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I think that I may be getting old.  As evidence, I offer the fact that this past Father’s Day I received socks and a ties and I was happy about that.  A younger man might have wanted something more exciting like a 40” high-def plasma screen TV, or a laptop computer with built-in wireless networking, or a video iPod with the accessory kit.  No me.  No sir.  Who needs all that high tech gear when you can look stylish at work and feel comfortable in your shoes?

Like most parents I’ve often found myself on the receiving end of random acts of gift giving from my children.  It starts with the toddlers’ instinct for generosity.  Their bighearted nature is matched only by their complete lack of understanding of monetary systems and relative value. (Full Text)

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I seem to be having trouble with my short-term memory. From one moment to the next I can’t recall what I was saying, what I’m doing, why I’m here and – in extreme instances – who I am. Also, I seem to having trouble with my short-term memory.

Time was I could stuff random facts into my brain and fetch them back as easily as picking stones off the ground. Now when I want to retrieve some tidbit of information – my social security number, one of my many telephone numbers, my children’s names – I have to work with a pick and a shovel to dig it out of my skull. I’ve gone from a steel-trap mind to the Amazing Teflon Brain. Nothing sticks anymore.

If you want evidence, look no farther than the cupboards, pantry and storage shed at my house. I have thousands of dollars worth of things that I’m almost out of. (Full Text)

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Blackberries don’t float.  At least mine doesn’t.  I dropped it in a bathroom sink this week and it plunged straight to the bottom.

To be fair, though, my Blackberry isn’t a fruit.  For the uninitiated (definition: anyone who actually has a life) let me introduce the Blackberry.

It resembles the offspring of a shotgun wedding between a handheld video game and DVD remote control.  It combines the functions of e-mail, web browsing and a cell phone in a package which is too big to be a convenient phone and too small to be useful for anything else.  The annoyingly small screen is nicely matched by the frustratingly small keyboard. (Full Text)

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The greetings card industry has a lot to answer for when it comes to providing sentiments for all occasions.

Imagine that a perfectly healthy co-worker takes a couple of weeks of sick leave and returns…changed.  Maybe they had something enhanced, or reduced, or removed, or added.  Maybe they left with a beak that would do Big Bird proud and came back with a button nose that wouldn’t look out of place on a cartoon rabbit.  Should you say something?  Isn’t the point of plastic surgery to have some feature noticeably improved?  But how can you tactfully say, “Whoa!  You must have left about five pounds of nose on operating table.  Good job!”

Worse yet, how are you supposed to react if your co-worker comes back with an entirely different gender? (Full Text)

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Quick shout-out to Chas Hathaway for a clever comment on episode 007!  You can read more of Chas’ insights at http://chas.willowrise.com