Back
As many of you know, I could not attend last year’s Weekend of Fire at Jungle Jim’s because I had foot surgery. For the very same reason, in addition to two other little reasons, I was not able to attend bigger shows as well. This means I was out of the chilehead community for a while…for almost 2 years. While that does not take away my interest in hot and spicy foods, it sure does take away my interest in writing about it here. On top of that, a couple of other major writers here have some really important stuff going on in their “real” lives that have interrupted their online presence. Add Facebook to the equation and you have quite a lull here at The Hot Zone Online. I am here to tell you, though, that I am back. For the foreseeable future, I will be writing about the products I tried at Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire. Beyond that, we will see. I still have many products on the shelf that I should have already written about, so I am sure that will occupy my time here as well.
Now, I want to point out that part of the disinterest in writing has to do with how formulaic things have been around here. Formulaic turned a bit monotonous. Thus, I may be switching up my reviews a bit and may not include some the things you are used to seeing around here. If that happens, please give me some feedback about it and/or ask a question so I can answer it as soon as possible. Deal? Once I find my camera battery OR peruse my phone pics to see if I have quality enough pics to post here, I will get started with reviews. It should not take long.
No, I am not single-handedly taking over the blog. We still have other writers here who will also be posting. I just think you will see a lot more posts by me in the short term and perhaps the long term.




















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Commented at October 4, 2011- 12:37 pm
Joe found the camera battery. Ready to be sick of me???
Commented at October 4, 2011- 1:03 pm
Bring it Linda! It’ll be good seeing the site rolling again.
Commented at October 4, 2011- 2:33 pm
Nothing like a show to reinvigorate! It was great to meet you and Joe in person at WoF. Best of luck moving forward!
Commented at October 4, 2011- 2:33 pm
Thanks, Hudd. Totally agree.
It’s worth noting here that Joe and I paid for almost everything we got at the show. This is noteworthy because A) we bought only things we liked (so reviews will be biased in the positive) and B) it freed us to write about it only IF we wanted to and to feel like we had ample time to do so. So, we kind of feel like we did when we first started doing this back in 2001 after our first Albuquerque show. We just wanted to write about the stuff we bought and liked. I’m guessing my new posts will reflect that. It’s good. It’s a nice boost.
Commented at October 4, 2011- 2:35 pm
Thanks, Mike!!! Nice meeting you as well. Hope to see you at more shows.
Commented at October 4, 2011- 3:27 pm
Welcome back!:)
Commented at October 4, 2011- 3:29 pm
I was in the same place, as I paid for everything I got there. The closest thing I got was a 15% for wearing my Heartbreaking Dawns t-shirt.;-) No reviewer freebies for me – I was going to buy a lot more sauces on Sunday to take home, but you all know what happened…
Commented at October 4, 2011- 4:35 pm
Great to know you’re back in the swing!! Good to see you both at Wof.
Commented at October 4, 2011- 7:41 pm
Thanks, Scott. The show was so good for many vendors that many of them ran out of some of their products. So, I was happy about getting to some vendors early. You can always get the products online. I have to order some stuff from Johnny. Anyway, hope you’re feeling better.
It was great seeing you, too, Karen. Great to meet your sons as well. Hope they had a good time.
Commented at October 6, 2011- 10:14 pm
Glad to see you’re back! Can’t wait to see all that you have. I really like the fact that you will be reviewing thing that you bought at the show. I think it gives a better view if you know that you like it first..than going in blind. Looking forward to what you have coming here!
Commented at October 11, 2011- 2:39 am
Thanks, Sandi. I’m still stoked about it. More soon.