Who do I still think I am??

This one's about the bold choice.

MOB-RELATED ACTIVITY:

What's up y'all? Only a few of us kickin' around the ol' Blog Mob as we limp into the last week of February minus our leader...makes me wonder why I'm still wearing this badge at the top of my entries at all anymore...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqomZQMZQCQ. If The Federales don't need no stinkin' badges, I shouldn't have to show you mine either! You hear that, Brother Nature ? I think you do. I think you hear me knockin'. I think I'm breakin' down the door. And when I come in, I'm bringin' the whole Blog Mob with me!!

Now then...has anyone seen pen? I'll need to take notes before we storm the throne so that we do it properly and I don't forget anything. My pen...where is it? *Checks behind ears* Oh yeah, there it is. I'd be in trouble if I didn't have ears. https://:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAryFIuRxmQ

BCF PROMPT: "Pepsi or Coke?"

I've been fortunate enough to live through some pretty great events through the course of recent ("recent" being kind of a relative things, given that history stretches a lot farther back than most of all of us do) history. The tearing down of the Berlin Wall. The 1980 Winter Olympics. The falls of both Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. Led Zeppelin reuniting 3/4th of the way (there's still time to patch things up, Morrissey and Marr, but I won't hold my breath). But nothing, dare I say nothing, was as epic as something in the eighties known as "The Cola Wars".

Back in the pre-internet days, when families would gather to talk between episodes of "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties", or during breaks in the action of football games, they would all get to know each other better. They could see these people that they lived with "in person", and come to know each day how they felt and what they "liked" or "disliked" (as opposed to our 21st-century oppressors, who are far more interested in what we "like" so much so that they've not given us the option to "dislike" anything). Sometimes, the conversation would dull to a halt, and families would pay attention to the "commercials" on the "tv" (which has become its own national holiday, called "The Super Bowl"). The main purpose of (one of) the most invasive tracts of these "advertisements" insisted upon sparking a debate unknown to politicians, scholars or clergymen (the forerunners to a burgeoning group of individuals now referred to as "clergypeople": Did you prefer to drink Coke, or Pepsi, as your cola-flavored soda of choice?

I won't get into how stupid any of it was. This was a product that once existed as a "cure-all" by pharmacists claiming that whatever was wrong with you could be fixed by downing some carbonated beverage with real cola flavors (as much as it's killing me, I'm resisting the urge to Google what "cola" is supposed to taste like or why it was so popular, because I'm probably better off not knowing/caring). Then scientists discovered that one can of this "magic elixir" had roughly the same amount of sugar that some smaller South American countries export daily, and by altering the chemical components devised "low fat, low calories, no sugar" versions that tasted like paint thinner and piss left out in the sun virtual carbon-copies of the originals. Then some random internet people realized all sorts of fun stuff about these "diet" concoctions, and came up with a list of things you actually could use it for (as in "do" and not "consume" or "ingest"), like loosening stripped lug nuts and killing bugs (http://www.homesessive.com/view/unusual-uses-coca-cola#show-gallery). It always grosses me out a little whenever I see what someone writes about a food or beverage on the internet that I've put into my body before...until I come back to Earth and remember that everything is bad for you, makes you poop, causes cancer, and has been linked to the burial of Jimmy Hoffa under a football field in New Jersey. Nope...there's no way around it. Someone's gotta make enough stuff to fill all those Super-Walmart shelves, whether it's legally healthy and safe or not (http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2014/02/whole_foods_and_walmart_ho..., complete with interactive charts! ).

No, I'll just give you what you want: an answer to this prompt. While I was raised in a 3-liter buying Pepsi household, I'm fortunate to say I survived that time of my life and became a Coke drinker...Pepsi is just way too sugary-sweet to me and again, I must reiterate how much I don't want to know what "cola" is or why it tastes disgusting to me unless it's enhanced with (preferably something top-shelf, like Crown Royal) whiskey (should I ever choose to want to ruin a glass of whiskey). I became a Mountain Dew connoisseur, but even then it's damn near as bad as everything else (but at least if it's gonna kill me it tastes better than decent)...even to this day I'll only drink it in spurts a few times a year.

Still, if the only choices you have in your fridge when I visit you are Diet Coke or ammonia, I'm picking the Diet Coke, but only because you're weird for having ammonia in your fridge unless you're planning on poisoning me, in which case you're double-weird and I'm watching your every move from here on out if we remain friends, which we probably will because I have a hard time saying no to people, especially weird ones like you who have no friends because you've poisoned them all, you evil friend you.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

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Today for "The Soundtrack of Your Life" , I'm going with a song that I guess was an awakening of sorts to me, even if I didn't quite realize it at the time. I wasn't a huge fan of Neil Young back when this song was popular, but I remember MTV being a little put-off by this video and the song's anti-commercialism message (even though the irony that he would mention by name some of the companies long known for celebrity endorsements in the song wasn't lost on me, but if you ask me Young's not the greatest lyricist or storyteller to ever grab a guitar). The song is called "This Note's For You" (album: This Note's For You {link:http://www.amazon.com/This-Notes-You-Neil-Young/dp/B002B3U9KA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393032241&sr=8-2&keywords=neil+young+this+note%27s+for+you}; lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/neilyoung/thisnotesforyou.html), and the video was actually banned from MTV eventually, I assume, for the portrayal of some of the notable celebs (including the mockery it made of Michael Jackson's hair catching on fire while he was filming an ad for Pepsi). For my money, this is definitely not from one of the better creative periods of Young's career, but I recognize it as being the first meaningful moment to me...it made me pay attention a little more. Of course, this was before it became the norm for artists to license entire albums these days to car companies...back then, was the artist pushing the goods, or was the company paying the artist to shill an otherwise crappy product? And heaven forbid if the artist did anything to hurt the company's reputation in the glare of the media! It never seemed to work the other way around if a company started goin' in the tank, because they had the artist locked up with a contract that usually was more corporation-friendly than anything else. But that's all probably a story for another time.

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

Nothing...I repeat, nothing is set in stone yet, but I've been accepted into a vocational rehabilitation program locally. Which means, basically, I'll be able to go back to school this fall, and Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3) has specific programs for people like me who have certain qualifications and are in need of furthering their education. The only catch is that I have to have medical clearance now because in part due to being pulled out of work last week and I need to get another opinion on my ankle. Kinda understandable. I'll have to have my taxes done (procrastinating on that again, although they should be super simple to do this year because I had no income last year) and have the medical forms in, plus completely decide on a major, and theoretically I could be back in school for summer sessions if I wanted to rush things...but if I can take my time and narrow down my options and figure out which TC3 location is best for me, plus get either totally healed physically or get working on what I need to do in order to feel better, then I have no problem waiting until fall classes start. Plus I don't wanna jinx it or anything, but hell yeah!!

So, can anyone with experience in the nursing profession (blainecindy or anyone else) answer me a question about having blood taken? I'm not bruised yet, but I'm slightly swollen, and I've never had blood drawn from my hand before (the top, not the palm or fingers). I've had IV's put in before (somewhere around the wrists maybe, and other parts of the arm), and I've had blood taken from the crooks of my elbows in the past (I'm sooooo medically terminological, I know ) and I don't recall ever bruising or swelling, but my hand right now kinda feels like it's been chiseled at with a screwdriver that's been tapped by a hammer, and is this normal after 12 hours? I don't recall a feeling like that in my hand before, and I've typed longer entries than this and I've never felt the fatigue I've got going on in my left hand right now. I'm not too worried about it, and obviously if I wake up with a club for a hand I'll be panicked, but I'm just curious how normal this is, or if it could be related to the arthritis-like symptoms I've been having in my legs, hips and lower back.

I have to wish a longtime WDC friend a heartfelt congratulations...if you know her you know why, and if you didn't and you just saw my tag, now you know...so congrats Gaby and sincerest wishes!! Lucky man that husband of yours is!

Well, that's all I've got for today...it's been a busy day all the way 'round so I'm gonna take the rest of the night here off. Tried something different here at WDC I haven't done in quite a long time, and I'm bankin' on having to take a little time to fix it if it doesn't work out as planned, but I won't know 'til I'm done trying' to push out the remains of this entry and now's a good place as any to call it a night. Peace, all I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!

If you were hoping for Limp Bizkit lizco252,
I was gonna put this here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2U4I9-gG0c) but
I'll go with this instead...my "guilty pleasure" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGHz9-3je9I

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