some sort of index that showed the current value / price of a hug.  Even if I could set this up, my kids, not being dummies, would probably just wait until the price was low (or free) and horde my hugs creating instability in the hug market.  Also, it is possible that they could simply get hugs from the other source (my wife) as she would undercut me in this market and cut my profits (it is hard to compete with free).  Oh, I could market my hugs as being “worth it” or “higher quality” than her hugs, but that would involve work as well not to mention having to give out free samples to prove my claims.  The market might just decide to put me out of business.  What would I do then if I needed / wanted a hug?

So, as you might imagine, I have decided not to implement this “pay for hugs” program in my household.  A special note to the wife.  Honey, you know those times when I am staring off into space deep in thought and you ask me what I am thinking?  And you now how I almost always answer, “Oh, nothing.” or “You don’t want to know.”?  Well, this morning was one of those times.  It is a dangerous thing sometimes to ask me what is on my mind.

Jon

The Anxiety of Lateness in Dreams

I blogged about 6 years ago about a dream that I had.  Since then I have had plenty of dreams I am sure but none that I decided to blog about; until now that is.

Sometime in the past week I had dreams on consecutive nights that had the general theme of being late for something.  I remember after waking up after the second dream thinking that I really should blog about these.  Here are the dreams.

• Dream 1: I was in a house that is unknown to me in the real world but I was familiar enough with it in my dream that I knew where things were at inside the house.  For some reason I had some friends over.  These were friends that I had in my high school days so I knew them.  For some reason not explained in the dream, we got home very late and because of this we slept in later than normal.  We had to leave to get somewhere by 8 AM and I had just awoken at 7:30 and I was taking a shower.  The water pressure was horrible so the shower was taking longer than normal.  To complicate matters, I had longer hair and the water pressure was not allowing me to rinse the shampoo / conditioner out of my hair.  I was very frustrated at the water pressure, my choice to have long hair, my sleeping in and the whole situation in general.  I woke up before I got out of the shower
• Dream 2: I was in our current house here in McKinney as far as I could tell.  We were late getting out of the door to go somewhere (church maybe?) and we were trying to get the dogs put up into their cages.  The dog we were having trouble with was not known to me in the real world but in the dream it was our dog.  After failing to round up the dog and due to our lateness we decided to leave the dog to roam the house out of its cage while we were out.  As I closed the door and was locking it with my house key I noticed that the dog was now in the yard.  Somehow we got the dog back into the house but we were all the more later for it.  Finally I went to turn the key on the front door and the door came off of its top hinge.  I was very frustrated with the dog, its behavior, my front door and the whole situation in general.  I woke up right as I was trying to get investigate how long it would take to get the door back on its hinges.

For several minutes after I woke up after both of these dreams I was still anxious.  In real life, as in the dreams, I hate being late.  Before I was married and especially before I had kids (and dogs) I tried to be early to everything.  I remember showing up for youth bowling league on Saturday mornings right when the bowling center opened (about 30 minutes before the league started).  The jobs that I had early in life all had working hours with a start time when I was expected to arrive and clock into work.  After I had a job that was no longer hourly and one that had a more flexible schedule I relaxed a bit but there there still things that had starting times (church for example).  Most recently I just try focus on my being ready to go and I let the wife worry about her being ready.  When I am ready to leave for church for example, rather than bellow out the current time like it was a public service that I was tasked to provide,  I just sit in a chair and (dare I say “patiently”) wait.  I purposely sit in a chair with no view of the clock.  Since I do not wear a watch or bring my cell phone with me to church, I have no way of knowing what time it is until we all get into the car.  I would wager that if you ask my wife if I was getting better about my anxiety of lateness she would agree but these dreams brought all those early year’s feelings back.  It is still a struggle not to worry unnecessarily about being late and these dreams have made me to consider working harder on keeping calm.  It is strange what your mind focuses on when you dream really as I have not felt this bad about lateness in more than 10 years.

Just like in my original blog from 6 years ago, let’s visit http://dreammoods.com and see what they interpret my dream as meaning…

• Late: To dream that you are late signifies your fear of change and your ambivalence about seizing an opportunity. You may feel unready, unworthy, or unsupported in your current circumstances. Additionally, you may be overwhelmed or conflicted with decisions about your future. Time is running out and you no longer have time to accomplish all the things you want. Alternatively, being late in your dream could be telling you that it is better late than never.

Interesting.  I do have a new manager at work and he does have a slightly different workload that he wants me to focus on than what I have on my plate now.  Also, I have been thinking more about my future retirement and whether or not I am putting enough into 401k’s and IRA’s.  Also, there are a few things that I would like to start doing (similar to me starting running a few months ago).  Maybe there is something to this dream interpretation thing!

• Door: To dream that you are locking the door suggests that you are closing yourself off from others. You are hesitant in letting others in and revealing your feelings. It is indicative of some fear and low self-worth.
• Shower: To dream that you are taking a shower in clear, fresh water symbolizes spiritual or physical renewal and forgiveness. You are washing the burdens out of your life

Either one of these things may or may not be true, I am not sure.  I was not really successful in either dream in accomplishing the task (completing the shower or locking the door) so I am not sure what that could mean.  Maybe I will have more dreams this week.  I will be sure to let you know.

Jon

Choosing Ignorance For Others

I was reminded recently that ignorance truly is bliss.  I have always known (to some extent) that what is seen cannot be unseen (just google “human centipede” if you don’t believe me [note: please do not google “human centipede”, trust me on this one!]).  For this blog I will focus more on “what is known cannot be unknown”.

Information is powerful.  We live in a great time in history as we are normally only a few clicks away from getting information on almost anything (I have personally lost [what seems like] a year of my life to Wikipedia).  Fortunately or unfortunately, with knowledge comes responsibility.  Once you know something, you have to choose whether or not to act on it.  You might have to change (ouch!).  You might even feel compelled to share your knowledge with others.  That would mean that those others will have to choose whether or not to act on this knowledge.  Most things you learn are not that important but every once in a while you learn something that is important, something that you feel compelled to share.  Information of this type is so important that not sharing would be potentially dangerous or disastrous and if others knew that you knew this information and knew that you chose NOT to share it then they might be upset with (or mad at) you.

At a very high level, being a salesman is just conveying new information.  You build your case for your product by explaining (or skewing) various facts about your product (or your competitor’s product) and hope that this knowledge transfer will convince your prey (this is a strong word but it applies most of the time) to take action on this newly dispersed knowledge.  For the most part religion works this way as well.  With religion, especially evangelical denominations, not sharing your information and knowledge is frowned upon (and a sin [resulting in guilt]).  This brings me to my main point of this blog, guilt and the role it plays in making us act upon new, important information.

Recently I was invited to a friend’s house for a “free dinner”.  This should have raised a flag immediately but honestly it was the wife that was invited and I was merely (as I found out later) needed to help the host qualify for a free gift.  The whole evening was a sales pitch for Saladmaster cooking systems.  There were 3 couples present (if you count the hosts) and 2 single folks (for a total of 8 of us).  We started around 6 PM and we did not get home until close to 10 PM.  While the meal was good, it did not take us 4 hours to eat so the balance of the time was filled with the sales pitch.  The evening was initially presented as a “no pressure” event.  I can almost agree with that statement depending on how you define “pressure”.  It was not, however, a “no guilt” event.

Let me start with an obvious fact: Saladmaster products are extremely, horrendously expensive. They are not ashamed of this fact and do not take any great pains to hide it.  They led with this information in fact and then began, over the next 3+ hours, to explain why an investment in their products is worth it.  The Saladmaster representative admitted to reading from / following a script.  She has some personal stories to tell from her home life and also from others that she had sold this product to during dinners just like this one.  All the shared information was meant not only to force us to make a decision, but to appear ignorant if we did not make the (in their eyes) obvious decision; namely to purchase their product.

The main points that were made during the pitch revolved around things that you could measure (return on investment in lower grocery bills and medical bills) and things that you could not put a price on (better tasting food and your long term health as well as the health of your immediate family).  Now, I can appreciate a good ROI (return on investment) sales pitch.  You take your initial cost and compare it to some future savings to determine when you will break even.  They had great information showing you ROI based solely on lowering your grocery bill by 20% – 30%.  Depending on the amount of product you would buy and your current spending habits on groceries, your ROI was anywhere from 1 to 3 years (with some extreme cases going out further).  If you throw in the fact that your health would increase and result in less doctor’s visits then the ROI might be shorter (I have not personally had to go to a doctor in several years so this is not really a savings for me).  I also appreciated the taste of the food that was served (the food was non organic but had all the flavor of organic foods – the sales pitch was NOT to stop buying organic food, just that the food you have would taste better when cooked in their product – and I concur that it did).  What I did not appreciate was the heaping helpings of guilt that they kept serving throughout the evening.

During the entire evening we were asked questions like “Isn’t it worth it (to buy this product) for your children’s health?” and “Studies have shone that (insert bad thing from the cookware that we use at home) have been linked to (insert appropriately dangerously sounding horrific disease here) and wouldn’t you pay just about anything to spare your loved ones from this?”  She referenced study after study (the origins of which were in the fine print on a banner too small and too far away for me to read) that their product was rated highest in this or that and that this or that group endorsed their product.  She referenced past law suits against competitors (like Dupont who makes Teflon) and how they supposedly covered up the dangers of their competing products.  Time after time they kept hammering away.  They made some crazy claims like a woman who tested so high in iron (from using bad pots and pans) that she was banned from a computer lab after merely entering the room destroyed 33 computers (of course after a month using Saladmaster she was allowed back in with no damage done to the new computers).  If you assumed that everything stated was true you either 1) wrote a very large check / whipped out your credit card or (at a minimum) 2) swore off using your current cookware and converted to a diet mostly consisting of raw items.

Mercifully the evening came to an end but not after it was suggested that we also consider hosting a “free dinner” for our friends so we could share this wonderful information and allow them to invest in this product that (let’s face it) is worth every penny and you would be (at a minimum) doing a disservice to your loves ones if you did not buy it.  Of course if you host a party (or two or three) you would get wonderful free hosting gifts.  I knew two things heading into the evening.  First, I knew I was not going to purchase though this would involve having to be the “heavy” with my wife in front of friends and the salesperson.  Second, I knew that the discussion would not end at the event and would carry on back at my house that night and onto the next day.  This “free dinner’s” cost would really add up in the long run.

Now, let me really get to the reason why I am writing this blog.  For purposes of this discussion let’s  assume that everything that was said during the sales pitch was true.  What is my responsibility to my friends?  Am I doing them a disservice by NOT telling them about this product (that is to say, host a free dinner)?  I actually gave this a great deal of thought and have decided against hosting a party.  Here is my reasoning: they are not going to buy this product for either 1 of 2 reasons…

• They cannot afford (at this time) to make the necessary financial investment
• They know that (based on their lifestyle) they would not use the product (to put it simply, they cook very little at home and are not interested in changing that lifestyle)

Since they would not be purchasing then the only thing that they would get from all of this is a free meal and a certain level of guilt.  This guilt (depending on their ability to bear it) would at worst cause them to feel bad whenever they ate or (worse) when they fed their children.  This guilt would at a minimum lower the enjoyment of any meal they ever ate again that was not made with these products.  Now, is it my responsibility to MAKE them decide or should I simply (out of friendship) NOT share this information and spare them the guilt / loss of enjoyment of life.  Would they be mad at me if they were invited to a free dinner by another friend and then discovered that I chose not to share this with them when I had the chance?  It is my call to withhold information but I have watched enough crime dramas on TV to think that this might be a punishable offence, no matter my good intentions.

My choice is made (pending any further arguments put forth by the wife) but I cannot help but feel a little guilty for not telling them.  Guilt upon guilt!  Remind me to “thank” my “friends” who invited me to this “free (of pressure but not of guilt) dinner”.

Jon

Which End of the Leash Am I On?

Greetings,

This morning, like every morning, I walked my dog.  I have a 4 year old Doberman (Nina) and she loves her walks.  She makes unworldly sounds of joy, sound a big ferocious Doberman should not be making, when I grab the leash and she knows it is time to head out the front door.  Despite her size and power, she is an excellent walking buddy and stays beside me (my wife trained her well) but she does like to be ever so slightly ahead of me and takes every inch of the little amount of slack that I give her.  She does not pull hard, only a small amount, attempting to get me to move a little faster.  Other than the occasional suicidal rabbit that scurries across our path, our walks are uneventful, peaceful and enjoyable.

I mentioned that Nina likes to be ever so slightly ahead of me.  I think she likes to think that she is in charge of the path we will take.  The problem is that she is a dog and has no idea where we are going.  This presents a problem when we come to a fork in the path (sidewalk).  She does a pretty good job of guessing the correct path but this is more likely due to the path being familiar to her (like a trail horse walking the same trail every day).  She (Nina) likes routines whereas I like to take a different path from time to time.  When we come to a choice, she either guesses correctly or she guesses wrongly.  When she guesses correctly, I imagine she thinks that she made the choice of where we will go next.  Ultimately of course she goes where I want to go and a quick yank on the leash sets her straight if she guessed wrong and after changing direction she quickly inches out in front of me as she “leads” me in the rest of our walk.  On a recently morning, I began to see Nina’s habits during our walks as having a parallel to my life.  In a brief moment of clarity during that morning I had an epiphany.

You see, I like to think that I am in control of my life.  If you liken my life’s path to our walking path and if I assume that I am either the human or the dog as I am walking down life’s path then (up until recently) I would have said that I am the human.  I am in control.  I control the leash and I can decide which direction to go when there is a choice of direction.  This morning I realized that I might just be the dog; ever thinking that I am in control, that I am leading the walk.  When I have a choice between going this way or that in my life, it may be that I only seem to have control.  The times that I chose correctly were the times that I just happened to guess correctly (or that the part was familiar enough to me that the choice was obvious).  When I choose / guess incorrectly, inevitably there is some force there to yank on my leash and get me going in the right direction.

I have had some recent changes in my life path and I see a few more possible forks in the road ahead and this path does not look familiar right now.  I am momentarily confused (like Nina when she guesses wrong) but I have a feeling that I will be OK soon enough, inching as far ahead as my leash will let me go.  Some of this new path will look familiar (I hope).  I am also hopeful (confident maybe?) that whoever it is that has their hand on the leash knows what they are doing.  I have been very fortunate that my past wrong choices on my life path have not caused me (or my loved ones) too much discomfort so I probably need not worry too much.  For now I think that I am just going to enjoy the walk and not think about the upcoming forks in the road.

Jon

Random Photos–2012-06-23

It is time once again to clear out the cell phone’s micro SD card and try to remember why I took these pictures.

My manager recently took a trick to Europe with his family.  I think he visited 3 different countries.  He bought this “mug” for me (it is only 2” tall at most).  I display it in my cubicle at work now partially to impress him and partially because I just like it.  I found out last week that I will have a new manager starting in a week or so.  I have not decided whether the mug will stay in its current position past then.

On the days that I go into the office to work I like to get out of the cubicle at lunchtime.  Sometimes I go up the 6th floor arcade and play Donkey Kong.  Other days I walk across the street (a 6 lane main road) and sit near the man made pond there.  There are apartments, a hotel and tons of shops and restaurants as well so it is fun to people watch as well.  The above is my view from a bench that was mercifully in the shade on the warm day that I took this picture.

It is pretty warm in Texas this time of year so imagine my surprise when these company logo ice scrapers were a new arrival in the company store located just down the escalators from my cubicle.  I suppose they might sell since most of the folks that come to this store are people who have travelled here for meetings.  Still though, it is summer pretty much everywhere in the northern hemisphere and I would not give this product the shelf space just yet.

I recently accomplished my goal of running 5k   I look quite the mess when I get back to the house but I feel great, albeit a little warm.  Here is a picture after one of my runs.  For some reason neither the wife and kids are in a mood for a hug after I come back into the house after my morning runs.

I am not a big fan of Windows and one thing I really don’t like is all of the patches.  At home I can at least postpone them but at work they are forced upon you by the IT department.  Inevitably when I am trying to get out of the office on time it will be time for a pile of updates.  As with all things Microsoft, the information on the screen does not tell you much (being on update 8 or 16 does not mean you are 1/2 way done).  Fortunately it does not happen that often.

Well, the card is empty now and ready for more pics.  Thanks for reading my blog.

Jon

The Listening Project–Supplemental Blog 3

In retrospect I should have just kept walking.  It was Saturday morning about a week ago and Nina (the Doberman) and I were on our morning walk and we happened past a garage sell (or what would soon be a garage sell as they were still brining things out from the house to set out on the driveway).  Even from the sidewalk I could see 2 huge piles of CDs along with a sign indicating they were only asking $0.50 each.  I knew I was in trouble.  I should have kept walking like a recovering drunk should walk past a bar.  What is listed below is what I ended up with and is only this short as I did not have any more cash on me.

#	Artist	Album	Date Listened	Again?
1063	Bread	Anthology Of Bread	6/17/2012	Yes
1064	3 Doors Down	Away From The Sun	6/17/2012	Yes
1065	AC/DC	Ballbreaker	6/17/2012	Yes
1066	Dire Straits	Brothers In Arms	6/18/2012	Yes
1067	Rush	Chronicles Disc 1	6/18/2012	Yes
1068	Rush	Chronicles Disc 2	6/18/2012	Yes
1069	Prince & The New Power Generation	Diamonds And Pearls	6/18/2012	Yes
1070	Soundgarden	Down On The Upside	6/19/2012	Yes
1071	Ozzy Osbourne	The Essential Ozzy Osbourne Disc 1	6/19/2012	Yes
1072	Ozzy Osbourne	The Essential Ozzy Osbourne Disc 2	6/19/2012	Yes
1073	REO Speedwagon	The Essential REO Speedwagon Disk 1	6/20/2012	Yes
1074	REO Speedwagon	The Essential REO Speedwagon Disk 2	6/19/2012	Yes
1075	Chicago	Greatest Hits 1982-1989	6/20/2012	Yes
1076	Bon Jovi	Keep The Faith	6/21/2012	Yes
1077	Depeche Mode	Music for the Masses	6/21/2012	Yes
1078	Stone Temple Pilots	Nº4	6/21/2012	Yes
1079	Ozzy Osbourne	The Ozzman Cometh	6/21/2012	Yes
1080	Depeche Mode	People Are People	6/22/2012	Yes
1081	Metallica	Ride The Lightning	6/22/2012	Yes
1082	Peter Gabriel	Secret World Live Disc 1	6/22/2012	Yes
1083	Peter Gabriel	Secret World Live Disc 2	6/22/2012	Yes
1084	Ace Of Base	The Sign	6/22/2012	Yes
1085	Nickelback	Silver Side Up	6/22/2012	Yes
1086	Skid Row	Skid Row	6/23/2012	Yes
1087	Stone Temple Pilots	Thank You	6/23/2012	Yes
1088	Stevie Nicks	Trouble In Shangri-La	6/23/2012	Yes
1089	Depeche Mode	Ultra	6/23/2012	Yes
1090	Alanis Morissette	Under Rug Swept	6/23/2012	Yes
1091	Air Supply	The Vanishing Race	6/24/2012	Yes
1092	Def Leppard	Vault - Def Leppard Greatest Hits 1980-1995	6/24/2012	Yes
1093	Genesis	We Can't Dance	6/24/2012	Yes
1094	The KLF	The White Room	6/24/2012	Yes
1095	Tom Petty	Wildflowers	6/24/2012	Yes

• Bread “Anthology of Bread”:  I took a chance on this one as I cannot for the life of me name one song by this group.  The CD cover was a picture of the band in their heyday and they had some cool hair so I took a chance.  I can see myself listening to this one often.
• Dire Straits “Brothers In Arms”: I bought this only for the 2 hit songs that I remember from my MTV days.  The other songs don’t quite fit the same mold but it was an enjoyable listen.  I imagine my future listening of this CD will be limited to the hits.
• Rush “Chronicles Disc 1 & 2”: Wow, all this for 50 cents!  Awesome, awesome, awesome.  I cannot say that I eve heard more than one or two of these songs but I definitely discovered this band way too late in my life.
• Soundgarden “Down On The Upside”: Riding Nirvana’s coattails only lasts so long I guess.  This is the release after their best selling album (Superunknown) and it doesn’t quite pack the punch but it still is OK.
• Ozzy Osbourne  “The Essential Ozzy Osbourne Disc 1 &2” & “The Ozzman Cometh”: If I had know that “The Ozzman Cometh” was another best of CD then I likely would not have bought it (even at the 50 cent price point) since it contains mostly songs from the 2 disc other collection I picked up at the same time.  I really have only heard Ozzy’s later stuff (late 80s, 90’s) so hearing the earlier stuff was fun.  This is a great CD to run to as imagining Ozzy chasing you is a good motivator to keep running.
• REO Speedwagon “The Essential REO Speedwagon Disk 1 & 2”: Another jackpot.  I know most the stuff on disc 2 (their mellower, power ballad years) but I very much enjoyed disc 1.  You can really tell that they changed their sound to get some hit singles once they discovered that power ballads sell.
• Depeche Mode “Music for the Masses” & “People Are People” & “Ultra”: I really expanded my Depeche Mode library here.  The music is so simple at times but so powerful and emotional as well.  This is another band that I discovered to late in life.
• Metallica “Ride The Lightning”: This is the first Metallica CD that I have ever owned.  It is probably a good start.
• Ace Of Base “The Sign”: Don’t judge me.  We had this CD when my 10 yr old daughter was a baby and you could pop it in any time and she would start moving around (and stop crying sometimes) so this CD brings me happy memories.
• Air Supply “The Vanishing Race”: This is from the mid 90’s but the duo’s voices are still awesome.
• Def Leppard “Vault - Def Leppard Greatest Hits 1980-1995”: All the hits and a few others thrown in to get enough tracks so that you do not feel like you are getting ripped off.
• The KLF “The White Room”: This one was still sealed and I am not sure what that means.  I seem to recall a hit song by this band with special guest singer Tammy Wynette so I took a chance.  This is not great and it reminded me of a more subdued C+C Music Factory.
• Tom Petty “Wildflowers”: I recognize several songs on this disc (more than just the hits) so I am thinking I must have borrowed it from the Kokomo library at one time or another.  Good stuff.

I am pushing 1,100 CDs now and this is probably my best find so far based on quality of CD and price paid.

Jon

Concerning Black Licorice and Mr. Pibb

As I write this blog my wife is making me a Father’s Day lunch.  We (she) settled on homemade meatball subs and we just returned from a trip to Target to buy all the ingredients that we were missing at the house (which is just about everything on the ingredients list).  She asked me last night what I wanted for my Father’s Day dinner and was narrowing it down to meatballs of some sort.  I swayed her from Swedish meatballs to meatball subs.  I originally tried to talk her out of making anything special and that led to another discussion.  Before I get to that topic though I want to provide a little background and tie in the title of this blog post.

When I was in my teens I would get upset whenever someone (usually my mother) would want to share any drink that I had.  This sharing mostly occurred while driving somewhere in the car.  I have this habit of measuring how much more enjoyment that I have left based on the amount of liquid left in the cup.  I know at any given time them about how much more enjoyment I have left.  When someone decides they want a drink then the equation is upset in that pleasure is leaving one side of the equation but pleasure it not going to the other side (my side) of the equation.  I discovered that the amount of drink I had to share varied based solely on the flavor of the drink.  After much research I found out that Mr. Pibb was the optimum drink since my mom really did not like the flavor and she would only ask for a drink if she was truly thirsty.  Thus Mr. Pibb became my official drink and I ordered it whenever there was a chance that I might have to share.

My “love” of black licorice has a similar background only it occurred after I had kids.  Any candy in the house is fair game (I learned this rule the hard way several times) but certain types of candy seemed to last longer than others.  Through trial and error I discovered that candy like Good-n-Plenty of just plain licorice was the best candy to have to maximize the amount that I ate of the overall portion.

With either of these things I think I am not really getting maximum enjoyment.  I prefer several soft drinks to Mr. Pibb and licorice is not even in the top 100 of my favorite candies but I still consider them when I am given a choice in either of these categories  On a side note, Mr. Pibb and Good-n-Plenty together is just awful.

So, as you might have guessed, when I was thinking about my potential Father’s Day dinner, I was thinking of something that I like that no one else particularly cares for and thus would allow me to have more.  This is the discussion that I mentioned in paragraph 1 of this post.  The problem with meatballs is that everyone likes them.  I joked that since she loves meatballs very much that perhaps Father’s Day was simply the excuse for making them.  The initial look on her face indicated that I might be more right than she would care to admit.  This look was followed up with another “look” that I need not define further to you husbands out there.  I mentioned that she is making meatballs as I type this up so you already know how the story ends.  I ended up giving up on thinking of another meal that only I like as she likes almost anything anyway.  Try as I might I could not find any main dinner dish that had licorice as a main ingredient.  I have resolved myself to the fact that I will have to fight for the meatballs and any leftovers that might be there at the end of the meal.  Maybe being Father’s Day the wife and kids might show some pity on me.

Jon