So winter is upon us, and that tends to bring in more sick people to work.  I notice that my co-worker in the neighboring desk has two cans of orange juice already finished before 9:00am.  As the morning went on, the surrounding sniffles, snorts, coughs, and sneezes around us seemed to increase.  That's it, I'm jumping on this sticky Vitamin-C train to protection.

The wall separating the desks is about three orange juice cans high.  I quickly slam two cans of orange juice to "catch up".  It immediately turns into a competition.  OJ Race 2010 is born!

Here was the goal: The person who gets above the wall first, claims victory. 

The OJ cans start to pile up.  I'm getting nervous, because my competition is one can in the lead!  I just ate a gallon of Corn Chowder soup, so my stomach is very full.  BUT, I must catch up!  Time to get another can of orange juice to even the score.  The third can of juice is difficult to put on top of a full stomach.  I feel defeated by these tiny cans of orange goodness.  I feel ashamed that I'm this full.  Last sip... there... all squared up.  This is going to go into overtime.  It is going to come down to the game winning field goal, much like the end of the NFC Championship game between the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings.  Here is a shot at the end of the 4th quarter:

Both competitors now have gurgling stomachs.  The acidity of the OJ feels like flames burning an ulcer in our bellies.  We make eye contact.  Then we both look at our last mini can of Welch's Orange Juice.  Grab them.  Open them.  Chug them.  It's on!!!!!!!!

The Final Result: 

I lost by a half of a second.  It was a close, citrus-filled race.  Congrats to my competitor and his quick tower of Orange Power.  He has earned the title of "Orange Juice Chugger of the Month".

The fourth of July is a great time to blow up stuff or play with fire.  It's easy to get distracted by the big expensive fireworks in public displays.  But if you get past the ooh's and ahh's of the bright explodey fireworks, and pay attention to the small ones, you may be surprised how much fun you can have.  I'm talking about the variety of things you might find in the "Grocery Store Special" package of fireworks.

Here are a few of my favorite overlooked 4th of July goodies and what I like to do with them: 

• Snap n' Pops (throw them at your friend's bare arms and start a battle)
• Pull n' Pop string things (tie them to door knobs and wait for someone to open the door, haha it's hilarious)
• Plastic Bottle string pull n' pop things (put them by your butt and pull the string so it looks like confetti shoots out)
• Snakes (put a ton of them together and light them all at once to grow dreadlocks)
• Sparklers (bend the end of the wire, light it, and spin it really really really fast on your finger)
• and TANKS! (get a buddy, face the tanks at each other, light them at the same time, and see who wins!)

Those are some of the childish things I like to do on the 4th of July.  I'm easily entertained.

Here is the end result of my TANK BATTLE OF JULY 4th 2009: 

Yes!  I POWNED YOUR TANK!!!  There was a lot of cheering going on.  Then it ended in FLAMES.  Sweet victory.

To see the aftermath in video, click the link below to download and watch the videoclip from my phone.

Video Clip:
iPownedYourTank.3GP (168.93 kb)

So on the next 4th of July, stock up on the overlooked and often ignored firework items.  It can make you feel like a kid again!