A Thanksgiving Yam Story

-
Black and white photo of a turkey dinner
As difficult as 2020 was, and still is, for many of us, I think we can all find something to be thankful for. We might just have to look a little harder. And do it apart.

Below is an old Yam joke circulating on the internet. Those who like bad puns will enjoy it most, but I hope it brings a smile to every reader.
 
A girl potato and boy potato had eyes for each other. They eventually got married and had a little sweet potato, who they called "Yam."

Of course, they wanted the best for Yam, and when it was time, they told her about the facts of life.

They warned her about going out and getting half-baked, so she wouldn't accidentally get mashed, be called "Hot Potato," and end up with a bunch of tater tots.

Yam said not to worry; no spud would get her into the sack and make a rotten potato out of her!

But she wouldn't stay home and become a couch potato either. She would get plenty of exercise doing potato rolls as she was determined not to be skinny like her shoestring cousins.

On a trip to Europe, Mr. and Mrs. Potato cautioned Yam to watch out for the hard-boiled guys in Ireland, and the greasy french fried guys in France. They also told her not to associate with those high class Yukon Golds, and to also avoid those from the other side of the tracks who advertise their trade on all the trucks that say "Frito Lay." They're only interested in potato skin!

Yam attended a popular university in Idaho, studied hard, and got a job at what Mr. and Mrs. Potato calls a blue chip company. "That's Terra Blue Chips," Yam corrected.

One day, despite all they did for her, Yam came home and announced she was going to marry Tom Brokaw.

Tom Brokaw! Mr. and Mrs. Potato were very upset. They told Yam she couldn't possibly marry Tom Brokaw. "But why not?" pleaded Yam.

"Because, because...." Mrs. Potato had tears in her eyes and could not finish. Mr. Potato took root, and said "because he's a Common-Tater."





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bookshelf: UNIX A History and a Memoir

-
Image
  A man page will give you, in black and white, specific information about UNIX. Brian Kernighan's new book adds color and depth about UNIX you won't find anywhere else. I'm not a gray beard (yet), but I imagine they would plow through the book knowingly, but at the same time, learn a few things. Those new to UNIX -- recent college grads or those experimenting with Raspberry Pi -- would be better off starting with Chapter 8 which describes more relatable events and the descendants of UNIX, including Minux and Linux. It's when they start to ask questions like "Where does UNIX come from?" and "Why is Gamora grep?" that they should start from the beginning: Bell Labs, 1969. Kernighan opens with a birds-eye-view of Murray Hill New Jersey, zooms in on the buildings, the offices, the significance of Center 1127, and offers a brief look at some of the key players there. As I progressed through the book, the two factors that made UNIX not just possible, bu
Read more

Bookshelf Classic: The C Programming Language

-
Image
My first job had me programming in Microsoft BASIC for the IBM PC (DOS).  BASIC worked well enough, but its limitations were clear.  The language was interpreted and therefore slow.  More importantly, it wasn't a modern structured language, and instead, relied on line numbers and the GOTO statement.  Anyone who has read Dijkstra knew  GOTO was a bad thing . Having learned a structured language in college ( PL/I ), using BASIC felt unnatural.  When a C compiler became available for the PC, I saw a chance to improve and modernize our software.  The problem was selling the idea -- a problem made harder because I wasn't fluent in C. "It would be a staffing problem.  Not many people know C, but we can find a lot of programmers who know BASIC," noted one manager. The argument was strong as my knowledge of C was weak.  But I knew that C, by design, was a small language and thus easy to learn.  "It has about 30 keywords," I proffered to another manager. U
Read more

Connections

-
Image
Opening a drawer in my hotel room in Toronto, I found this.  I worship at the altar of tech, but I imagine the reaction between two priests might go like this: Mormon Priest:  "At least we're wireless!" Catholic Priest: "And from the very beginning too!"
Read more