The president of the equipment company I used to work for is a great guy. Although I'm not one of those people who continue to keep in contact with past employers, if he called up tomorrow and said that he needed help, I probably would help him. He was in his late sixties when I started working for him and was one of "those" born and bred sales guys. And he loved Minnesota so we had something more in common than me answering his phone and being able to read his handwriting. (Which was seriously terrible and came in handy when I was interviewing for my current job.)

Anyhow, it was a small company and we dealt with equipment mostly from Europe that made things like that little plastic window you see on tissue boxes or the foil embossing you might see on a lithograph or greeting card.

Nelson enjoyed these totally inappropriate cards. He had a folder of them and when his paper calendar announced someone was having a birthday he'd ask me to pull out the folder and he'd select a card for one of us. I'm not sure I can even describe them other than to say they typically feature an overweight cartoon character or a really old geezer and it would say something about being old or well...imagine the rack at a truck stop and think about it and be creative.

So the other night I stopped in the little North Pole drugstore and low and behold I found the source for these cards. They had a whole rack. And nope, I didn't spin the rack around reminicing about these cards but if you ever see them and wonder - who the heck would buy this? I know of a guy.

I'm having the hardest time finding a birthday card for my brother this year. One year he claims I sent him a card that said "from your brother" instead of "to my brother" and so I'm a much more selective about what a card says . Even more so because he made such a big deal about it. I typically like picking out cards but this year they just don't say enough. Or the right thing. We didn't really fight when we were kids and every card seems to say "dear brother we fought and didn't get along but I love you anyhow".

So I'm posting here right now that I will not be sending a card this year. Stop by on June 8 and read about my current thoughts and wishes for brother Jer. In the meantime, I hope he's found a really great card for me...or maybe he could start a blog of his own?