Pizza Delivery

This tale came straight from my sister. A nephew arrived late for a job interview to deliver pizzas. No other inspiration required.

Disable A User

We were in a meeting yesterday when a manager said we need to be able to disable a user. Actually, his sentence may have continued with more details, but my mind was already thinking about this comic. I did not decide how to end if until this morning. All my notes said were "disable user. hit him in knee with pipe. he meant in system." Once I began creating the strip, I decided to try and think of some way to use kill in the final panel, and then I knew what I wanted Mr. Green to say.

Monday Malady

I came in today with a totally different cartoon in mind. When I spoke to guard on the way in, he mentioned that he did not feel great today and started talking about football. A light went on in my head and I thought of football overload. I then needed to decide some words that meant the same thing but sounded like Latin so it could be the name of the illness. Finally, I had to choose a title that was indicative of the cartoon but would not give away the punchline.

Blue Jean Friday

Many companies relax their dress codes on Fridays. I am certain ours does, too. Still, there are expectations not stated that polite society expects. What would happen if we all followed the letter of the law more than the spirit? That is what this cartoon explores.

Did Someone Call Me Snorer

I don't normally use phrases as my cartoon titles, but today's is a nod to a song from a Marx Brothers movie. Do you know which one? I also try not to name them so that you could guess the twist in panel 4. That is still true in this case.

My inspiration for this is not any family member. Rather, it was from last night's episode of Glee, where they accused the new coach of snoring. The Disneyland part is from family, though.

Sassy Molasses

Actually, the name of the BBQ sauce was Sassy Molassey, but I wanted to draw the reader's attention directly to the sounds in the word. A friend asked me that question and I knew it needed to be a CoV. I am a word and sounds of words guy, so even though it implies a bad word (which nowadays is acceptable even on prime time TV), I felt compelled to write about.

A guy at work reminded me of the places that give free entrees or desserts on your birthday. So, I imagined what it would be like trying to redeem all of them on your b-day. I decided to make the twist be listing a bunch of places, then saying "but wait...there's more." Then, as I wrote it, it sounded funnier in my head to imply I had done all the places named before lunch.

Daughter's Birthday

Yes, today is our daughter's birthday. I wanted to play with the the idea that she is in fourth grade and make the reader identify with little girls. Then, in the final panel, add the twist that she is the teacher.

Obama Hands

Did you watch his speech the other night. He was sitting at his desk in the Oval Office, and kept his arms and hands still in front of him as he spoke. Not even his fingers moved. Come on. So I wondered if maybe they were just fake arms and hands that he sat behind to show sincerity. That was where this strip came from.

I heard from a friend that her husbands was "fitting 15 legs on people Friday." I suppose "normal" people might have read that as intended, but my mind immediately wondered why people would want 15 legs. From there, the rest of today's CoV built on the misunderstanding. No, I do not know how many people got 15 legs.

Football and More Football

The first weekend of NFL football finds me watching even teams in whom I have no interest the rest of the season. So, I wanted to celebrate that, but then take the cartoon in an unexpected direction. I decided video football was a good twist. Then, I needed something in the final panel that was even more unexpected. So, if someone spikes a controller in football, what might they do in a different game. If one were playing a game involving guns, how might a testosterone-laden person celebrate a good play?

Hazardous Cargo

I was in the car with Dad last night when he pointed out a sign requiring trucks carrying hazardous cargo to exit the freeway. Why wouldn't we want those types of vehicles to stay out of neighborhoods? Keep them on the freeway and get them out of here quicker, right? Anyway, that got my CoV juices flowing. I guess it was a 'teachable moment' for me.

Weather Channel

Yes, I do watch the weather on my local news both evening and the next morning. No, I rarely changes plans or clothing choices based on the report. If we are traveling, I also check the destination weather on the internet for the days during which we will be there. So, I thought about how excited a weather nut might be to have 24x7 access to weather. Then, the punch line of a rain drenched shirt actually being drool from being so excited.

Time Forecast

I am sure every company wants to understand how their employees are spending their time. After all, you want to employ the minimum number of people to get the job done effectively and successfully. In our area, we have to fill out a bi-weekly time forecast on which projects are in flight and how much time we will spend over the next two months. That begs the question, are all projects listed somewhere and how accurate are the estimates?

No Downtime

This is another example of a cartoon that ended up a long way from my original idea. I did want to express an attitude of wanting the pace of jobs to slow down. However, I thought it was going to be about maybe a security guard who was tired of the crazy pace of the business. The punch line was to be about having to look at company badges all day. However, once I thought of the idea of going to executive offices and handling secret documents, the strip became about a guy running the document shredder.

Travel Booking

A friend at work told me a bout a policy at her last job where they could book trips costing thousands, but could not incur a travel change fee at all. So, a traveler wanted to come home early. It would have saved the company over $1000, but the admin could not find anyone to approve the $100 change fee. So the traveler ended up staying the extra days and costing the company over 10X what the change would have cost. However, that exact story did not come across as funny. So, I tweaked it to be about the cost of a meal.

Labor's Day

Of course, it is the weekend Grover Cleveland put aside to mollify Union leaders back in 1884 following the death or workers at a strike. It is also the traditional end of the season when a person can wear white (because the cool of fall is coming soon). In the US, NFL games commonly start the Thursday after Labor Day.

Of course, the guys have to make their comments about how each of them perceives this weekend. Neither character's comments should surprise you. I did make an attempt to create a white belt for Mr. Blue.

Season of Lies

This strip started out when I was thinking that I am already tired of campaign ads on TV. They attack their opponents. Both sides throw out half-untruths so they are legally safe, but the same claim could probably be leveled against themselves. However, when we see commercials for Survivor, the lies are expected and even anticipated. True, the Survivor winner impacts my life usually less than a political winner, but we still like the drama. I think this is the 21st season.

I decided to have Mr. Green respond in a personal manner rather than try to use his comments to lead the reader toward the obvious conclusion of political ads.

Unaired Seinfeld

I was in the restroom the other day when a man walked in and began unzipping right after walking in. He was still several steps away from the stall. So, when I realized I was uncomfortable with that, I considered that we are never actually taught unzipping etiquette. That felt Seinfeld-ish. This strip followed very quickly.