someone's always stealing my best ideas...

01/17/10

Miz Jill,

Apologies for not having seen your comment on one of my recent postings until last night. Surgical procedures on dogs in public? How could I possibly not have known about this? Is Minnesota the greatest state in the nation or what?

I'll admit to being intrigued by this long handled roller thing you're talking about but I've got to warn you to move gently on this. This sounds pretty much like a prima facie case of patent infringement and I'd hate for you to become a party to that. I'm telling you, my legal team is ruthless. They wouldn't care if you are family.

I suppose the fact the I don't actually hold any patents for this kind of thing might be a stumbling block to any claims of infringement. Last time I checked the only patent I held was on complete stupidity. But hell, I never knew about this thing at the Fair until you mentioned it and I think that writing about my idea in this public (well, sort of public) forum should comprise a full assertion of all of my rights both explicit and tacit. God, I should have gone to law school. Can you even begin to imagine the shambles the country would be in if I had?

OK, I may have to let this one go. I feel pretty bad about it cuz it's another example of how all my best ideas get stolen to line the pockets of corporate America. Maybe I'm better off directing all of my creative energy into planning meals. On to dinner.

Miz Susan is downstairs throwing chunks of one of the racks of ribs that's been clogging up the bottom shelf of our freezer into the crockpot. I did some digging for recipes on the internet last night and came up with a couple that call for par-baking for a half hour (with or w/o rub) and then slow cooking for 6-8 hours in the crockpot. She sez to tell you that she's using your Reliable Rub Recipe. (I'd advise that you get a patent registered on it right away unless you stole it from somebody else.) This sounds almost exactly like how my mother used to make ribs when I was a kid. Even Miz Susan grants that it may just work out. This is way cool. I get to bathe in this warm wash of nostalgia and pick up some points for the here and now, all at the same time. Until after dinner, when Miz Susan has eaten way too many way too fast and starts to gripe about her poor upset little tummy. What a lightweight.

Well, we'll get a day to recover since tomorrow is a school holiday. MLKJ Day will be marked this year by our visit to the Specialty Clinic to see the surgeon and hopefully have the 20 staples taken out of my knee. These damn staples have made it impossible for me to fly anywhere since I can't get past the metal detectors at the airport. I don't even remember the number of creative development sessions I've had to skip in the last week alone. Thank heavens that I just keep cranking out the ideas. I'll catch up one of these days.