Stolen from TheSneeze.com....

Hobos rock. They're like homeless guys you can feel good about.

Someone recently sent me a link to Hobo Soup suggesting it as a possible Steve, Don't Eat It -- which actually wouldn't work out that well because I have since tried the soup and it tastes great.

But right now, we really need to talk about the can...

Would you look at this can? LOOK AT IT! It's beautiful. It's magnificent. It's tickling my balls as I type. Forget about the soup, I want to eat the can. Whoever designed it should be in charge of designing everything, everywhere.

It's like a Wacky Packages sticker, except it's the actual product. (I'm pretty sure if you tried to create a Wacky Pack for this soup, the universe would implode.)

They sell the soup on the site by the case of 24 for $50, which might be a little more soup than you'd be interested in. (Especially if you're an actual hobo.) But that's what brings us to the Hobo Soup T-shirt.

I haven't decided for sure yet, but I might need to be buried in this shirt. And it was only $16.50, including delivery!

Jim at Hobo Soup was very nice on the phone, but I think he runs a very small operation. (In my mind, he's the guy on the can, but I'm an idiot.) He was pleasantly old school, had never heard of PayPal and I don't think he takes credit cards either. I'm not even positive email makes it there, so my advice is to make it easy on everyone and just blast out a check in the mail to the address on the site. (If you do speak to Jim, please be extra nice. That's how we roll at The Sneeze.)

Finally, here's the Hobo Soup story from the can:

Hobo Soup was "born" in the restless, creative mind of Lem Kaercher, a small-town newspaper publisher from Ortonville, Minn. In 1953, Lem went into the "Jungles" of Ortonville in search of a feature story on Mr. Hobo, long an American legend. At conclusion of his visit, Lem was treated with some old-fashioned original, homemade Hobo Soup. A Hobo himself as a young man, Lem felt the world should share in this fine cuisine. For years, a proper Canner was sought, and finally in 1960, Lem and son, Jim, finally saw a dream come true... Hobo Soup on the Grocer's shelf - "A Jungle Recipe, Fit For A King!"


Let's keep the dream alive. The official Hobo Soup website is right here .

Bottled water bad for earth? I'd say so. More and more cities are banning bottled water and turning to tap.

The State Fair Pub Crawl has been announced! It will be on Friday 8/17 this year. For those of you not familiar w/ this particular pub crawl, it is at the fair and hits 6 of the bars there. You get fun prizes and can purchase a T-shirt. There are usually several hundred people doing the crawl, it's a good time. You can find more info and register here!

Went on a bike ride yesterday…with Julie and Laura….some one had a small accident when the guy in front of her, swerved because he was screwing around with his Ipod. Laura should heal up OK…a few scratches and cuts. Julie is a trooper riding a $54 Wallyworld mountain bike special and the seat was too low….made it all the way to Cumming. She didn’t complain at all. Of course this is all after we were going to take her sisters bike but both rims were bent…..I guess that can happen when you hit it repeatedly with your car……
You know its just not right when I’m spinning at a descent clip and Laura is pulling away while she is coasting…….Stopped at Sonic afterwards sounded good at the time, the food was horrible…..
Added a counter for Laura to keep track on how many times she has bought it on her bike......

Saw the trailer for Fred Claus…that will be an interesting movie to say the least…looks like it could be very funny, will have to wait and see. Vince Vaughn is Fred, Santa's bitter older brother ….

Should be a nice quite night with the boys…..I need the rest….

Ankeny Summerfest Friday and Saturday…..

The guy with the Ipod wasn’t me!

Deep Thought for the Day: Here's a good tip for when you go to the beach: A sand dollar may look like a nice cracker that someone left, but trust me, they don't taste like it.

Dave Decker had his baby, it’s in the post before this one…..Congratulations Dave!!!

Friday night Austin’s All-star team got schooled; the 10 run rule came into play. Austin played fine batted once and was on base. Same thing happened Saturday morning….10-0, Austin batted .500...he had a fly-out. Glad I wasn’t coaching the team. They team looked like zombies, no enthusiasm at all…..we took it easy in the afternoon.

Saturday night/ afternoon I met Sedi and Nicole at Gene’s and then we went to the Good Guys Car show at the fairgrounds….. I knew this was going to happen, I was going to start looking at these cars and get the bug……Many fine pieces of American culture lined-up at the fairgrounds….Of course I was drooling and I checked out the swap meet, another mistake. I saw a few cars that I actually am/was considering. I spent over an hour at a guys house yesterday looking at a 71’ Mustang convertible, only problem I saw there was not one piece of metal that could be reused on that car. But he also had a 73’ Mach 1 that I am very interested in, but I’m not driving in on gravel. So…if I get my place sold and another one bought, and he still has that car….That car was actually restored…..I’m sure I could add my own touch to it.

Later we headed down to Buzzard Billy’s and The Liars Club….interesting to say the least…….another time. Laura and her group were kicked out of the High-Life????

Sunday I went to the guys house and checked out those cars, finally went home…..then was talked into going to Saylorville in the afternoon with Ron, Linda, Kailey, Laura, Brad, and Cory….that was a blast!!!!! Tubing and some water skiing on ski’s… circa 1954…just wanted to see if I could get up on them…no problem….the problem was too much slack when I would take a wake……the tubing was an awesome workout on my shoulders!!!! It did do a number on my forearm/elbow.... I'm going to see another specialist after RAGBRAI...
Song of the day is Little of Your Time by Maroon 5 it’s in the player.

Hopefully some biking tonight………

....and what were you doing at 07:07:07 on 07/07/07? I know what I was doing....


Deep Thought for the Day: If you go through a lot of hammers each month, I don't think it necessarily means you're a hard worker. It may just mean that you have a lot to learn about proper hammer maintenance.

Rowan Elizabeth Decker was born July 8th!
Weight: 8 lbs
Height: 20 1/4 Inches
Time: 12:20 pm (afternoon)

Both Rowan and Brenda are doing great.
The proud parents and daughter....

There at Mercy Hospital - Room 2021, until Tuesday.

15 days until RAGBRAI XXXV!!!
Training miles: unspeakable...hopefully knock some off this weekend..

Useless Information for the day: Aglets - those plastic sleeves at the ends of shoelaces, which stop the ends unravelling and assist with lacing.

The I-Cubs won last night 9-2…nice win, I was more surprised we scored 3 runs in the first…two of those homers. Ron, Linda, Kailey, Mark, Laura, Julie, Shelly, Jamie, Scott, Sara, & Sedi were there last night. Of course Scott & Sara were wearing there ever so fashinable Croc sandles. It was National Guard night…there was no fly-over….disappointing….but we won….and the weather was very nice! Most went to the High-Life afterwards and several before.

Ron and Linda did not look bad at all for the motorcycle accident they had a month ago…Linda gets her cast off in 5 days….Instead of buying another bike they bought a boat…so I got to hear all about that from Ron.

That Dodge Avenger Laura has until her Libby is fixed is a fun little car to drive, even for a 4 popper with 4 doors....

Austin has his first All-Star game tonight at Raccoon..

Austin has a couple games this weekend during the day. Maybe the Good Guys Car Show this weekend. I was suppose to take my 61 GMC pickup up to the swap meet, so I could get rid of it. Looks like I ran out of time. Other than that no plans as of yet for weekend. Maybe hang out with Sedi Sat…..of course that bike thing is looming over my head....

River Phest Saturday, July 7th: This year we will start at Van Meter & float to Booneville. The Booneville Bar is planning on having a band on their patio -- camping will be available. River Phest is an annual river float on the Raccoon River started by Van Meter, Iowa locals in 1996. The first float started with under 30 people and last year we grew to over 200. River Phest is the first Saturday after the 4th of July. Take off from the Wildwood boat ramp in Van Meter @ 1pm and end at the Van Meter two rivers access. There is no charge for floating the river, BYOB and BYOTube. Everyone is welcome except stupid people (you know who you are). We are trying to break 300 people this year so invite all your friends.
Sounds like Sedi may be helping FLOAT the team this year on RAGBRAI

Girl, 11, charged with DUI after high-speed chase

COMING UP: Ankeny Summerfest , SPAMALOT, RAGBRAI, JIMMY BUFFETT......
August: Blaster Ride, Chicago Cubs rooftop,State Fair Pub Crawl, State Fair, Softball......

Deep Thought for the Day: After I die, wherever my spirit goes, I'm going to try to get back and visit my skeleton at least once a year, because, "Hey, old buddy, how's it going?"