Things

I've got a few things that I'd like to talk about, none of which would be worth doing individual posts for, so... looks like you're gonna be getting a bit of a potpourri today!

Thing #1:

I already shared this on Twitter, but since I know that everybody isn't on there, I'm gonna give it a quick show on here as well. I've mentioned the "copy/print/cards on the side" shop on here a few times before, it's the source for the packs in my "One Random Pack" series, of which I still have plenty of unopened packs (and a couple of cheap boxes) for -- but it's been awhile since I last stopped in there, so since I had to go through town last week, I decided I'd stop in and see if I could pick up a few more $0.25 packs.

I don't think that the bins are being added to anymore, so there wasn't anything too terribly exciting to choose from, but I did find a buck's worth, including what was my first ever soccer related purchase (it was the only pack in there). I've since found out that Vinnie Jones' (the actor) rookie card is the only real thing of interest that could come from that pack (fingers crossed).

Unfortunately, I couldn't get out of there with just these four packs...

Damn cheap boxes, they get me almost every single time I go in there! And I definitely wasn't looking for a box of Super Stars, but how was I supposed to pass up entire box of something for two dollars? The other two were $8 apiece, just in case you were wondering. I'll probably wait until winter to open them, I'm hoping they'll be able provide a little bit of joy during what is usually the most depressing time of the year for me.

Thing #2:

The last couple of weeks have seen me trying to put together a few RAK packages, which means that I've been looking through all of my card boxes, and of course inevitably that means that I will be coming across things that I didn't know I had, or things that I knew that I had, but had forgotten about.

This 1992 Action Packed gold Lou Boudreau falls into the category of not knowing that I had, I don't recall seeing it before, and I have no idea where it came from?

I've mentioned before about wanting, because we a share a birthday, to start a collection of his, a collection of the vintage variety. Now after seeing this card, which I think is pretty neat BTW, I'm starting to wonder if I'd enjoy collecting his newer cards as well? I wonder how many post-retirement cards he has?

Thing #3: Speaking of collections, I've been fortunate enough to have had three people, in as many weeks, inquire into what I collect. No longer having any want lists up on the blog has made my return emails to these generous souls much longer than they needed to be.

I took the want lists down earlier this year, primarily because they were terribly outdated, but also because I trying to dissuade people from sending anything. Don't get me wrong, I love getting mail (who doesn't?), and I'm very grateful for all of the things that have been sent my way since starting this blog -- but I knew that I wouldn't be going to as many shows this year (only one so far), which meant that I would have much less to send people in return (no one's going to want any of that overproduced wax at the top of the post). So since I'm not comfortable with receiving things, and then not reciprocating the kindness, well, that just gave me more reason to take down the lists.

These last couple of inquiries though have made me rethink my decision to remove the lists, so I will be adding some back to the blog, might take me a bit to do so, but at least people won't have to wonder anymore. My collecting interests continue to change, so these lists will probably be quite a bit different than before, but on the plus side, they'll probably contain a lot more cards that are of the easier to find variety, which I'm assuming will be a good thing.

Oh, and for the record, I did try to talk those three people out of sending anything, but I guess time will only tell if I was successful or not.

Thing #4:

I found a piece of coal last week! I'm sure that this isn't all that exciting to anyone but me, but it's still a thing that happened, so it makes into the "Things" post. This part of the state used to be a big coal mining area, so one might expect to find some coal here and there, but I've spent an awful lot of time out in the woods over the course of the last 4 1/2 years, and have never seen any coal! The most surprising thing was that I found it right next to the house, and it hadn't been there the day before. We did have a thunderstorm roll through the night before, the heavy rain from which was responsible for exposing just enough of it for me to notice a black edge protruding from the ground the the following day. Like I said, it's probably not very interesting to you, but I thought it was kind of neat.

Thing #5: Did you see last week's "COMC Shuffle" post? No? That's the problem, nobody else seems to be reading them either. Those posts have become my lowest viewed, and often receive the fewest comments, heck, posts about videos from the thrift store are more popular then the Shuffle posts. I thought folks would like the variety, especially since the items are being chosen by a randomizer, but it would appear that I was wrong. I will continue to do them until the COMC folder runs dry, but I won't be bringing it back once I get this year's COMC hoard, I'll just have to figure out another way to show that stuff on the blog.

Thing #6: In other COMC news, I added $10 to my account the other day. Now I'm sure that everybody's like "And? People add money to their account all the time!", and this is true, but I haven't added any money to my account since the Challenges started, which was like 5 or 6 years ago. I have spent a lot of time doing the Challenges since they opened, and have earned quite a bit of credit for doing so, at least up until late last year. The appeal seems to have worn off, and I just haven't wanted to waste all of my free time doing them, as a result, there's been a lot less money/credit in my account to play with. This hasn't been much of a problem though as there hasn't been a lot of cards that I'm interested in being added to the site, and where this, they're usually priced at 10-25 times more than they should be. Then July showed up, and everybody seems to be adding all this great, and reasonably priced, stuff to the site... and guess who has next to know credit left?

I've been trying to do some Challenges again, but the times that they've been open haven't been conducive to me doing them. A couple of cards that I really wanted were on sale the other day, and priced much lower than they should've been, so since my hobby spending stayed under budget last month, I had a few extra bucks this month, hence the $10 being added to my account (that felt so weird to do). Although, between this, the boxes that I led the post off with, and my trip to Goodwill and Hobby Lobby the week before, I am now pretty much tapped out for the rest of the month -- save for a few bucks to mail out a package or two.

Thing #7:

I won a small item on eBay last month, an item that was going to be coming from Israel, meaning that I would likely be getting a most interesting looking piece of mail, and I did! Obviously I've covered up the juicy parts, but that doesn't take away from the overall appeal. As for the item, you'll have to wait to see that, as it's destined for a future blog post -- a really long, and difficult to write, future blog post.

Thing #8: Anybody who's familiar with the blogs should know that there are some very talented folks out there when it comes to making customs. I have admired all of these talented individuals for many years now, and have longed for the day when I could try my hand at making customs, well, I'm happy to report that the long awaited day seems to have come.

Since I didn't know if I would be sticking with it, I wasn't about to shell out a bunch of dough for Photoshop, but I will spring for a free download! I recently found out about an editing program called GIMP (I'm sure that I'm the last to find out about it), which from what I've been able to gather, is like a poor man's Photoshop. Computers have never been my thing, because of that, I wondered initially if I would ever even be able to figure out how to use it -- but after watching a few tutorials on YouTube, and just messing around with it for a bit, I was very pleased to find that I was kind of actually understanding what was going on. And while I still have much to learn, I'm slightly excited to see what the future might bring, at least as far making customs goes.

Thing #9:

I am a fairly healthy eater, at least by American standards, and have been for quite awhile now. However, in recent years I seem to have developed a bit of a vice come summertime, that being popsicles! My want for them tends to show up right around the time that the weather starts warming up, although it doesn't seem to last until the warm weather begins to fade, I just seem to get tired of all of the extra, and honestly, unnecessary, sugar. For example, as of this writing, my "vice" has already come and gone, and there is still plenty of summer heat to be had, at least around these parts.

Anyways, some of the popsicles still come with jokes, most of which are wonderfully cheesy. Every year one or two seem to stand out from the rest, with the one above being my favorite from this past summers crop, so I figured why not share it with everyone else!

Any guesses yet? I'll give you another second to think about it before revealing the answer...
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Good show! Not only was the joke clever, but finding it on a cherry flavored popsicle made it just that much better. And for anyone who may be wondering, the answer is yes, I will be keeping it.


Thing #10: Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page :)