Model Armour

OK. This is a bit of crazy story.

We've got a long layover and I happened to meet up with a co-worker in the lobby while on the way to buy beer at the local gas station. I paid for the six pack, but he insisted on buying a scratch-off lotto ticket and promised to share any winnings in exchange for beer. Being a person of some scientific and mathematic background, I admonished him about the odds of winning the lotto, etc, etc....

It was the kind of a place which refers to this as, "food".


...Dammed ticket turned out to be a $100 winner.

True to his word, my co-worker shared $50 of his $100 winnings. The story might just end here. I COULD have saved the money and bought something practical and worthwhile. But instead I said to myself, "Self, you should buy something utterly frivolous and stupid, an item of dubious value to mark the auspicious occasion of having just won a considerable sum in the Missouri state lottery. I used the cash to buy a Zippo lighter and a hamburger.....(I still have $10 left over!)

A word here about Zippo lighters: I don't smoke; but the Zippo lighter is an American icon and also a bit of a collectible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippo The Zippo is one of those perfect objects you can just put in your pocket. Its deminsions are set to those of the golden ratio, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio They're still made right here in the US, sort of a throwback to the 1940's era of making things for ourselves rather than just consuming products made by others. Also, a Zippo lighter makes a wonderful "sprue stretcher". They produce a quite, stable flame much like that of a candle. They work just right for those times when you need to make stretched sprue. And because they produce that most fundamental of all human inventions, fire, holding a Zippo is like holding a bit of genuine magic in your hand.

So there at the gas (petrol) station they had a big plexiglass case with about a dozen examples of Zippo lighters decorated in various themes. Two of them were decorated with zodiac signs, one of them mine! The odds of this I reckoned to be one in 6 as there are 12 signs and this gas station only had two. Clearly, It was my lucky day. So I bought the tacky, purple, Taurus lighter for far too much (didn't matter, it wasn't my money) and then went to dinner for a high fat meal. (But probably lower fat than the "Cheese Burger Roller Bite" sold at the gas station.)


(Don't worry, new Zippos are sold inert, without any fluid. It's just a shiny steel box at this point.)

And a burger for about 1/3 the cost of my new Zippo lighter.



Wonderful!!!

John-
that brings back fond memories!

When I was 19 I had to learn a specific way of opening one of those and lighting it in order to get into a Fraternity.

That is a fabulous tool that you will enjoy for years! Comes with a cool story as well!

I should mention- the burger shot is CRUEL! I am recovering from stomach surgery on Monday. I had filtered Clam Chowder for dinner-- since monday I have been living on Jello!


Steve

MMmmmmm....filtered clam showder. Er....excuse me while I go throw up a bit.

Vinnie

Great story John, but how dare you malign roller cuisine? It is one of the great inventions of the late 20th century. Hot dogs are obvious, but it takes a true genius to make the leap from patty shaped cheeseburger to tube shaped cheeseburger. Utter brilliance!

Matt

PS. What did your burger do that the kitchen felt like they had to stab it before sending it out?

and don't forget that the Zippo lent its nickname to the Sherman! Pam