As a challenge for me, and entertainment (cough) for you, I’m trying to write a batch of random thoughts during my office hour period (now). No one comes, so I doubt that I’ll be interrupted. When I come up with a new thought, I’ll refresh the site to show the update. The game ends at 3:15 p.m. Let’s see what transpires:

• Life’s Burning Questions #305: Concerning those “Do not remove under penalty of law” tags found on pillows: if you remove one, does store security stop you at the door, or do they rush and dogpile you immediately? These are the things I need to know.
• A sad defining characteristic of the average male my age today: ask one to recite the “Konami code” and they’ll fire off “up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start”; ask them their the date of their anniversary with their girlfriend, and they’ll draw a blank, if only for a couple of seconds.
• By the way: January 8th.
• One of the more satisfying things about being a teacher of high-schoolers at youth group: a couple of them, when told that the entire youth group was just “hanging out” rather than having specific groups that night, asked the youth minister if we could meet anyway. That’s pretty special.
• Free Fashion Advice: If you bring home an outfit that makes a color-blind person wince, you might want to rethink wearing it out in public.
• The “grace period” is about over: I haven’t received my computer mail-in rebate yet, even though it’s been past the eight week waiting period. Is it wrong to get antsy about this? This is $100 I could use.
• I am the Master: I recently had a 7-wood made for me. It has a new Synchron head, a slightly used Adams shaft, and a Grip One grip. I’m thinking of calling it Frankenclub.
• Bargain of the Year: roommate got a PS2 for free at a garage sale because it didn’t work anymore. He opened it up and cleaned the laser lens off with a tissue. He has a working PS2 now.
• Which means: in the past six months, the quality of game systems in our apartment has gone up from a Nintendo and a Sega Genesis to a Gamecube and a PS2. This is a little like being handed the keys to a Porsche after driving a Pinto for years.
• And Cokes were $1: it pains me to realize that I will be able to tell my teenage children that I knew what it was like when gas was under $2 a gallon.
• You only get the creme de la creme: I’ve already erased four or five thoughts that I didn’t think lived up to the high standards we have here at pressing on…
• To which some immediately reply: What high standards?
• You don’t have to like it to feel it: overtime of a game 7 NHL playoff series is just about as exciting as sports can get.
• I’m sure this would work: A TV show with four guys who talk about current events or sports. The catch: the conversation has to consist entirely of movie quotes, Simpsons quotes, song lyrics, Sportscenter catchphrases, and MST3K riffs. The winner is the one who works in the most.
• Come to think of it: that would work mighty well as a website, too…hmm…
• I have to wonder as I type all of these out: is anyone actually constantly refreshing my home page right now, or is it just me?
• Congratulations, you’ve found a way to be more annoying than spam: I’ve recently been getting incomplete e-mails that cause my connection to get interrupted. I have to go manually delete them from my webmail account before I can get all my normal spam (and maybe a good message or two) downloaded.
• And finally, as the office hours end: five hours until I see you, sweetie! I can’t wait.