Aftwards, I found the following email in my inbox:

Dear Steve,

(name removed)
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Steve Oliphant"
> (name removed)
>
> Obama has won. If he was your candidate, you are most likely happy.
> If he was not, then you are probably feeling a little down.
>
> Well, either way, it doesn't matter! There are 77 days before he
> takes office, and months after that before he is able to achieve
> anything.
>
> And you can be making money on the internet WAAAAYYY before then.
>
> http://www.isuccess.com
>
> In 7 hours I will be presenting a webinar on how to create and use
> online videos to get holiday traffic.
>
> This traffic is free, and can be used for either your own product
> or an affiliate program that you are promoting.
>
> Even if you missed the class (and I know, I am dumb to send you
> this email only 7 hours before it starts!) the recording will be
> available at http://www.isuccess.com
>
> As are recordings of previous classes.
>
> Go all the way to the bottom, there are LOTS of previous class
> recordings there.
>
> At the bottom you will find a place you can login to participate in
> the live webinar, or you can watch the recording if you miss it.
>
> Here is to your success!
>
> -Steve Oliphant
>


Well, I had to think a little bit about this, because I too feel that those who base their whole business on selling get rich quick type of schemes are frauds, and the email promoting the webinar was a little bit over the top.

But in the end, I simply sent him back this:

Hi (name removed),

-Steve


What do you think of how I responded? What lessons can be learned from both his emails and mine?

-Steve Oliphant

Except like most things in life, it is not that simple.

Now whenever he sees me sit down with my laptop, he associates that with the song, and sits besides me, and demands that I play it.

Which seems kind of sweet also, I mean, I do like him to sit beside me. But one of the things I do for work is record screen shot – how to videos, where the screen is recorded along with my narration. And of course, I can’t do that while he is listening to that song.

So, I found another thing that is a favorite of his. Popcorn. We have a hot air popcorn popper and one of his favorite things is to watch a batch of popcorn pop. But even more, he likes to sit down and taste the bowl of popcorn.

Yes, I mean “taste” and not “eat.” That would be better.

You see, he has an oral aversion, which basically means that he has a really hard time swallowing things. We feed him through a special tube that is in his stomach wall. But he doesn’t mind putting things (like popcorn) in his mouth, he just won’t swallow.

The dogs in our house LOVE him. Because he tastes, chews, masticates, and thoroughly slimerizes his food, and then spits it out somewhere. If a dog is around, he gives it to them. (Unless I am sitting next to him, then I am his first choice.) But if not, he just spits it back in the bowl. This can make sharing popcorn with him quite an adventure. Is that extra butter? Or is it one that he has thoroughly tasted?

And so while I have distracted him from wanting that song played (over and over and over and over) he is sitting next to me trying to share his popcorn, giving me all the pieces he has tasted even though I tell him to give them to the dogs instead. It makes it hard to get things done. So I better type this while I can.

So I decided to collect some of them here.

Original: Michael Jackson’s “Bad”

Weird Al: “I’m Fat”

Original: Michael Jackson’s “Beat It’

Weird Al: “Eat It”

Original: Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”

Weird Al: “Like a Surgeon”

And not from the 80′s but still, a couple of my favorites (Weird Al’s versions, not the originals)

Original: Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”

Weird Al: “Amish Paradise”

Chamillionaire’s “Riding Dirty”

Weird Al’s “White and Nerdy”

And just for fun, a Weird Al Polka Medley:

I am thankful for silliness and for kids to share it with
Happy Thanksgiving!

And then I found The Business Bib for those webcam meetings. <Snork!>