Dating sites

I've spent my share of time on the now ubiquitous dating sites...cupid.com, chemistry.com, Yahoo! Personals, etc. I even wrote an article about my online dating adventures. I've been more or less off those sites for a little while now. I do still get emails from them, however. Here are my observations...

• I probably first looked at a dating site in May or June of last year. I'm amazed that I still see the same people from back then featured in these emails.


• Don't use so many exclamation points! At least not at the end of every sentence! They're supposed to be for emphasis! Or in my case sarcastic effect!


• I mentioned this in my article, but it bears repeating: USE SPELL CHECK! That's what it's there for. I would also suggest giving your profile at least a cursory review before you post it. This way you can avoid giving a grevious misimpression, like saying your son is 111 years old. While I did figure out that this person meant to state that her son was 11, it was still pretty funny.


• While I'm at it, do try to keep your sentence length at well under the 122 word level. Commas are a pretty good idea too.

Having said all that, the dating sites do work. I have had the privilege of spending time with two gorgeous, intelligent women as a result of my online dating tenure. It can work, if you work it right.

Troy the SuperCat!

My kids are quite imaginative. They are forever making up new superheroes, video games, etc. In fact, they will often make up a superhero and subsequently imagine the games, DVDs and toys that would go along with it. This is good, because it proves they also have a pretty firm grasp of licensing and ancillary marketing.

Jonathan, one of my six year-olds, recently came up with Troy the SuperCat. He's a cat and he's also a superhero. Makes sense to me. Anyway, he'll go into great detail about Troy's adventures, who his arch-enemy is and who his allies are.
One night my kids and I were having a grand old time discussing Troy the SuperCat's latest triumph. Peter, who is my eight year-old, decided to add this bit of commentary...
"You know dad, even though Troy the SuperCat is only nine years old, he's still a formidable crimefighter."
Formidable? Most adults I know don't use that word. Peter even pronounced it correctly.

I'm so glad I finally found this public forum to brag about my kids.

Jared's first sales call

I was in my office today going through some emails. The phone rang, and since the receptionist was out for lunch and I'm such a team player, I answered.
"(Staffing company I work for), this is Jim, can I help you?"
"Yeah, hey, this is Jared from (some health insurance company)."
After a pause...
"Um...hi Jared, what can I do for you today?"
"(something unintelligible)"
"I'm sorry, what's that again?"
"Oh, just how you doin' today?"
"I'm fine, thanks. What's up?"
"Well, we're gonna be down your way next week and wanted to make sure you were covered."
And I'm thinking, covered? With what? A sweet, sugary glaze?
"You mean health insurance?"
"Yeah, health insurance. Are you covered?"
"Yeah, we actually have a pretty good plan here. We're good."
"Okay...okay, well we just wanted to make sure everyone was covered."
"Thanks for your concern, Jared."
"Hey, no problem, man."

Even though speaking with this young gentleman gave me a sudden urge to down a vodka tonic or two, I should be proud that I was involved in what I presume was his first sales call ever.
Kudos to you, young Jared.

Chopsticks

Yesterday, in an effort to expand my kid's culinary horizons, we went to the new Noodles & Company restaurant in Davenport (also, I wanted to go there). It was quite good...all were happy with their meals. This being a place that serves a number of asian-inspired dishes, chopsticks were made available. My kids gamely tried to eat with their chopsticks, but without much success. That's okay. I myself used a fork.
The kids did keep their chopsticks, though. I think they wanted to practice later.

Right after our lunch we went to Borders. As we pulled into the parking lot, David, one of my two six year-olds engaged me in an interesting little conversation:
"Dad?"
"Yeah, David?"
"I have a lot of chopsticks."
"You do."
"I should save them."
"You should."
"There's a lot of poor kids that don't have chopsticks."
"True."
"Maybe I could give my chopsticks to the poor kids that don't have any chopsticks."

Awesome. I wasn't sure whether to laugh out loud or jump for joy. I think either reaction would have been appropriate.

Also...
http://www.noodles.com/

10,000 days

Last night my kids were over for what is one of our now regular Friday night sleepovers.
David, one of my six year-olds, turned to me and said, "I wish I could stay here for 10,000 days!"
That statement, of course, warmed my little heart. Thank you, David.
"Why's that?" I asked.
"Because of you," he replied.
Thank you again, David.
"And all the toys!"
Well, there's that, I guess.

This morning I was up a bit before seven a.m. I went outside to get something I had left in my car. I looked up as I heard a noise in the tree above me. It was a bald eagle, spreading its wings and getting ready for flight. It pushed off and its flight path circled around in front of the tree then it flew off into the early morning twilight.
I wish I had a camera to capture the image of the eagle's silhouette flying by the moon that was still in the sky. It was like something out of a movie. I realized though, camera or not, that this was one of those indelible images that would remain stamped on my brain for some time.

All about me, me, me!

Welcome, one and all, to my brand-spanking-new blog. My goal is to entertain, inform and inspire (sometimes maybe all at once, should the blog gods smile upon me).

As for me? I'm just a regular guy.
I'm 42. I have three awesome kids (more on them later). I work in the recruiting and staffing industry while trying to start a career as a freelance writer. I have some amazing freinds (more on them later).

You're probably wondering about the title of my blog. I'm picturing you at your PC, scratching your head and thinking, "yes Jim, I'm already feeling somewhat entertained, informed and inspired by your brand-spanking-new blog, but just what in the hell does '18 Kajillion' mean?"
My answer...18 Kajillion was actually a joking suggestion of a very good freind of mine. It's a reference to something I had said in an email earlier this week. In starting this blog, I tried out a good number of titles, but everything was taken.
So 18 Kajillion it is.