May 28th, 2013

Well, that was perhaps one Memorial Day weekend that minus a couple of incidents, I would be best served if I slept completely through it and woke up this morning.  If you look at the complete body of work, it was not that bad, really.  But it had its share of ups, downs, satisfactions and frustrations to last me this month and next.  At this point, I could really go for a very quiet June. 

Friday

Here is the setup.  My wife has decided to go on an extended weekend with her friend Naomi (we’ll call her Na for short) to New Orleans, the stinkiest place in the US not named Detroit or Washington D.C.  I wish her and Na well.  But honestly, I would have been a huge third wheel and I needed the rest.  So, I work half days on Friday, out by noon.  Then it is one of those what to do with myself for the rest of the day, well heck the rest of the weekend.  First stop, Fry’s.  Fry’s for those who are not aware is a giant entertainment place that primarily specializes in computer parts but over the years has started to sell movies, games, music, appliances, etc.  Giant place, great deals, but they forget to turn on the AC during the summer months.

So, this is one of those quick in and out deals.  Or else, you know what happens to a large ham that gets left in the sun too long.  I kid.  Anyway, this ends up being purely for the wifey as I grab Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for $9.99 and then the Craft for $4.99 (both blu-ray).   Okay, well disclaimer, I don’t mind watching Abraham Lincoln: VH and I have seen Craft a couple of times.  Anyway, I figured that since there is a Movie Exchange (just like it sounds, a swap shop) literally around the corner, I should go check it out there too.

Favor is with me on this day as I get the book version of the Hobbit on Blu-Ray (it was only sold at Wally I believe but its shaped like a book with a ton of photographs on the inside).   Kinda similar to the dvds they did of the extended Lord of the Rings trilogy but not as rustic looking.  But the kicker was, it was only $12.99.  I also snag a cheap copy of Wrestlemania XXIX.  As mentioned, I did not buy the PPV, so a cheap blu-ray sounds like the way to go.  To be honest, I really want to watch the Hell No vs Ziggler/Langston, the Shield 6-man and Punk/Taker match and that’s about it.

On the way home, I stop by Target for some food so that I could make a Pizza.  Yes my wife (since she does read my columns), a Pizza.  Turkey Pepperoni, Shredded Cheese, this wonderful pasta sauce made by Bertolli (has tiny pieces of sausage) on one of those pre-made crusts.  The rest of the night was WWE Smackdown, a very good pizza, and way too much Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (which had been on sale for 600 points).  Very deep game, but a total mind suck.  Honestly, if every day worked out like that one, I would have been overjoyed with happiness.  That was not to be.

Saturday

I wake up Saturday morning which would turn out to be my best sleep of the weekend.  I get in my head that I need to build at least one of the two remaining bookshelves for the book/work room.  I start it at roughly noon and I was done by about five.  I do not remember bookcases being this much of a pain in the ass.  I did take about a half hour break in the middle, but that’s not really saying much.  The biggest pain in the butt is how they make the backing.  It’s basically two sheets of cardboard with a smooth finish (so that it does not look like the piece of shit it is).  Those sheets of cardboard never fit properly on the back of the bookcase, thus leaving you with a half nailed pile of poop.  Unless, you get imaginative.  Let’s just say that thanks to the many spare boxes I have, I was able to use some extra cardboard and made everything work and a bit more sturdy (even if it is a bit ghetto if you were to look on the back).

It was not perfect, (it was going good until the nailing), but it worked and then I moved the bookcase into the back of my closet rather perfectly.  The other thing is that bookcases really require two people to maneuver  properly because at points of construction, the thing is flimsy as hell (heck even built, it doesn’t exactly instill confidence).  I got it to work, but I would have preferred to have my wife helping for at least certain sections (like the assembly of the frame).  The second theme of my day was actually to watch movies and I actually got a three-fer in.

Before I got to work on the bookshelf, I decided to put in the Hobbit.  I was awake, alert and this was going to be the best time for me to watch it.  I see where the film gets a lot of its bad press and it all has to do with the first 30-45 (in my opinion) minutes.  The film has a hard time starting and takes a lot to get it going.  But once it does, good lord is it impressive.  The last two hours of the movie is every part of the book that we have come to know and love.  The company of fifteen (Bilbo + Gandalf + the dwarves) to the orcs to to the goblins was just done perfectly.  Peter Jackson really created a beautiful movie and I look greatly forward to the other two in the sequence.  It’s funny though that despite the criticism of the movie, it still made a billion worldwide.  It’s easy to see why (once you get beyond the first 30-45 minutes).

Anyway, that would turn out to be the best movie I would watch all weekend.  It was followed by two movies after I was done with the bookcase, Attack the Block and the Raven.  Attack the Block was not very good, despite what you might have heard.  It’s from the same writing house as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim, etc.  All of which I undoubtedly love.  They really forgot to make a likeable character in this movie.  It starts out with a mugging by the main character, that should give you an idea.  And unlike any of the other three films, it’s not that funny either.  It was far from a horrible movie, but not one I would run to see again either.  The Raven was a bit better, John Cusack was actually quite good in his role, I just really did not care for the ending all that much (despite the fact that it actually fit).  But in general, they were both mostly ho-hum.

My evening ended after a trip to the local HEB to get food for Sunday and lunch for the following week.  Yes, I picked up a bottle of the Whataburger ketchup, no I have not had it.  Though I am oddly curious.  I ended up falling asleep in bed with the lights on which I woke up in the middle of the night and turned them off.

Sunday

Sunday was a very brief day in terms of actual content.  Mainly because I woke up extremely stiff due to overexerting myself the day before.  However, that did not stop me from washing two loads of dishes, cleaning both toilets, cleaning the cat box and vacuuming the entire house.  The house certainly felt a lot cleaner after all of that took place.  Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be a vacation for me too?  Yeah, that was not the only time those words escaped my lips.

I also watched two movies upon this day, The King of Fighters and Fortress.  King of Fighters is a very cheesy flic based off the video game of the same name.  It is not even good cheese.  They spend way too much time giving us history lessons and very little in the ways of fighting.  Ray Park is the only good thing in this film, but even he is not given enough time to shine.  Fortress is a film from way back that gets its cheese absolutely right.  Maybe I have a soft spot for Christopher Lambert.  But its fun and about the only prison film I can think of right now where I am not rolling my eyes every twenty seconds.  So many things are wrong with that film, but I don’t even care.

The only other thing I did worthy of mention on this day was play some Skyrim.  There was some dungeon spelunking and I have accumulated now all three plots of land in the Hearthstone pack.  Sadly, the two others were much easier than the first one I did (Dawnstar).  Heck, the Morthal one, apparently I had already done the per-requisites, because they were already asking me if I wanted land.  At this point, my Dawnstar house is the most complete and my other two are small houses with no furnishings.  The one thing I’m still not used to is going back to my house near Dawnstar and warp right into a pack of bandits who promptly kill my horse who was in a nearby stable.  At least the horse is replaceable and nothing else appeared harmed.  I really like the locations they choose for the plot of land.  It’s nice and peaceful except when bandits visit.

Monday Morning

To properly set the scene for Monday, we have to step back into Sunday just for a second.  For the last I’d say couple of years ever since I got on this Shadowrun obsession, I’ve wanted both the Sega Genesis version of Shadowrun and the Super Nintendo version of Shadowrun.  The Sega Genesis version came to me fairly easily, I found a cheap listing which just happened to actually include the case (but no instructions).  However, the SNES version until yesterday was way more doing.  Prices were at the $50-$60 range and I could not bring it to myself to spend that much on a Super Nintendo cart.  So, unlike the Genesis version, I just sat on the idea of purchasing it, added it to my Amazon Wishlist and waited.

Sunday evening, Game Over, this pretty awesome ma&pop type retro gaming swap shop who had opened up a new location in Webster posted on Facebook some pictures of previous trade ins.  This is a common practice from the other locations and it helps one to know what comes in, especially if the item is a little uncommon.  (Needless to say they are not going to post every copy of Duck Hunt that gets traded in).  On one of these posts, it lists a few Super Nintendo games.  Super Mario All-Stars, I think a Donkey Kong Country game, and then at the bottom is Shadowrun.  However, its about 6:30 at night, Webster is over an hour away and to add to my comment of joy, two other Facebook posters are talking about the same exact thing.

However, in my infinite wisdom, I decide that 30 minutes is simply too short for anybody to scoop up this deal on a Sunday.  I decide then and there to go into my game room and mark this as the point I start to liquidate my 3do collection.  Yes, I have a 3do collection, about 50-60 games, most of which are in the long boxes they originally came in.  I pick out fourteen, yes fourteen since I have no idea what they will price Shadowrun at (if they even still have it).  Actually, it was fifteen, I put back Wolfenstein 3d which I contend is the best version of Wolf on a disc or cartridge on any console.  The other fourteen I was not going to miss, it would actually be a minor miracle if I ever played any of them in my lifetime from this point forward.

I guessed that the Shadowrun cart should be in the $50-$60 range in order to be comparable to the Amazon going rate.  My estimates on the pile of 3do games was about the same after researching Ebay and Amazon.  Basically, my estimates put the pile at about $150, so 1/3rd or trade in value of that was the $50-$60 range.  Anyway, put the games into a couple of bags (they are big after all) and then went to sleep.

Woke up about 8, 8:30.  Had to be out the door by 9:30 in order to make sure I was there by 11:00 when the store opened.  And keep in mind, I was doing this all on a whim.  I gave myself better than average odds of it still being there, but then either my trades or the price would be too high or something might prevent me from getting it.  So I’m out the door as needed and down the road.  Get there just after 10:30.  Amazingly how light traffic can be on a Monday holiday morning.  At this point, I’m just waiting in what is already a very hot sun, watching the door.

As I’m watching, I see people pass by, some look inside and get that paranoia feeling.  Keep in mind, there were two other posters (nevermind all the people who read it) who were acting like they wanted it.  I am also pretty sure they lived a lot closer than I did.  So needless to say, I have off and on again silly paranoia.  I even see somebody sitting on the bench next to the place, presumably waiting for it to open.  About ten minutes til I get out of my car and sit nearby.  Another person shows up, geez are these just bored people on a holiday or is everybody out to get it?  I’m fearing the worst at this point, something is just going to be off.

I don’t have the games with me because I left them in the car and I don’t feel like walking with two bags of games only to find that the copy was sold last night.  The clock strikes 11, the door clicks open a couple of minutes after that.  The three of us walk inside, and thankfully the other two were just browsing.  If I was to describe the Game Over Webster location, I would tell you that it is built like a split level home with a basement.  So basically, three small levels with retro games and the sales counter at the middle, with newer games up top and then a mini arcade on the bottom level.  Really cool looking, I wish I had spent more time there.

I look into the glass case (since I figure that the game was uncommon enough to be behind the glass so to speak).  There it is hanging out, with other Super Nintendo games, the Shadowrun cart and the price tag, $39.99.  I contemplated not even bringing the games in, but figured that since I went to the trouble of bagging them up and looking them up as well, just do it.  Ran back to my car, grabbed the bags and brought them inside to the female attendant.  Yes, the machoism in me was screaming, what the heck does she know about 3do games?  But then I was like, outside of you and probably a dozen others in the United States, who really does know about 3do games?  So, I left them to her.

Looked around for about ten minutes, if I wasn’t so focused, I could have really enjoyed everything around me.  All I kept thinking was about that Shadowrun cart?  Heck, somebody could have walked in, robbed the place and I be like so, what about that Shadowrun game?  Yeah, its bad I admit it.  So she’s done, and the amount comes to (*drum roll*) $19.75 in cash or $39.50 in trade in value.  A little bit of a downer, but then I expected to pay a lot more for the Shadowrun game too.  So, I did the sensible thing and asked the lady for an even trade and pointed to the Shadowrun cart.  $.49 difference should not be a big deal.  Thankfully, it wasn’t and the game was mine.  It really looks hardly played too, the label is nearly perfect which is pretty amazing considering its a 20 year old game.  I’ll be honest with you, if my day had ended there, there is a chance that this column would not have been written.  In some ways, no offense to my readers, I wish it had ended there too.

Monday afternoon/night

On this day as well, my wife was coming back from New Orleans with Na.  I had no idea when that was going to be (honestly that was my downfall in all of this).  If I had to be a “betting man”, then I would go with somewhere around 3pm, 4pm.  It was currently just shy of noon.  I could probably kill a few hours, grab some lunch and go forth on my merry way to Na’s apartment and grab my beautiful bride.  Of course, that’s when I found out that they had just passed Baton Rouge and were still going to do a swamp tour.  At that point, I should have gone home, put my feet up and waited until I got a call.  In the future, I will do so.  Especially after what comes next.

So, somewhere in my thought processes, I decide to just wait it out and go to Half Price Books across town in Sugar Land.  It’s a lot closer to where I need to pick up Sarah and is a very simple drive.  On the way, I’m looking for stuff to eat since its lunch time and I have not eaten.  I stop at an HEB on the way to go to the bathroom and only to realize that there is absolutely NOTHING in their deli except salads.  I get frustrated because I’m hangry at this point (credit to my friend Will for putting the words hungry and angry together) and decide to go to Half Price instead and figure out something later.  About an hour later, I walk out with Men In Black 3 on Blu-Ray($7.99) (3 discs which includes extra dvd disc I believe that was a Wally exclusive), the Hardback guide to Assassin’s Creed II(also $7.99) and a cd from the clearance section since the only music I had in my car I had listened to about five times in a row (and I hate the actual radio).

At this point, I’m hungry as hell, and go to the Earl of Sandwich, a great sandwich place which was about 5 minutes from the HPB.  That hits the spot.  I am so relieved and I text my wife only to find out that she is still four hours away.  Keep in mind, its about 3:00pm.  This was when I was hoping I was picking up my wife, not find it is another four hours.  I am racking my brain trying to figure out what to do and not coming up with much.  The next three to four hours were indeed a blur for the better sake of the term.

My first stop was Big Lots, I have no idea why.  I did not buy a darn thing.  I went to the Kohl’s, in one way it was a good thing, I needed pants.  I ended up grabbing two pairs of dress pants and a dress shirt.  All from their clearance rack, because honestly I never buy full price when it comes to clothes.  Anyway, the bad thing was that since I was not feeling the best at this point (I just wanted my wife to come home, ARGH!), I probably was not watching what I was doing and left my sunglasses somewhere (I would guess the dressing room but it could have been anywhere).  After thirty minutes of searching with or without Kohl’s personnel, I could not find them and I gave up.  I wear the sunglasses that go over my glasses and are not sold many places anymore.  In fact, about the only place to go is Walgreens.

Off to Walgreens.  Luckily there was ONE pair of the size I needed.  To show you what kind of day it has been, one of the lenses was popped out but luckily I was on my 4th or 5th pair of these things (my last pair was left in a movie theater) and knew how to pop them in.  Twenty bucks please.  Lawdie.  By this point, I’ve wasted enough time and realized that it was time to start heading west towards Na’s apartment.  One final stop at a Movie Exchange that’s within a mile or two or my ultimate destination.  I barely have time to grab Taken 2 (the blu-ray combo pack) for $7.99 and its finally time to pick up the wife.  I wish that was the end of the story.

On the way home came the final straw.  Our car, our 2012 Jetta with a mere 38k miles decided to go tell me to fuck myself.  A check engine light came on and stayed on for the entire hour we drove home.  It did not react weirdly outside of the light, but since that was the first time that light had come on, I would be lying if I did not say I was concerned.  So Wednesday morning it will be going to the VW dealer and hopefully it is not something major.  After all that, I don’t need the thought of that I overexerted the car (which I don’t think I did but I keep thinking that if I just went home after the SNES cartridge, I would be so much better off.

Final Thoughts

I hope you have enjoyed reading my events of Memorial Day weekend even if it had its share of ups and downs.  Feel free to comment below and we’ll get to something more traditional next blog.  This story just begged to be shared.  Take care and hope your weekend was simpler than mine.