Dunk Tank

Tis the season for VBS (Vacation Bible School, a Christian program for kids in the summer that usually is a full week), and some of them have a dunk tank on the final night apparently. Also, we were at the local County Fair this weekend and it was super hot and we saw a dunk tank and thought, those people have the right idea. It's in the 90's where I am, and that's just too hot to be outdoors. It could be a good time to be in water, if you are able to not get sunburned while enjoying it. 

Text:
M: How was the dunk tank?
E: It was a hit.

Trash Levels

 

So this is a continuation of the previous comic, with all three levels of garbage to match the standard levels at a petrol station (I didn't think up a parallel to diesel, let me know if you think of one). I had to look up what the middle level is called because I just know there are three levels but not what they're called. I tried drawing the compostable logo on the mid-grade bin - it's a loose interpretation. And yes, the premium is recycling. My husband likes to say how at one point the local trash trucks were combining the trash and recycling because something about the center not being able to handle something or other so everything was getting pitched. 

Text:
Image of three garbage bins
Regular Trash: no symbols on it
Mid Grade Trash: has the compostable logo on it
Premium Trash: has the recycling logo on it

Regular Trash

 

So I was at a church fellowship and saw a few trash bins with this sign on them and I was confused but figured they meant "not recycling" and sure enough, someone said there was a bin with "recycling" on it but I didn't find it. I just like the mental image of someone looking through what they're about to throw out and sorting it into regular and premium garbage. 

Text:
Bin with sign: REGULAR TRASH
L: As opposed to what, premium?!

Waste or Waist

Two different mindsets :) It took me a while to get to a point where I don't need to clear my plate - I can just stop eating when I'm full. No need to make myself uncomfortable for the arbitrary reason of finishing what will no longer be enjoyable due to the quantity. You can save for later but if it's later and nobody has eaten it, maybe it's time to set it out to greener pastures. 

The joke is that "waste" (to throw out) and "waist" (your gut/belly/hips) sound the same. And if you eat something instead of throwing it out, you are not wasting it (throwing it out) but you are waisting it (adding it to your belly).   

A, holding food: I'm not really hungry, but I don't want to waste it.
B: So you're going to waist it?

Fried Iced Tea

I don't recall what restaurant we were at but it was a recently opened one near us which had delicious Asian food and I don't recall which type specifically but there was rice so our daughter was happy. She really likes rice and noodles. And potatoes, and pasta, and bread, really all carbs. She's a fan. We work to sneak in vegetables. But the iced tea - I feel like fried iced tea is something you would find at a county fair and I would be super curious to try it. Usually the fried food we have once a year is deep fried Oreos and I know they are the epitome of like, obesity, but we split an order of them (5) once a year so I think we're in the clear. Oh man, this year Lucy will want to try them. Less for us :( or do we order more?? Probably not, we will just get 2 each instead of 2.5 since she will get 1. Yay August means Fall is coming and that means county fairs and Renaissance Festival and corn maizes and all things excellent. 

Text:
L: They have Thai Iced Tea here.
M: Fried iced tea?!?
L: ... Yes.

Mint Survival

 

I couldn't decide which version of the comic was better, so first is my original and next is where I added the clarifying mint plant. 

I like both versions - I feel the first one is more hilarious because how else would you keep a plant alive? Hydroponically? There are air plants but I believe those are very specific breeds of plants, not just anything can grow purely on sunshine. The second version loses some of the hilarity due to the plant being right there, dying in its pot. But once you plant the mint in the ground, it takes over and you can't get it back out! You probably can contain it in a raised bed or something similar. 

Text:
L: At this point, I think I'm gonna plant my mint in the ground since I can't keep it alive otherwise.
R: ... that would be a good plan???
*bonus* - mint plant in a pot, dying from either neglect or over watering or lack of sunlight or ...

Problem Solving vs Elimination

Happy almost Anniversary to us! Our marriage is gonna be a teenager. Weird.
This comic came about on a road trip where I was sitting in the back to help Lucy keep calm, and my Jeep has a speaker right between where I was in the back and where Mark was in the driver seat. There are (at least) two mindsets when it comes to problems - solve the issue or eliminate the issue. Solving the issue of the radio overpowering our conversation would be to simply turn down the radio or change our seating. Elimination the issue would involve probably rewiring my car's sound system. One is much simpler than the other, but simpler isn't always better. 

Text:
M: We could have this awesome setup -
L: OR we could just turn down the radio.
M: I want to eliminate the problem, not solve it!

Alexa Joke Fail

 

As you can see, this comic was not drawn at the same time as the previous one because my Alexa design is a bit different. Oh well, stylistic choice and all that. I don't know the answer to this joke because I couldn't get it from her - so now you all have the same unanswered question as me! I feel like the answer could be something about a chicken. 

Explanation: The Amazon Echo Show has a screen that cycles through many topics, but one of them is jokes and she has some very lame but a few rather good ones. She'll show you what to say (literally what I put in the comic is what she had prompted me to say) and then she usually has the prefect answer to what you've asked since she wanted to show you anyways hence her prompt. 

Text:
L: Alexa, why did the egg cross the road?
A: Sorry, I don't know that.
L: Why did you prompt me to ask you, then???

Dinner Tragedy via Alexa

 

So very glad this one is not a True Story, but I had this thought after telling my assistant to set multiple timers and didn't view them right away and later asked to see them and thankfully they were all there but if they weren't then dinner would have been rough because I just "set it and forget it" and move on to other parts of prep and have no cognizance of how long the rice has been cooking or the vegetables have been in the oven. 

Text:
Title: Dinner Tragedy
M: Alexa, show me my timers.
A: There are no timers set.

Thresholds

So true. Kids are like that. On a related note, I recently posted on a social media "The Bible says 'foolishness is bound in the heart of a child,' but I didn't realize the level or quantity of poor choices before being shown by my Lucy Darling." She is being told "No" many times a day now (via phrases like "we don't bite Mom" or "no summersaulting on the stairs") and she indeed has a low threshold for that. And she also took several tumbles outside today and had abrasions on her knees but didn't even cry or act bothered about it. So yes, very different thresholds. 

Text:
A: How can she smack her head and not care, but you tell her "no" and she melts?
M: She has a high threshold for pain, and a low threshold for emotions. 

Coffee Rex

 

Part two, sort of. This time it is a T-Rex, but she is drinking coffee rather than tea. But the joke still continues, despite her protests. Maybe she and the Spinosaurus are heading to the same place, away from the jokers to enjoy their hot beverages. Yes, the posture of my Tyrannosaurus is incorrect BUT the proper posture wouldn't work nicely in this layout. Also, it's already impossible for her to drink what she is holding and correcting her posture would make it worse. 

Text:
Stego: Haha, you're a -
T-Rex: Coffee drinker - there is no joke here.
Bronto: Tea-Rex! Haha.

Tea Spinosaurus

 

So I have this tea-rex shirt and I wanted to draw some dinosaurs but I was wondering what situation to put them in and then this comic came into being. The little green dinosaur was going to be a Pachycephalosaurus but I was struggling to draw him so I went with a baby Brontosaurus. 

Explanation: the Stegosaurus sees the Spinosaurus drinking a hot beverage and wants to call her a Tea-Rex because she is vaguely Tyrannosaurus-shaped and drinking tea, therefore the tea-rex/t-rex pun. The Spinosaurus wants to have none of that, but the Brontosaurus finishes the joke. 

Text:
Stego: Haha, you're a -
Spino: SPINOSAURUS drinking by tea - there is no joke here.
Bronto: Tea-Rex! Haha. 

Folgers Tea

 

This was sparked by a pastor talking about coffee. I just feel like Folgers tea would be rather low quality, like the kind of tea bag stocked in a bland hotel room. As far as a quick search can tell, Folgers does not sell tea BUT they do make single-serve coffee bags so it's like a tea bag but it's coffee. My memories of Folgers would be seeing the tub on the kitchen counter in my Baptist church's basement. I don't drink coffee so I just have the memory of the big red tub. I have been asked to make coffee approximately once and it was at my church and I got someone else to do it because quite frankly I haven't a clue how to make one of those big urns of coffee. I might be able to figure out a regular coffee maker (given enough time) but I know people who are rather particular about the strength of their coffee and/or have complicated coffee makers that grind the beans as well as make the coffee so who knows. Also you probably want someone who actually drinks coffee to make the coffee. That's enough talk about coffee - let's focus on tea next (that's a hint for the next few days of comics).  

Text:
J: You can drink Folgers, if that's your cup of tea.
L: They make tea now?!

Bird Wing Wish, Part 3

 

The conclusion of the whole matter, where I remind you yet again of my favorite bird. You can search my blog to find my other references to emu or I could just add them here. But that's a wrap with the three wishes from the genie! I had to look up how to spell vestigial since that's not a word I use often or spell ever. This person should have just wished for like a hang glider or something simpler to attain flight. 

Text:
A: I wish I had real, feathery bird wings on my back.
G: Ok! 
*POOF*
A with small, non-functional wings on his back: What?! Vestigial?!?
G: I think emu are really cool.

Bird Wing Wish, Part 2

 

A classic trope, when you try to get more specific then you mess up in new ways. What will part three be??? Will he finally get his bird wings??? Do you like that the KFC from the previous wish is still in the panel? Object permanence! I'm working on it, don't usually have much need for it since my comics don't have many props. 

Text:
A: I wish I had real, feathery bird wings.
G: Ok!
*POOF*
A, holding a bird cage with a bird in it: WHAT?
G: I did you one better and got you a whole bird!