This evening, bouncing returned from his week-long journey to San Antonio, Texas, where he interviewed for a job with not a dot com. "Where folks know how picante sauce should taste." (Obviously, too many old commercials still swimming around in my head.)

After my incessant teasing of him last weekend with the above quote, this evening he presented me with...

A jar of hot sauce. "Texas Six Shooter Salsa."

He, myself, and our parents went out to The Outback Steakhouse, where, amazingly enough, we each ordered a steak. (But every order was unique, due to different combinations of sides / weight of meat / salad dressing, etc.) Yum yum yum. Count those calories. NOT.

I convinced mom and bouncing that Labyrinth would be a movie they might enjoy, so we convened to the Castle Lair for a viewing. Dad wanted to get an "early start" tomorrow, to he declined to join us and returned instead to his European apartment.

We watched the entertaining and humorous fairy tale of Jim Hensen's visionary creation.

After the film, I broke open the jar of salsa, while flashbacks to certain ucollege.edu microlab operator meeting danced through my head. Cautiously dipped a chip in, making sure it was only a dip. No excess stuff on the chip. The flavor was good. Not bad at all. Not even too hot.

bouncing proceeded to join, taking a few chips and subsequently dipping them. The stuff actually tasted amazingly good.

After about a dozen chips, it starts to kick in. Steadily, in no great hurry, the heat inside the mouth starts to rise. Eat another chip or two. "Now that's the kind of spice I like!" It gets hotter and hotter. Time to take a drink. The temperature keeps rising. Guzzle that 7-UP. "Mmmm, but it tasted so good." Eat another chip or two.

After a bit more of that, you learn your lesson. Stop eating it! Put the sauce away, and drink as much liquid as possible before your stomach explodes.

We even convinced mom to try a couple chips, but she wisely stopped after a couple of dips.

It's nothing nearly as insane as that stuff at the microlab party. (bouncing claimed this was the mildest stuff they had, as opposed to "Extra Hot", and "Extra Super Hot Hot", ...) It might be just as dangerous though, because it has such a yummy flavor, that you just feel like dipping more of it. The punch is delayed, but it is nevertheless potent. And even after your mouth is burning, you still want to eat more, because the effect is not immediate. It even feels cool on the tongue at first contact. Hah!

So...

Yes, bouncing has been offered a position. He has not yet stated for certain whether he will accept it, though it does look likely. He may soon relocate to the state of the burning hot sun, 24 hour electronics stores, and really cheap restaurant food. (According to his reconnaissance, pretty much everything is cheaper there.)

Now, despite my intake of caffeine a few hours ago, I am feeling quite tired at the moment, so I shall terminate this rambling, and take a good rest.