Monday, 7/15

MONDAY, 7/15:

It's such a no-brainer that I can't believe anyone hasn't thought of it yet.

Miss me? We had a great three-day weekend with Loraine's nephews Nathan and Jeremy. The weather was great, we were able to show them in what a cool place we live, and we did everything you're supposed to do when visiting the city, everything from eating pastys to Jeremy jumping off of Black Rocks.

And that's what made me wonder why no one else (at least that I know of) has come up with an idea that seems so obvious that it should be as plain as the nose on your face. When Jeremy decided that he wanted to jump off of Black Rocks, his brother Nathan wasn't quite sure. He said that he would do it if he could get a t-shirt that said something along the lines of “I survived Black Rocks”. So we looked through a ton of stores in Marquette for a shirt along those lines, but you know what?

We could not find one anywhere.

In fact, we couldn't find a lot to do with Black Rocks at all. There were a few stickers, a few paintings, and that's about it. No T-shirts; nothing at all that would allow someone to show off the fact that they jumped off the Rocks into the 45 degree water.

Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Because of that (or at least playing a part in his decision) Nathan didn't jump, while Jeremy made the leap twice. However, aside from the video I took of him he has nothing to show that he did it. I mean, just think of the money that someone could make if there was a little stand or something in the Black Rocks parking lot selling shirts bragging about the jump. Even someone who didn't jump, but watched, would be likely to buy a shirt or three, of for no other reason than to document what they were just watching.

See? No-brainer business idea, right? That's why I can't believe that no one has come up with the idea yet. Unless, of course, I'm blatantly missing something. But I don't think I am. So if you have a few extra bucks sitting around and are looking for a can't fail business idea, there you go.

You're welcome. And you can send my royalty check to the station.

8-)

One other thing I want to mention about the weekend—we were in the Marquette Food Co-op Saturday buying some amazing brats (made with blueberries and the Vierling's Blueberry Wheat beer) for dinner. Jeremy and Nathan had noticed people saying “hey” to me all weekend, which is something I don't even pay attention to any more. Anyway, we were in the checkout line at the Co-op when the guy checking us out said something to me that even I had never heard before.

What did he say? Well, it wasn't “You're that guy on the radio”, or “I see you on TV”, or any of the other things I hear when people figure out who I am. So what just did the checkout guy at the Co-op say?

“Hey, you're the dude with the 'Star Wars” bag”, after he saw that I handed him the bag with Luke, Han, Leia, Darth, and the rest of the gang that Loraine gave me for Christmas a few years ago. Apparently the shopping bag I use at the Co-op has become quite the object of conversation among the people who work there.

Who knew?

So now I can be referred to any number of ways—Radio Jim, TV Jim, History Jim, and now, apparently, “The Dude with the 'Star Wars' bag” Jim.

(jim@wmqt.com), dude with the “Star Wars” bag