Don't Panic

Please, don't panic. This warning doesn't concern the fact that I'm posting TWICE in one day, though that is rare. Nor does it pertain to the new look of the TOLAS. It's been a full year since I've restarted TOLASing, so I figured a freshening was overdue. I also dropped the "The Sequel", since the second incarnation has lasted 3 times longer than the original.

But try not to panic when you hear this. I was in Giant on Saturday, and I saw something that scared me. Big time. Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter Crunch was on sale. Normally this would bring me joy (and lots of peanut buttery goodness). But above the sale price, in tiny little letters, were the two most terrible words that could be applied to PBC: "Discontinued Item". I was nearly floored. I've done some research, and have found no proof that this is a national thing, but I'm worried nonetheless. The Cap'n has been using the Good Ship Guppy to deliver this delectable cereal since 1969! And it's been among my favorites since 1990 or so. Are you saying that it's possible that Me and the Cap'n will no longer be able to make it happen each morning with mouthfulls of the crunchy peanut buttery quality only a Navy man can provide? I'm so mad that sentence barely makes sense! Stay tuned...

Back from Korea

Hey everyone (which means the 3 people who still check this since I pretty much stopped posting). I used to be in Korea; now I'm in the US. Here are pictures.

Yep, that's me. In Korea. You can tell by the Hyundai Sonata behind me. This is near my hotel.

View from my room. Seoul is HUGE. Sprawl City. And it's mostly flat, but surrounded by mountains


I'm on a playground. I wanted to get on a swing, but none of the kids would push me.

One of the few traditional-looking buildings I saw. It's a pretty new and modern city, plus I skipped most of the tourist trap/historical places.

Korean Little League Baseball. They don't take down the fences in August to make way for soccer over here. And we say baseball is America's past time. And yes I'm still bitter about the park across the street.

Neat looking building in Insadong. Not really sure what it is. Insadong is a cool artsy-ish neighborhood with antiques and galleries and tons of hip locals.

I'm told it's translated as "seuh-tah-buck-seuh - kuh-pi". I'm also told it's the only one in the world with the logo not in English. Not sure I can believe either.

This was an awesome outdoor mall thing in Insadong. You just kept spiraling up as you walked. It has loads of interesting shops.

I can neither confirm nor refute the claim.

I like this picture a lot.

"Major Problems Feared At Polls on Election Day"

Major Problems Feared At Polls on Election Day

We've been conducting elections in this country for more than 200 years, and now we don't know how to do it anymore? Does anyone else find that a little sad?

Who decided I'm some sort of grown-up?

So in the past, I've had issues with getting dressed in the morning. In addition to my noted problems with clothing selection, I developed a habit of forgetting to wear a tie or a belt or both to work. This is a problem, because I (strangely) like wearing ties and I definitely appreciate it when my pants don't fall down. I've mostly grown out of this habit. Today, however, I left for work without shoes. This was a conscious decision, but it was very hard for me to do. I had left my black shoes in my car, and I thought if I used an alternate pair to get to my car, I'd leave them there, and then I'd need to wear another provisional pair to fetch the second pair, and then the provisional pair would be left behind, and eventually my head would explode (trust me, it would). Still, my head nearly exploded from the decision to depart shoeless. I circled around my room, searching for an alternative, delaying the inevitable. I pulled my pants up as a woman would lift her skirt as she steps up a curb or over a puddle. I stalled. With much difficulty, I made it to the elevator. There was another guy who got on, but he was too busy with his iPod to notice my resemblance to Joe Jackson. At the garage level, the cleaning lady nearly ran over me with the vacuum (she was getting on the elevator and obviously didn't expect someone to be getting off). My toes averted disaster, and I made it to my car safely. Yes, I am both a weenie and a dork of a high magnitude. But I (sort of) overcame my irrational disinclination to go to work with no shoes. That counts for something, doesn't it?

I quite obviously am stuck in the past...