Nay, we are but men. Rock!

You all know that I love bacon. It is the king of breakfast meats–it laughs in the face of Queen Italian Sausage (and her wicked stepsister Maple), while Jester Jimmy Dean whimpers in the corner, and Servant Ham shovels the latrine.

If I could, I would carry some in my pocket everywhere I go. Who am I kidding? I would take a bacon shower (only if it’s cooked first).

That said, here is a great way to start the perfect day! And by perfect day, I mean any that starts with bacon!

And I will never have to worry about burning my foot on the George Foreman again.

(Honey! Can you come rub Vaseline on my foot?!?)

For the most part I am a pretty simple man.  I don’t like to buy a lot of stuff not because I am cheap but because I don’t like to put the energy into looking for things like clothes or TVs or household items.  I do like to hobby-shop.  This means I like to buys things that relate to my hobbies.  For example, I will never have too many fly rods, books, or guitars.  I will also never have too much backpacking gear. Recently I took a trip to the east coast to visit family.  When I got home and walked into my house I found a package containing my new tarp shelter and minimalist camp stove.  Now I already have a three season tent so why, would you ask, do I need a tarp shelter?  The reason is simple, weight.  My tent weighs roughly 7lbs with poles and stakes.  My new tarp shelter weighs 1.5.   This is amazing on so many different levels.  The first level is that it allows me to save space in my pack, the tarp shelter packs much smaller than my tent and because it is a tarp shelter it doesn’t have poles, as well as saving my back a little bit.  The second level is that it gives me versatility in the back-country.  More equipment equals more options to meet more needs on more trips.  The third level and the last I will go into is that it is cool and my wife said I could buy it.  Yes I love my ever-growing supply of gear.  If anyone needs me I will be in my back yard until morning.

Some men in society seem to be lacking in understanding and proper usage of the nickname "Buddy" or its often used shorter counterpart "Bud." I always sensed there were some rules to guide the use of "Buddy," just as there are guidelines to how and when nicknames can be applied. Today someone younger than me referred to me as "bud" multiple times. I caught myself, before I opened my mouth to correct him of his error. Now, like four-square, I know I don’t have all of the guidelines associated with using "Buddy" or "Bud" in reference to someone else, but I would at least like to start the list.

You can’t refer to someone older than you as bud or buddy. It’s disrespectful. Buddy or Bud is most often associated with young boys, and should continue to be used in this manner. There is a certain age when Buddy transitions into Dude, Man, Homey, etc. To continue using Buddy in reference to someone your own age, older, or even slightly younger is demeaning to that person, and is a poor choice of words on your part. Some may use the word Bud to indicate that they think they are some how superior to the person that Bud is bestowed upon. The person buying the hot dog, may refer to the person selling the hot dog as Bud, and in doing so is making the statement that I am better than you because I buy hot dogs and don’t have to sell them. In truth, the person selling the hot dog, doesn’t himself eat the hot dog, nor does he work for the guy buying him the hot dog, and could in fact use the word bud to refer to the person buying the hot dog.

There must be an age bubble in using the word buddy. A ten year old could call a five-year-old Buddy. However, a ten year old could not call a nine-year-old Buddy. Is a five-year gap enough? I think it depends on the represented age. A 70 year old could not refer to a 65 year old as Buddy, but could easily refer to someone in his 20’s as Buddy. Maybe after age 10 and again after age 20 the rules change. No one over the age of 30 should ever be referred to as Buddy, unless their father or grandfather started calling them that when they were born. Otherwise, think of something else to say.

I’m not sure I have given any clarity on the matter. However, I think we need to come together on the proper usage, and spread the news before I try to correct someone, or worse yet, forget my peaceful ways and punch someone in the face while the word "Buddy" still hangs in the air.

I’m an American, so that means I’m overweight and out of shape, right?  Isn’t that what the statistics say?  Men’s Health is trying to help us be un-American by offering four freely downloadable videos (with free registration of course) that you can load onto your iPod.

(HT MacUser)

As advanced as BigDog is, it’s amazing to see where they got the technology…