The little slips of paper containing scribbled notes that litter the desk in my home office are starting to pile up, so I thought it best to browse through them and assemble the assorted memory-joggers into some sort of column.

The dilemma in which I find myself is that I don’t have a clue what some of the scribbles mean.
Take, for example, the note that says, “Used pets shop.”

For the longest time, I had not an idea what that might mean, then it came to me – something I might do while I’m in retirement mode.

I could open a used pets store. You know … you move to Barrie, buy an expensive Great Dane and eventually realize your 12 by 12-foot back yard isn’t exactly designed to accommodate a dog the size of a pony.

So you get rid of Brutus by selling him to me at quarter of the exorbitant price you paid for the monster and I resell him from my used pets shop. And we all live happily ever after. Me especially, because I don’t have to care for the dog and I am rolling in dough because I unloaded him for mega-bucks.
*****
Second note: “Home schooling.”

I understand it’s only five days and the beasties return to school. Moms and dads throughout the city must be celebrating as they get to unload the kids on teachers for another school year.
Imagine how upset those parents who home school their kids must feel today.

No break. No holiday. No fun, I’ll bet.

Had I home schooled my three boys, I’m sure they would have loved the experience. Every day would have been a snow day. “Back to bed kids! It’s nasty out there.”

Home schooling was out of the question in our household. Algebra was (and continues to be) beyond my comprehension.

How about this easy one – simplify the following:
          
Huh?

Earlier this year, my grandson Josh asked me for a little help on his algebra homework. He’s 13. I’m way older. He’s smart. I’m way older. He figured out the answer without my help. I’m still way older.
*****
Another note on my desk said simply, “1948 show.”

Perhaps it meant there was a great show in 1948, that being the year in which I made my first (and so far, only) appearance on this planet.

A bit of Googling, however, reminded me that it signified the television series called At Last The 1948 Show, which starred the likes of Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Marty Feldman in 1967 and 1968, before some of them became famous as Monty Python regulars.

Look it up on You Tube to watch some of the black and white episodes. It’s bloody hilarious … not as hilarious as the Dead Parrot sketch, but funny just the same.
*****
The last note I came across said, “Corn $6.”

I certainly remember what that was about because I scrawled the note only a couple of weeks ago. Did you ever think you would see the day that a dozen corn would cost you 50 cents a cob?

For that matter, did you ever think you would see the day that we would be growing food to fuel our cars, when millions of people around the world are starving to death?

When the price of a corn boil starts to approach the price of a tank of gas, I think we need to reconsider our priorities. Don’t you?