Humor
/Entertainment
/ArcaMax
Shoe Repair
Arnold and his wife were cleaning out the attic one day when he came across a ticket from the local shoe repair shop. The date stamped on the ticket showed that it was over eleven years old. They both laughed and tried to remember which of them might have forgotten to pick up a pair of shoes over a decade ago.
"Do you think the shoes will still...Read more
Peer pressure
A reporter interviewed a 104-year-old man.
"And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?" the reporter asked.
"No peer pressure," he replied.
Twelve Mile March
I was a new Army basic trainee at Fort McClellan, and one requirement was a demanding 12-mile march.
We got started at 6 a.m. and were pumped up for the trek.
An hour later, feeling the heavy load of our packs, we wondered if the end would ever come. "Men," our sergeant yelled, "you're doing a fine job. We've already covered four miles!"
...Read more
Jerry Zezima: Trash talk
Garbage in, garbage out has been my motto through almost five decades of marriage. It’s only fair since I am the one who creates most of the trash in our humble household. So I have to take it out or I will be kicked to the curb, too.
That’s why my wife, Sue, who would be doing the kicking, is happy that I have been curbed of a messy habit ...Read more
Spring Break Activities That Require No Gas or Groceries
Let's go, party people! It's spring break, the kids are out of school, and no one has any disposable income.
Groceries cost approximately three inheritances, and even going out for a Whopper requires sacrificing at least one child's education. The job market, as they say in technical circles, is sucksville. Then there are gas prices, which ...Read more
Something Smells Fishy Here
We've had our fair share of goldfish. Most of them were won at local fairs and carnivals, so I could understand if they may not have been the healthiest fish in the world. However, I've had friends who've had pet goldfish like mine that lasted for a dozen years (the fish, not the friends), so maybe it's not the fish. ... Maybe it's us. Either ...Read more
Jerry Zezima: A cut above
Blood, goes a familiar idiom, which can now be applied to this familiar idiot, is thicker than water.
That’s why I needed approximately a gallon of water — as well as a box of Kleenex, two Band-Aids and a styptic pencil — to stanch the flow of blood that reddened my face after I cut myself shaving.
The slice of life occurred when I ...Read more
Spring Forward Is Here To Change Your Life
The name's Spring. Spring Forward.
Some say I'm even more nefarious than my brother, Fall Back, but they are mistaken. Me? I'm an angel. I come in the shadows and simply borrow a measly hour of your z's, a commodity of which you are already deprived due to the unfortunate high-cortisol state of your daily travails.
I like to think I'm a bit ...Read more
Now Hold on a Minute
"All of our operators are currently busy with other customers," said the recorded voice on the other end of the line. Then she told me my call was very important to them and would be answered in the order it was received. And this order, apparently, put me at the back of a very long line of other callers who were also so important to them that...Read more
Jerry Zezima: Retaining a perfect smile
Word of mouth has it that my mouth isn’t as big as everyone thinks and that my foot (size 11 wide) isn’t stuck in it.
But the really good news is that an orthodontic resident said my teeth are in great shape because the retainers I use to keep my teeth in great shape are in — you guessed it — deplorable condition.
Sorry, I mean great ...Read more
How a Writer Overcame Delusions in Postpartum Psychosis
When Ayana Lage got pregnant, she prepared for the worst. She'd struggled with mental health and knew depression could be lying in wait.
She didn't expect to feel exhilarated after the birth.
"I'm so happy," recalled Lage, 32. "I'm doing amazing. I'm thriving, and I don't feel like I need to sleep. I literally just feel incredible."
Then ...Read more
The Tale of the Goat With a Coat
One day as my husband and I were walking through my town, I noticed a guy coming toward us walking his dog. I peered ahead and tried to figure out what breed the dog was. He didn't look like any dog I'd ever seen before. As they got closer, I realized he didn't even look like a dog. He actually looked like ...
A goat.
"Hey honey, is that a ...Read more
Jerry Zezima: No money down the drain
If I started my own plumbing business, I would be like the Three Stooges, who played plumbers in one of their classic movie shorts and ended up flooding a house.
But if the drain in your shower ever gets clogged, I’m the guy to call.
Unlike Moe, Larry and Curly, I somehow solved that plumbing problem without turning our humble abode into ...Read more
All the Cars Are Ugly
Tragically, I have started shopping for a new car.
I drive a 2017 Fiat 500X. His name is Frank, and he has an Italian accent. Though he is far from my first car, he is the first car I have ever truly loved. I found him sitting alone in a beam of light on a Fiat lot, bright red with shining rims, languishing like the last dog at the pound ...Read more
A Plant by Any Other Name
"What do you think of our new succulent?" I asked my husband as I presented the small plant resting on our family room coffee table. I had decided to take the leap from plastic plants to live ones and figured this would be one I couldn't kill too easily.
He looked at it and scrunched up his face.
"It's OK ... but can you get something else?"...Read more
Jerry Zezima: From Russia, with cable
If I had my own TV show, a sitcom like “Everybody Loves Raymond” that I would call “Some People Seem to Like Jerry,” the first episode would be about how I can’t work my own TV.
That was the sad situation when I had so much trouble with a faulty cable box that I wanted to fix it with a screwdriver. Unfortunately, vodka and orange ...Read more
Pam Bondi Used To Inspire Women. Now She Protects Bad Men.
Most anyone who worked in Tampa Bay news in the 2000s has a Pam Bondi story. Before her ascent to become this nation's most scurrilous attorney general, she was a constant contact for reporters covering crime and courts and a fixture on the Tampa social scene. She had panache and warmth, facets impossible to find in the monstrous character who...Read more
A Little Tickle in Your Throat
I recently read that the average person will ingest eight spiders in his or her lifetime.
Apparently, this happens when we are sleeping, which would make sense, because I don't know anyone in their right mind who would choose to eat a spider when they're conscious, except maybe my dog.
While this might explain that full feeling I sometimes ...Read more
Jerry Zezima: Let's get elliptical
According to an old saying, which must have been said by somebody old, muscles have memory. I forget who said it because my muscles are soaking in milk of amnesia.
Still, I thought I was the oldest member of my gym until I met a guy who was born during the Roosevelt administration (Franklin, not Teddy) and won’t let my muscles forget it.
At ...Read more
Fighting With My AI Email Assistant
Hey! I'm your AI email assistant. Do you want me to summarize this email for you?
No.
Your aunt sent her flight times for next Thursday and is interested in getting lunch with her high school friend while she's in town.
I said no.
OK, sorry.
...
Hey! I'm your AI email assistant. Do you...
NO.
It'...Read more










