It’s Friday and maybe a day for some humor.

For some unknown reason, my in-laws were overly influenced by infomercials. We have seen the copper pans, the Emeril Pasta & Beyond, the Sweepa (buy one, get one free) to name a few. I think buyers regret sometimes set in and then we were the recipients of ‘gifts’. One time, my father in law bought was a whole lot of cheap knives.

I subscribe to the buy once, cry once mantra. It is why I have a 2003 pickup that I have owned since it was new and a paid off 2010 vehicle. I plan to get the most out of them. When it comes to tools and gear, I look to the premium side first because I think you get what you pay for. I should also say that I am big on value as well. If something at $20 is 90 percent as good as something that is $200, I am going to side on the value proposition in most cases.

I am sorry to say that knives made in Pakistan don’t make my definition. They were poorly built out of poor materials. I knife is not just a knife. It needs to take and hold an edge to be effective. While these may resemble knives, they don’t do either. To top it off, there were fifty of them. In that lot were some that were extra special, like below.

That’s right. I have a sword that came out of that lot of knives. I can’t remember the exact transaction or timing, but one day my father-in-law brought this over and said that I was to give it to one of my kids one day. It has been a number of years ago now, maybe ten.

Now, this is not a jab at my father-in-law or even my relevant disgust for As Seen On TV habit. I do intend to give it to one of my kids, because it was his wish. And, I cant wait to do it. I am sure it would hurt to get hit by it and I think it could do some damage. But, it is not sharp other than the tip. I think that it is cast aluminum, not even steel. The whole thing is heavy and awkward.

About eight months ago, two people were killed in this very town with a sword. A very strange and bizarre situation were three men were high and got in an argument, somehow two ended up dead. There were little terms of details released about this to the media. Those were the first two murders I have heard of in the sixteen years I have lived here. That is to say that violence is pretty rare.

End Your Programming Routine: So, I have talked about cheap knives and murder, where is the humor? I guess the humor is getting a white elephant out of the blue, which happens to be a sword which links to the two stories together. I do think that he genuinely thought this was a worthy endeavor. For now, I am the custodian of the transaction and my son can do as he chooses when he is old enough to take possession.