Shorty & Bobe's Christmas Trees

Jeff the packrat strikes again with a blast from the past... A classic business card from some friends of mine and one their first businesses together. "Shorty & Bobe's"

My friend Tony had been saying for years that he was going to open a Christmas tree lot one day. His dad owned the perfect location and he was going to make a killing.

In the final analysis, I'm sure the amount of time and the amount of freezing was way more than made it worth it because the Christmas tree business was a one year venture. One of the lasting benefits of my packrat skills was unearthing this card. The inside jokes abound:

*Shorty and Bobe were two very funny nicknames
*"Home of the $9.99 Christmas Tree"
*"Free rope with every purchase"
*"Expert Tree Sales"
*The fact that they even had business cards was the most hilarious part

Alas, Shorty & Bobe have moved on to much more lucrative and well-thought business ventures, but it all began with two months sitting around a trash barrel fire at the corner of Belair & Moravia Roads at a place called "Shorty & Bobe's" - Custom Tree Trimming on Premises.

What is on These Tapes?

Here is a small sample of the 947 tapes I have lying around the house with no labels. Throw in the fact that I have a bunch of empty tape boxes and a bunch of tapes without tape boxes.

Clearly, 'one of these' days I will look to see what is on these things. Perhaps I'll catch the birth of one of my sons or finally figure out who really killed Kennedy. Hard to say...

Saving Money - Child Labor (Customer Service Edition)

(Above) 'May I helb guu.'

I have found that having my children "man" the customer service telephone lines really saves money and cuts back on overall complaints. They are cheap to hire and I don't feel a need to train them. It's good all the way around.

Jeff's Indulgence: Heaven, Here I Come

I was cruising around the renaissance fair at my oldest sons middle school, when one of his friends tapped me on the shoulder. Much to my surprise, his friend was wearing the garb of a Catholic priest and offered to sell me an indulgence. He explained to me that for one low, low price, I could get into heaven.

"Sounds like a bargain to me," says I and I traded some small trinket for my indulgence. Now that the thing is hanging on the wall of my office, I guard it like a fresh lottery ticket. Sure, I go to church every Sunday, pray, ask for forgiveness, etc. But it never hurts to have a little insurance...

Jack Purcell TV Commercial - France

Uncool Music Playlist - Mighty Lemon Drops "Inside Out"

The Mighty Lemon Drops - Inside Out



The Uncool hits keep on rolling.. Live, from Jeff's iPod is the #13 song on his most played list Mighty Lemon Drops "Inside Out". On my iPod I have a live version of the song that I like better than the video above but this was hard enough to find.

Definitely one of those dated 'alternative' songs from back in the day. But to me, this is a nice, concise, pop diddy. Nice simple concept on the video as well...

Cheapie Diet Soda

I so enjoy drinking diet soda but the stuff can be so darn expensive. As long as it is Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi I'm usually pretty good. But here in California, in addition to the price of the diet soda, you also pay five cents per can. Now, if you are brave enough to fight the mean homeless lady who guards the recycle return joint, you can get that money back. But spending two hours to recoup my $2 is not the best use of my time.

That's why I switched to 2 liters. At only ten cents for the recycle price, you don't hammered so hard on the recycle fee. Currently, Diet Pepsi is selling for 87 cents for a two liter locally. Guess what the Uncoolest and cheapest dude in Hollywood is doing?

So for you diet soda addicts, think 2 liters. It isn't nearly as sexy but it get you there...