halloween means popcorn balls

I grew up in a special time ('70s) in a special place (small town SW Ark) where Halloween meant trick-or-treating until what seemed like the wee hours of the morning (it was probably 8:45 pm). In addition to the regular haul of candy, we kids got all kinds of goodies including coins, fruit, small toys (think party favors) and--best of all--popcorn balls.

I loved popcorn balls. A good trick-or-treating would net five or six popcorn balls. I loved 'em.

It's really a shame now that for safety's sake we have to protect our children from homemade popcorn balls. Of course, that is right. But, it is a loss.

I enjoyed helping Mom make popcorn balls to give out on Halloween. Of course, boiling hot Karo could remove the skin from your hand, but it was a small price to pay for (imho) the best Halloween treat of all.

with all

Deuteronomy 6:5 (New Living Translation)

5 And you must love the Lord your God with
all your heart,
all your soul,
and all your strength.

And with:
all your money,
all your time,
all your thoughts,
all you see,
all you do,
all your wedding band,
all your television shows,
all your internet activities,
all your facebook profile,
all your blog entries,
all your flirtations,
all you say,
all your reputation,
all your movies,
all you read,
all you listen to,
all you buy,
all the ways you treat others,
all your work

all.

facebook is for everyone

I've heard the young people complaining about us old people on facebook. To those young people, I have a one word response (although I may repeat that one word): HA! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! HA!

speaking of pickles

Dad was a picky eater. Basically, if his mother didn't cook it, it wasn't good enough for him. But what really baffled the rest of us were the exceptions to the rule.

Men in south Arkansas sort of speak like they have gravel in their mouth as they mumble. Dad mumbled pickleloafsandwich all as one word. And, he loved 'em. Not explaining the news, just reporting it.

If you have never had pickle loaf on Roman Meal sandwich bread, good for you.

josh is 19

Of course, regular readers of this blog know that it is usually about strange foods or combinations.

Which brings me to Josh. Josh is not my son--not really--but in my heart, he is. He eats pickle chips. He taught me the most amazing recipe involving pickles, bacon and cream cheese. He drinks pickle juice. He will eat anything--especially if pickles are involved or someone else buys. I love the way the guy eats. More than anyone else I've ever known, he reminds me of myself at his age. I'm pretty sure he'll be just fine.

Speaking of his age, yesterday it became 19. He has not become a man because of his age. He has become a man because of his character.

Happy Birthday, son.

the new ones

It's been an exciting summer at the old hp calculator company. With 2 new hp scientific calculators, kcrazorback can barely contain his excitement. The 10s appears to be a serviceable basic calculator for under $15.

But, what is really ramping up this bloggers bp is the $60 35s. It's getting mixed reviews on the forums. I haven't bought mine yet, but expect to in the next week or so. It appears to have all the features of my favorite calculator, but its the styling that really is cool. Its a throwback to the very first hp pocket scientific, the 35, named for its 35 buttons.

I'll be getting mine soon and I'll let you know if its function is as cool as its form and if its form is as cool as I expect.

Do you have a 35s? What do you think about it? Do you have a 35?

truckboy is my friend

OK, this blog is goofy. But, aren't they all. I mean, who likes hp calculators and fabulous food combinations. So mine is my niche.

My buddy Truckboy has his niche as well. He's into guitars, cameras and fast cars. I don't like guitars. I don't like cameras. I don't like fast cars. I do like Truckboy. I even like Mrs. Truckboy. Although, she probably doesn't like being called that.

You may be interested in one of those topics, though. Check out Truckboy's fendercons blog. My favorite quote from his blog is:

I would speculate that this volume level sucks down the filter-caps right after the transient and then you are riding the DC fresh out of the GZ34.

I have no idea what that sentence is about, but it is really cool, Truckboy.

atari 2600 was king

Of course, I had an early 6-switch Atari 2600 system with about 25 game cartridges. Of the first generation of console gaming systems, it was my favorite. Partly because it was mine, partly because it was first but mostly because I was addicted to gaming.

It came with a really cool game called Combat which you didn't get tired of until about 10 minutes after you got it. But of course, game cartridges then (almost 30 years ago) cost about what a new game for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or Wii costs now. I remember I bought Donkey Kong for my Atari on the day it was released for $55. Fortunately, I had paper route income to support my habit.

For guys my age, the 2600 was THE system. Nothing else was even close. The NES was still a few years away.

I don't currently have any of the three game systems listed above--can't justify spending the money. Maybe, if I get a paper route...

a center for sprinting

Kansas City's Sprint Center arena opened today. An all-day open house during which it was set up for hockey, then for basketball and finally for concerts, was a great way for locals to learn all about the new arena. I toured it during the conversion from hockey to basketball during the early afternoon.

My impressions: It will be a great hockey arena. Attention NHL executives: Get a team into this building ASAP--it is the real deal and will pay off big time. It will be a good basketball arena--better if I never have to sit in the corners of the upper deck. It will be very good for arena football, indoor soccer and all of the other niche sports type events that seem to do well in this market. It has broad concourses, lots of video screens, elevators, escalators, lots of suites, and tons of branded concessions (bring lots of $$$, menu boards were over the top, i.e., $7.50 for nachos, $9 for a cheeseburger...). Seats are cushioned and comfortable. It's within walking distance of my employers' parking garage.

We need the NHL. The Kansas City Brigade (Arena Football League) is great, Garth Brooks is great, but the best option for an anchor tenant is the NHL.

museum for geeks like me

If you're into hp calculators, you probably already know about the hp museum. If not familiar with it, check it out.

The museum has a great summary of all of the hp calculators without getting bogged down in too much detail. Its forum serves as a good place for hp fans to communicate with each other. I especially like its history section.

If you already know all about Pioneers and Coconuts and know how to program RPL, I guess that you probably will enjoy the site anyway. If you only know Hewlett Packard for its inkjet printers, well, here is a good place for some interesting education for you.

cheetos and alfredo sauce

If you hadn't noticed, I like strange food combinations. Mom always said I could turn any meal into chips and dip. By my definition, chips and dip are a combination of foods that are not the same but go great together. Finding new combinations is what is so much fun. I used to just think I was strange. I wondered if other people did the same thing. Could there be an explanation? Am I the only one? Is it, perhaps, hereditary?

That last question was partially answered for me at dinner last week when my four year old daughter was observed dipping Cheetos into alfredo sauce. I don't know who I got it from, but I know who got it from me. Stay tuned, future posts will deal with dad's Ro*Tel spaghetti and his preference for pickle loaf luncheon meat.

drink like you mean it

My morning commute usually means I-70 eastbound into K.C. from the Kansas side. Earlier this week, that meant following a delivery truck with a giant Bacardi bottle painted on the back along with this tag line, "Live like you mean it." Don't know for sure what living like you mean it has to do with rum, but I'm sure somebody out there does. Actually, I do get it--I work for an advertising agency after all.

A better tag line for that truck might be something like "Drive like you did not just drink this bottle of Bacardi." 'Cause my fellow KC commuters drive wonderfully. And by wonder I mean you wonder how they ever passed a driver's test because they don't have a clue. OK, yeah, I know bad driving is everywhere.

Actually, I like the tag line. Live like you mean it. If you drink, though, drink responsibly. Never mix your drinking and your driving. Drive courteously, thoughtfully, safely and (gasp) slowly.

Live like you mean it. Drive like you mean for life to continue, especially if you're on I-70 eastbound between 8 and 8:30.

biscuits and chocolate gravy

Being from the mid-south sets many of us on a lifetime course of fighting the battle of the bulge. Breakfast is particularly unhealthy. A special treat from my childhood was southern style biscuits with chocolate gravy. Mom's friend Phyllis made the most wonderful chocolate gravy. It was sweet and thick with just the right consistency for breakfast gravy.

Now you may not think that chocolate gravy would be a very good breakfast food. You may also think the world is flat. You may think that television crews filmed the moon landing in New Mexico in 1969. You may think that the writing in this blog post is of high quality. You may think that aliens have landed in New Mexico. You may think that Bill Clinton was impeached (what? he was? oh).

Feel free to comment and let me know what you may think.

my 33s is happenin'

If you missed my first post ever, it was about my hp 21s stat/math calculator. Unfortunately, that particular calculator is mostly out of service now due to two decades of use and abuse.

The current model that I use daily is the hp 33s scientific calculator. IMHO, this is the most powerful programmable pocket scientific (non-graphing) calculator ever produced. Some of its features, it:
* has stepwise programmability like many of its predecessors
* uses hp solve for solving systems of equations
* switches between RPN & algebraic entry
* has tons of functions/conversions/statistics...
* makes coffee
* switches between fractions and decimals
* has its class C CDL
* has lots of registers for storing data
* watches Damages on FX
* works with complex (imaginary) numbers as easily as real
* will never shoot you accidentally while hunting

I strongly recommend the hp 33s scientific calculator for professionals who need a good scientific calculator and for hunters who need a huntin' buddy they can trust.