Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

My New Hobby

There was a time when the world record in the 100-yard dash was measured in tenths of a second; and it was during this time that I decided, probably with some cattle-prodding by my mother, to collect stamps. I don't remember much about my collection -- there were some stamp-collecting books in which I mounted stamps and a bunch of stamps, most of which were in bags because I didn't feel like mounting them and most of which came from a place called Magyar, some a pinkish-reddish, some orangey, and some bluish in color, as I recall. I didn't know, at that time, the stamps were from Hungary and that some of them probably depicted some of my ancestors. I was a kid. What did I know? I wasn't interested in collecting stamps, but I was able to raise my hand in class when the teacher asked if anyone had a hobby.

I'm older now. My mother threw out my stamps and my stamp-collecting stuff, just like she threw out all my Topps baseball cards before they became a major item of commerce ... and just like she threw out movies of my wedding, opting instead to keep the 8 mm movies of two guys stealing large copper ingots from a place where my dad worked.

I need to start over. I read in a medical journal that the elderly benefit from hobbies. I need to start a hobby ... like collecting stuff. I started my new hobby today. I bought my first package of Limited Edition Double Stuff Oreos. I'm starting with the NASCAR collection, which has 10, count them, 10 cookie designs. The package urges me to "Look for your favorite driver's number!"

Here's the first problem I have encountered in my new hobby. Is it better to leave the package intact and NOT open it? Or is it better to open the package and then mount the cookies by gluing them to a display that I could hang in the living room?

Here's another problem. I know very little about NASCAR, other than (1) NASCAR is capitalized and (2) the numbers on the backs of the pick-up trucks are slanty. I don't have favorite driver's numbers.

My curiosity was aroused, and I opened the package to check out the driver's numbers. That leads me to the conclusion that I will be gluing them into a display case and exhibiting the mahogany-and-glass-with-green-felt-and-brass-plate display case in a prominent place in the living room.

There's a slanty "92" or a "26," depending on how I look at it. There's a slanty "6" or a "9," depending on how I look at it. There's a slanty "99" or a "66," depending on how I look at it. There's a slanty "16" or a "91," depending on how I look at it. There's a slanty "26" or a "92," depen ... whoa, my first package and already I have a repeat. And there's a "17."

This is a definite rip-off because I'm more familiar with these numbers as hockey player numbers; and there is no logo, such as NASCAR, on the Oreos with numbers that allow me to tell them apart from hockey jersey numbers. I'll give the Oreo people credit because there are Oreos with "NASCAR" printed on one of the chocolatey wafers and with "Ready, Set, Go" printed on one of the chocolatey wafers and with "OREO" and a car printed on one of the chocolatey wafers and "MILK'S FAVORITE cookie" printed on one of the chocolatey wafers and "TWIST, LICK, & DUNK" printed on one of the chocolatey wafers to complete the set. Those last two I looked up; and they had nothing to do with auto racing, but now they do.

As I've been writing this post, I've lost interest in my new hobby; but if anyone wants to take up this hobby, I have a starter collection for sale.

Posted by Bill at February 15, 2007 07:53 PM