Thinking back on these memories has brought to mind perhaps the funniest prank I was ever involved in. When I was a Sophomore in High School there was a store in my home town called the Fiesta shop that sold all kinds of high end collectibles from around the world. In one corner of the store they had a small area with rare gourmet foodstuffs. One day while browsing through the store we found a can about 5" in diameter and 2" deep that contained a whole canned octopus. Understanding that it was at least 500 miles to the nearest sea shore it then goes without saying that we had never seen an octopus except pictures in a book or on TV. The can was $7.00 and this was at a time when men on top union labor contracts were only making $1.75/hr. At least once a week we went by the store to see if anyone had bought it yet, but it was still there so we got the silly idea to pool our money until we could buy it, just to see what an octopus really looked and felt like. It took us nearly three weeks but we managed to get the money together and we bought the can. There we were walking down main street tossing the can back and forth and trying to figure out how we were going to open the can when my buddy Tom S. got the silly idea, lets go to the Sears store and use one of the can openers on their display rack. Off to Sears where we opened the can, then went out to the alley to pour the liquid out and see what an octopus looks like. We pulled it out of the can and took turns holding it, examining it, then it hit us, what in heavens name do we do with it now? We surely were not going to eat that nasty thing. Suddenly my buddy Norm grabs it and say "Come on guys, I got an idea". Back into Sears we went, this time heading to the appliance department. There it was, right in the middle of the appliance department, a brand new Kenmore wringer washing machine. In those days they used to put water in the demonstrators and drop some poker chips in so the ladies could see the action as the water sloshed around inside. Norm casually walked by and dropped the octopus in the washing machine, then we went and sat on the stairs going up to the second floor and watched the action. About ten minutes later a lady was innocently browsing through the appliance department when she happened to look in that washing machine and saw the octopus swimming around in the water. Instantly she went ballistic, screaming, hollering about monsters and such. The salesmen ran over to see what the problem was and they went nuts too. What the hell is that thing? How do we catch it? Somebody call the cops! The cops arrived and by that time one of the sales clerks had gone to the hardware department and got a pair of huge pliers which he used to grab the octopus, heaving it out on the floor where the cops pounded it with night sticks, then stomped on it until they were sure it was dead. By this time my buddies and I were nearly falling down laughing as we scrammed out the back door of Sears and ran home.

I'm kinda in the middle of a 'self test' for peanut butter. Have over some time developed severe skin itching.... and Dr thinks it is/was dry skin. I've moisturized myself really well (Cetaphil Cream, by the bucket full), continued itching but not really terrible. Then to replace a missed dinner, I had Crackers and peanut butter and the itching in the middle of the night was beyond belief..... so.... no more peanut butter, for a few weeks now resulting is much less itching.... then had a whipped dessert while dining out and I think it had peanuts in it and the night was itchy again. Gosh, DH leaves that jar on the counter and I am soooo tempted, but it is such relief to not be franticly itching now. I will get brave and test it one day..... not soon tho. I have never had a food allergy.... few pollen ones and not severe. Who knows, and I don't need or want another MD examining this falling apart body.

"So, do you think there is any choice on how happy of a person you are? If so, how much is choice, and how much is the cards we are dealt?" I think that you are considering two separate aspects of life. One is your outlook/disposition, how you view life, how you interact with society. The other is the overall sense of living a "happy life". How a person presents themselves to others and how they deal with daily lifeÂs challenges is certainly a choice, but it is also a learned skill. I believe that a child is born with a predetermined disposition. (Some folks are happy all the time and others grumpy, many are neutral) A child learns how to deal with success, disappointment and challenges as they grow. An adult that is more self aware can choose how to react to situations. "Am I going to let other peoples negative actions bother me, or let it roll off and move on?" Is having a positive or negative demeanor and outlook helping me or hindering me in acquiring my goals? Our environment can also affect how we feel and cope. If we have a negative individual that we must deal with daily, then we must decide if we will accept that negativity into our lives (let it bother us) or if we will choose to let it roll off, avoid them, whatever. This can be really challenging when this person is someone you live or work with. Whether a person is living a "happy life" I think depends more upon the level of satisfaction that we attain regularly. If we are satisfied with what we have, what we have accomplished, do we set goals to improve our lot in life (being proactive), do we receive pleasure by helping other and so forth. Perhaps the question is "what factors help determine a happy life?"

I got a bonus a couple of (actually, about four) years ago. I usually write a cheque once year for a local, somewhat family-related church, that I don't attend. When I visited the treasurer, several years ago, they had received a package of store-brand chocolates similar to Turtles for Christmas with salt on the outside. The lady didn't like them with the salt on them and gave them to me. Later, at a lunch following a funeral in that church, I told her and her husband that I'd enjoyed the chocolates, but wasn't enthusiastic about the salt, either ... but simply rubbed it off with my hand. I owe those folks one - got a box of biscuits later ... but didn't get it delivered till it was too old. Naughty ... lazy ... procrastinator! ole joyfuelled ... with a bit o' help from chocolate, on occasion