Clothmas Yellow Barrels into Vegas

The decision to postpone Clothmas until the second weekend in October was originally met with some disapproval, but has proven to be so appropriate that consideration is now being given to making the date change permanent. A cold front blasted it's way into town on Clothmas Eve dropping temperatures by thirty degrees. "When we got up this morning, it really felt like Clothmas!", one celebrant is quoted as saying.

A second confirmation of the postponement's efficacy was the opening of the new Whole Foods at Town Square just three days before. Now, the selection of a dry aged BASS will be a welcome possibility.

Yellow, the color of gold that symbolizes a year of wealth and prosperity, virtually leaped out of the wicker laundry basket and into Josie's hand. Old bleu joined the tail as you can see, and brought with it yet a new Clothmas challenge: the tail no longer clears the bed, dragging across the bedspread with each rotation. We'll have to see if this interferes with upcoming Clothmas bedroom activities (like sleeping!) and perhaps it will have to be relocated to the living room fan.

Finally, as if there is not already enough evidence of the higher power's approbation of the postponement, which episode of Seinfeld was featured on KLVTV last night?

The Strike

Written by: Alec Burg, Jeff Schaffer, and Dan O' Keefe

Directed by: Andy Ackerman

Broadcasted: December 18, 1997 for the first time.

(George lets out a depressed sigh while reading a card)

ELAINE: What?

GEORGE: Nothing. It's a card from my dad.

ELAINE: What is it? (Grabs the card from George, he tries to stop her, but fails. She reads it out loud.) "Dear son, Happy Festivus." What is Festivus?

GEORGE: It's nothing, stop it..

JERRY: When George was growing up..

GEORGE: (Interrupting) Jerry, No!

JERRY: His father..

GEORGE: No!

JERRY: Hated all the commercial and religious aspects of Christmas, so he made up his own holiday.

ELAINE: Ohhhh.. and another piece of the puzzle falls into place.

GEORGE: (pleading) Alright..

JERRY: And instead of a tree, didn't your father put up an aluminum pole?

(Elaine starts laughing uncontrollably - and continues to do so)

GEORGE: Jerry! Stop it!

JERRY: And weren't there a feats of strength that always ended up with you crying?

(Jerry joins in with Elaine's laughter)

GEORGE: I can't take it anymore! I'm going to work! ARe you happy now?! (Gathers his things, and runs out of the coffee shop. Elaine and Jerry laugh hysterically)

(Scene ends)

Can't make this stuff up!

Finally... Clothmas Weekend

Given the financial crisis and meltdown on Wall Street, I felt it was only responsible to postpone the Clothmas celebration for one week. Things seem to be stabilizing to what can only be described as the new abnormal normal, so it's time to get back to living our lives. Check back to hear about the events of the weekend, especially what the new cloth color becomes.

But I keep smiling!

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime® 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime® Player. Note: During the download process when asked to choose an installation type (Minimum, Recommended or Custom), select Minimum for faster download.

It always rains in New Jersey

I have been here for a full week now, and it has rained every single day.  However, temperatures in the sixties and seventies sure beat one hundred six degrees in Las Vegas.

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Don't send a lame Birthday eCard.
Try JibJab Sendables!

Bonefishing in the Bahamas

Here's the whole story, set to music.

The Case of the Vanishing Splenda Bowl

It started out like any other day. Josie made a pot of coffee, but when I went to get a cup, I could not find the small silver bowl that we keep the Splenda in. Josie confessed that she had noticed it missing a few days earlier. She assumed that the cleaning lady, who is usually very logical about relocating items, might have put it somewhere new or in getting ready for company perhaps Josie herself had absent-mindedly shoved it away somewhere. I looked high and low in every kitchen cabinet and drawer, but to no avail. Several days later, Bryan and Meghan came to visit, and we took the search up to a whole new level. We searched the entire house, inside and out, but came up with nothing. Here's how I finally solved the mystery.

The picture on the left is how things always used to be. On the right is the silver Splenda bowl, in plain sight. But that is not the way things looked when I went to get my coffee that morning.



Here is how the closet looked when the mystery began, everything looks exactly as it did before, except that the bowl is just plain gone. Study the picture carefully and you will conclude, as we did, that someone had simply moved it elsewhere. A little time and distance have passed since that morning, including a trip to Rochester for me. Josie continued to make coffee every morning, and even co-opted a glass teacup to be used as a replacement Splenda bowl. Bryan had suggested that we go out and buy a replacement, because that would insure that the original would be found. But the morning after I returned from Rochester, a wondrous event took place.

Josie made coffee as normal, but I didn't get a cup right away. Instead, I waited until just before we were going to leave to go pick up my mom. Then I figured I would just take a 'to-go' cup so I could drink it in the car. When I opened the closet I saw my favorite green Starbucks cup- the one that really holds a lot of coffee. I always use it first if it is not in the dishwasher, because it holds a lot more than my other to-go cups, including by silver Xerox cup which as you can see is standing immediately to the left of the green Starbucks cup in the picture. As I was reaching for the green cup I realized that the Xerox cup was not the one I'm used to and is, in fact even taller than the green Starbucks cup. I said to Josie, "Where did this new to-go cup come from?"

"I have no idea", she answered. I took the cup down from the shelf, and just look at what I found!


The Splenda bowl was on tip of the Xerox cup, and was such a perfect match, it blended right in with the cup making it totally invisible to all of us who were searching for it! This is a magnificent example of why you can never really believe everything you see, or fail to see, with your own two eyes!

Another easy trip home

I was supposed to leave LaGuardia for Las Vegas via Chicago at 1pm , but the flight got cancelled when they closed O'Hare due to snow. They routed me through Philadelphia, but then we sat on the tarmac for two and a half hours due to high winds. Finally made it to Philadelphia a mere five and a half hours after setting out, only to have missed the connecting flight to Vegas. Finally got a six o'clock flight that got into Las Vegas at 8:45. Ten hours travel time. Just another easy flight.

Happy Easter everyone!

The Oscars

Really looking forward to seeing the Oscars tonight. We have seen most of the movies that have nominations. Favorite for Best picture is No Country for Old Men. Classic Coen brothers. Absolutely sure that Javier Bardem will be Best Supporting, but the nominees from Michael Clayton and Charlie Wilson's War were also really good. Didn't see most of the Best Supporting Actress nominees because the movies sounded really unappealing. Best actor for Daniel Day Lewis, though the movie, There Will Be Blood, was a little dark for me. Let's see what happens!

15 Minutes of Fame

We are so proud of Bryan and Meghan for appearing on the CBS Early Show. To watch this segment, click on this link.
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3830690n&channel=/sections/earlyshow/videoplayer500202.shtml