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Sunday, January 26, 2020
McKay's, Bargain Hunters, and the Sunsphere
Two weeks before Christmas was probably not the best time to get the urge to go somewhere, and then act on that urge by going to Knoxville, but I went ahead and did it anyway!
For as long as I've been buying presents, I've always been the sort to have my Christmas shopping done months in advance, waiting until the month of seems very odd to me, so odd, that at least once a year I have to be reminded that many people do this -- unfortunately for me, this reminder doesn't come until I'm out somewhere amongst people who are frantically searching for last minute gifts, such was the case on this particular day.
It's not very often that I get the urge to go somewhere, but when I do, I usually end up at McKay's (for those that don't know, it's a gignormous bookstore that also sells just about every other form of entertainment that one could think of as well). I think it's safe to say that it's my favorite place to go since moving to Tennessee, ideally I'd like to be there at least once a month, but because of the drive, that hasn't worked out so well -- I'm on more of a once every 2-3 months schedule.
Knowing that I'd be going back to Knoxville at some point, I started looking for other places to go about a month prior, namely antique malls. Knoxville doesn't have nearly as many antique malls as I would've thought they would, but I did find one that looked promising, so time permitting, I was going to try and fit that into this trip as well -- spoiler alert, I did have time, and did go, and you'll be hearing about it a little further down in the post, but before I get to that...
My heart really wasn't in it this time, but I still made an effort to look through the massive $1.99 or less DVD/Blu-Ray section, mostly because they're starting to add a lot more television seasons to the mix, and I keep hoping that I'll come across something that I actually like -- the problem is, I'm not usually a fan what's popular with the masses, so finding things like American Horror Story and The Walking Dead doesn't do too much for me. I did find a few other things though, so...
Most people either love it or hate it (and aren't likely to have their opinion changed either way), so I won't spend a lot of time talking about the film adaption of Watchmen, other than to say that I'm a fan of it, and had been looking for a cheap copy of the director's cut (if you've never seen it, this the version to watch) for a what seems like a few years now, thankfully that search is now over.
You know how hearing and/or seeing certain things can take you back to a certain time or place? Well, odd as it may sound, early Chuck Norris films do just that for me. All I have to do is think about one, and I'm instantly whisked back to the mid 90's. I don't know how many people still remember it, but Chuck's early work was a Friday night (late) staple on WGN for what seemed like years. I can't tell you how many times I'd meet up with friends on Monday morning, and try to talk about either that weekend's Chuck Norris picture, Up All Night's offering, and/or MonsterVision gem -- only to find that they had no idea what I was talking about! In retrospect, I really wish that I could've had a group of friends whose interests were more in line with mine.
I don't recall how old I was at the time, but Death Rides a Horse was the first spaghetti western that I ever saw, and because of this it's always held a special place in my heart. I've had multiple copies on VHS over the years, but for $0.95 I couldn't resist the opportunity to finally get an upgrade. And Beyond the Law might not be Lee Van Cleef's best film, but it's still very watchable.
And that was it for the cheap DVD's, there was just so many people looking through them, a few of whom were doing that terribly annoying thing of talking (loudly) to each other from what was essentially across the room (50 or so feet apart). I really dislike being caught in the middle of those kinds of conversations, so for the first time since I've been going there, I just walked away without having gone through all of the bargain stuff.
The comic books upstairs were my next stop, where I spent way too much time looking at the recent influx of bargain comics (most are $0.40). When it was all said and done, I had a stack of about a dozen books, but after looking through them again, I realized that I didn't really need them, and the odds of me actually ever reading them was pretty slim, so back into the box they went. This may have seemed like a waste of time to some, but I was kind of proud of myself for being able to put them back, as that's not something that I would've been able to do even just a few short years ago.
All of the music is upstairs too, and even though I hadn't intended on looking for anything, thanks to some folks who I had to squeeze by (they were blocking the aisle), a CD caught my eye, one which I didn't ultimately get, but it did lead me to two other's.
For the most part, compilations are the only CD's that I ever buy anymore. When looking through them, I usually just look for the one's that I don't already have at least half of the songs on other albums -- and this one fit the bill! One of the reasons that I like McKay's so much is that they actually lower the prices on things, which is very uncommon for places that sell this kind of stuff. I always get a kick out of coming home and peeling off items that have more than one sticker (they put price stickers on top of each other) on them, and seeing what the previous price(s) was. In this case, I paid $2.95 (not bad for around twenty songs that I didn't own), but the price on the sticker underneath that one was $4.95.
I remember the Living in Oblivion series being THE go to for 80's compilations about 25 years ago. With the internet being a thing now, there's probably plenty of other options out there, but I still have an affinity for this series.
Since I'm always trying to go to multiple places while in Knoxville, but still be out of Knoxville proper by the time rush hour starts up, I don't usually get to spend as much time at McKay's as I would like, meaning that certain things end up not getting looked at -- like books, which is fine, since at any given time I haven dozens of books in my "to read" pile, but this time I made it a point to wander over to the history section before leaving.
Normally I wouldn't get two books on the same subject, at least not at the same time, but after flipping through them both - trying to figure out which one would be better - it seemed like even though they were about the same disaster, the authors went in different directions when writing about it. So, since I couldn't decide which one sounded better, and with them only being $0.25 apiece, I just went ahead and got them both. I've already read the Thomas/Witts book, and would recommend it to anyone who might be interested in the subject matter. It's a bit cliche to say, but the way it was written, you really feel like you're reading a movie, a very fast paced movie!
So that was it for McKay's, I don't remember what the exact total was, but I think I ended up using around $10 in credit.
After eating my lunch in the car, it was off to Bargain Hunters, which is about fifteen minutes away, and is much further into Knoxville than I had previously gone. My first surprise came when I saw the Sunsphere on the way there, I had no idea that I would be going by it, as such I couldn't get any pictures on the way, but plenty were taken on the way back (those are a little further down).
I had read a bunch of reviews for Bargain Hunters, most of which were positive, but there weren't very many pictures, and I didn't see any mention of how many booths there were, so I really didn't know what to expect -- after all, I've never actually been to a place that bills itself as an antique mall and flea market.
For those who have never been, but are planning on going, one small bit of advice, don't be like me and think that you're just gonna show up and be in and out in 30 minutes or less, at least not on your first trip -- because this place is big! The layout isn't conducive to photos, but there had to be at least 200 booths, and lots of variety, in fact there was too much variety for the short amount of time that I had left for myself to look around, and ended up seeing less than half of what there was to see.
I was really surprised too with how many booths had comic books, I made it through a few, but that was just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. This picture was from the last one that I walked by on my way to the register. I had to go, so I just stopped long enough to take the picture, and then continued on my way.
Besides the huge selection, it doesn't help either that I didn't have a lot of money to play with that day, as such I only ended up buying two things, and one of those was for my mom. I found this issue of Unexpected in comic box that said everything in it was between $1-4. It's from later in the series, but I didn't have it, and it's in fairly decent shape, so I figured it was worth the $2 price tag.
I will definitely be going back, but next time I won't be trying to do McKay's before, I'll just go straight there -- and thanks to Mark Aubrey, I now know that there's a comic book shop that's just a couple of blocks away too, so I'll be trying to hit that up as well.
On to the Sunsphere...
As mentioned, I couldn't get any pictures on the way there, but I was ready for it on the way back. I ended up taking a ton of pictures while I was driving (don't do that, kids!), but don't worry, I was paying attention to the road, I just pointed the phone in it's general direction, and kept snapping away. I probably ended up taking around fifty pictures, with the four in this post being the only good one's, the rest were either blurry, or didn't even have the Sunsphere showing in the frame.
Oh, and just in case anyone doesn't know what the Sunsphere is, and doesn't feel like Googling it, the short answer is that was built for the 1982 World's Fair, serving as the symbol for that year's fair. Fans of The Simpsons might also know it as the "Wigsphere", and no, I didn't stop in for a wig.
This is my favorite one right here, you can see the sphere just peeking out from around the Church Street United Methodist Church (I looked it up), which is an incredible looking building (you need to Google it when you're done commenting on this post). I'll have to try and get some better shots of the church at some point as well.
This was as close as I got to the sphere. It was unfortunate that it had to be cloudy that day, as I would imagine that those glass panes are quite a sight when the sun is out. That being said, I'm still glad that I was finally able to see it in person.
It's rare for me to describe a day spent among the masses as "fun", but this truly was a fun day!
If all goes well, I'm planning on heading back to Knoxville this week, so another McKay's/mystery place post may be up in the very near future...
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Friday, January 24, 2020
A Tale of Two Roby's: Part Deux
I don't remember exactly when it was, but I'll say that sometime around last September or so, I noticed that a 1985 HCA Miami Dolphins Police Reggie Roby had been added to COMC. Now cards from this set aren't particularly rare, but they're not likely to be found in some random dime box either, so while I wouldn't have hesitated to pay it a little bit more for this much needed card that I'd probably never be able to find in the wild on my own, I wasn't willing to pay the price that the card was listed at.
Like I do with most cards that I think are overpriced on the site, I put it in my watch list and waited. I wait until they either go down in price (that rarely happens though), or until they go on sale. Months passed with no change on this one. Eventually November arrived, and I, like a lot of people, began to look forward to the Black Friday sale, the hope that this card would be put on sale was one of the many reasons why I started counting down the days (figuratively speaking).
Then one morning about a week before the sale was set to kick off, I logged in and took a scroll through my watch list, and was dismayed to see that the card was now marked "Not For Sale", that's right, some no good sumbitch had bought my card!
As I said, the card isn't super rare or anything, but it was still a little annoying, however there are plenty of cards in the sea, so I silently cursed the buyer, and then moved on.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, and a package from Chris arrived, the contents of which were shown yesterday, the contents minus one card, this card! Turns out that Chris was the sumbitch that bought my card, and he had bought it for me no less. People can be really awesome sometimes! Remembering my curse, and now knowing who it was that I had cursed, I was quick to send a thank you email, and to let Chris know of said curse, and it's subsequent removal.
So, fun story, yes? Fun, but it was over, right? Wrong... there's still more!
You see, less than 24 hours later, a PWE arrived, a thin PWE, meaning that there was likely only one or two cards in there. Turns out that there was only one card in there, this card:
In case you can't tell, that's another copy of the same 1985 HCA Miami Dolphins Police Reggie Roby, this time from Greg, he of the The Collective Mind fame.
Greg's note said that he had been putting together an order on Sportlots, and noticed this card amongst the seller's offerings, saw that I didn't have it, and added it to his order! People can be really awesome sometimes!
I suppose that getting the same card from two different people is not that uncommon of an experience, but what are the odds that two different people would end up sending me a copy of the same somewhat uncommon twenty-five year old card less than one day apart? To think that they were both in the mail at the exact same time is kind of weird, and I would have to think that the odds of such a thing happening are pretty astronomical.
So now I own two! Not a problem though, as one will be going into the collection, and the other one will be displayed on my desk, right next to the bizarro Whitey Ford that I got from Bo a few months ago -- or at least it will be once I find my stash of card holders, as they seem to have flown the coop.
Thanks again to both of you for the cards! I feel a little guilty about getting these, but this was one instance where even the most up to date lists couldn't have prevented this from happening.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
A little bit of everything
Not being overly fond of the traditional "I'll give you this for that" style of trading has had an impact on the number of cards that I've received from fellow collector's over the years.
Not having any want lists up for at least half of this blog's existence has had an impact on the number of cards that I've received from fellow collector's over the years.
Not being a team collector has had an impact on the number of cards that I've received from fellow collector's over the years.
Not being a collector of current players has had an impact on the number of cards that I've received from fellow collector's over the years.
Not being a set collector (at least not anymore) will undoubtedly have an impact on the number of cards that I'll receive from fellow collector's going forward.
Being told that I'm hard to find stuff for, has likely had, and will undoubtedly continue to have, an impact on the number of cards that I receive from fellow collector's.
If it sounds like I'm complaining, trust me, I'm not! I average probably 10-12 packages/PWE's from fellow collector's a year, and that's more than enough for me, especially given how hard it is for me to write a proper thank you post. Besides, even though everything said here today is true, it's nice to know that there's at least one fellow collector out there who hasn't had any trouble in finding things to send me (or at least if he has, he hasn't said anything), and that's, Chris, aka The Collector. I know this because the package that I received from Chris before Christmas was at least the 27th mailing that's made it's way south from New Jersey, or was it the 34th? Well, no matter, whatever number it was, I've received quite a few packages from Chris over the years, and have sent back more than a few myself.
Thanks again for the cards, Chris! This was quite the mix, you hit on guys that I'm fond of, sets that I'm fond of, and even surprised me with the inclusion of some '86 Topps, three of which were guys that I may soon be adding to my ever increasing list of player collections.
*There was one more card included in this mailing, the "big ticket" item if you will, but I've held it out because it has a direct relation to another card that I received during December, both of which will be featured in tomorrow's post.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Pack Sampling: 2019-20 Panini Hoops (Dollar Tree packs)
I was at a Dollar Tree this past weekend. Saw a bunch of different sports card offerings. Wasn't interested in any of them. Still bought three packs. Regretted it right after I got done paying. I'm made up of 96% weaksauce.
I've seen a lot of people blogging/tweeting about the Absolute Memorabilia packs, I haven't been impressed. I had probably seen a bunch of this year's Hoops too, but I haven't been able to tell the Hoops sets apart since Panini started doing them, they just all kind of bleed together in my mind, meaning that even if I had seen this year's release, I'd already forgotten it. So why did I end up buying three packs of a product that I don't traditionally care for? Yeah, I don't know either!
So without further ado, let's get this JoelsHitShow going with pack #1:
From what I've been able to gather, all Dollar Tree packs now come with one exclusive yellow parallel per pack. I would imagine that the yellow rookies are the draw for all of the modern flipper/investor types out there, to me they're just a yellow version of some kid that I've never heard of, and will likely never see play, or even hear about again.
Pack #2:
This base design is boring as sin... so much white!
Pack #3:
Huzzah, a yellow "veteran"! Unfortunately I don't care about said "veteran", but at least it wasn't a rookie. I know that the NBA isn't exactly teeming with star power these days, but even so, these packs were kind of lacking when it comes to name recognition.
Well, that was fun, I'll have to be sure to not do this again some time.
Does anybody want of any of these? I've gotta see if Randy (RefsInTheBack) needs the Jeremy Lamb and Mo Bamba (Mo Bamba No. 5), but other than that, everything else is free for the taking... including the rookies!
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Friday, January 17, 2020
2019 Secret Santa wrap-up
Seeing as how were already halfway through the month of January, and February will be here before I/we know it, I'm gonna go ahead and officially put a bow on 2019's edition of the Secret Santa.
We bested last year's total of 30, by drawing 32 participants this year, many of whom were new to our little gift exchange. Thanks to Dan's (Vroomed) efforts, we also had a number of people join from the TCDB, so many thanks go out to Dan for his help in
We did have a few hiccups this year, and there's still one unresolved problem (that I know of), but I'm hoping that this wrap-up will help expedite it's resolution. Other than that, things went pretty much according to plan, which is a good thing, as there should never be any problems with something that has "Santa" in the title.
As per usual, I've compiled a list of who gave to who, with all of the blog recaps being highlighted. I think that I have all of the recaps here, but if I've somehow missed one, please let me know and I will update the list. And if any more recaps are posted after today, I will go back and amend the list accordingly. So without further ado, here's the list...
Chris (The Collector) from Kirk (CaptKirk42s Trading Cards Blog)
Paul (Scribbled Ink) from Jim (cards as i see them)
Jared (CMMDTO) from Me (the blog that you're currently reading)
Henry (Cardboard Greats) from Nate (The Bucs Stop Here)
Nate (The Bucs Stop Here) from Jim (budler on the TCDB)
Adam (ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession) from Kari (karsal on the TCDB)
Greg (The Collective Mind) from Billy (Cardboard History)
AJ (The Lost Collector) from Kerry (Cards on Cards)
Kameo (Twitch Collects Cards) from Bryan (Collecting Cutch)
Mike (Not Another Baseball Card Blog) from Adam (ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession)
Billy (Cardboard History) from Kevin (KMack on the TCDB)
Roy (Nothing If Not Random) from Jared (CMMDTO)
Me (the blog that you're still reading) from Matt (Diamond Jesters)
Bryan (Collecting Cutch) from Rod (Padrographs)
Kerry (Cards on Cards) from Henry (Cardboard Greats)
Tim (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning via Twitter) from Trevor (Bump and Run Football Card Blog)
Trevor (Bump and Run Football Card Blog) from Andy (Stadium Fantasium)
Matt (Diamond Jesters) from Teresa (terrbear5951 on the TCDB)
Rod (Padrographs) from AJ (The Lost Collector)
Andy (Stadium Fantasium) from Dan (Vrooomed on the TCDB)
Kevin (Kmack on the TCDB) from Kameo (Twitch Collects cards)
Kari (Karsal on the TCDB) from Greg (The Collective Mind)
Chris (Ntlwhlr on the TCDB) from Mike (Not Another Baseball Card Blog)
Jeff (Xanadude on the TCDB) from Chris (Ntlwhlr on the TCDB)
Tyler (Rekindling The Cardboard Flame) from Jeff (Xanadude on the TCDB)
Joshua (Sportzcommish on the TCDB) from Tyler (Rekindling The Cardboard Flame)
Kirk (CaptKirk42s Trading Cards Blog) from Joshua (Sportzcommish on the TCDB)
John (John's Big League Baseball Blog) from Chris (The Collector)
Jim (cards as i see them) from John (John's Big League Baseball Blog)
Teresa (terrbear5951 on the TCDB) from Paul (Scribbled Ink)
Dan (Vrooomed on the TCDB) from Roy (Nothing If Not Random)
Jim (budler on the TCDB) from Tim (I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning)
Phew, that was quite a list to type out... but thanks again to everyone who made said list possible!
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Are you down with SCC?
After having blogged for over four years now, I can honestly say that the best thing that has come from doing so, is the relationships that have been developed with my fellow bloggers, as well as with some of the non-blogging readers/commenters who've been kind enough to drop by over the years.
This is a sentiment that I know many share, as it's been expressed in many posts over the years. Some see this though as just another added benefit to the already enjoyable act of blogging, I on the other hand consider it to be the primary reason, if not the only reason, for my still being around (on the blogs that is).
I've made it no secret in recent years that I don't really care for the actual act of blogging. Writing about collectibles isn't all that fun to me, and I HATE scanning! Taking, and editing, photographs, isn't as bad as scanning, but it's still up there on my list of least favorite activities. But you know what I do enjoy (you do if you've been paying attention)? The people! The people involved with blogs (writers and readers) are some of the greatest people that you'll ever encounter, and are certainly the greatest group of card collectors that you'll find anywhere.
I don't work at a place with a lot of of other people, I don't travel via public transit, and my social anxiety prevents me from, well, socializing. So the bulk of my interacting with other humans comes from being involved with the blogs, and these interactions are pretty important to me, meaning that even though I may not enjoy blogging most of the time, I'm not likely to be going anywhere, anytime soon -- at least not as long as a bunch of other people continue to blog, and as long as I know, and see, that people are still reading and commenting on this blog.
I was fortunate enough to have received five packages from fellow bloggers during the month of December (got another one just the other day too), all of whom I have had some contact with outside of the blog, which I have been very thankful for -- the fact that they all thought of me enough to send cards is just an extra added perk that has come from those cherished relationships.
Another perk that comes with getting to know your fellow bloggers, is that you start to get a good sense of what they do and don't collect. There are many instances where such knowledge can come in handy, one of the minor one's being when someone is showing the contents of a pack or box on their blog, and you see something of interest, and know that there's a good chance that they won't be keeping it -- this makes inquiring about said thing of interest much less awkward (it's still pretty awkward for me though). This exact scenario took place last month when Matt, the tireless wonder behind Sport Card Collectors, opened up a box of 2019-20 Prizm.
I was very interested in a pair of cards that came from his box, namely the Damian Lillard and Ray Allen orange cracked ice's, and was fairly certain that he wouldn't be holding on to them, so I asked about their availability, and long story short, a few weeks later they were in hand along with a few other shiny new cards that had been thrown in for good measure. I don't collect the Lakers, or Lonzo Ball, but that orange parallel is really neat, and will be a nice addition to my couple of pages of miscellaneous Lakers cards.
Thanks again for the cards, Matt! And more importantly, thanks for the many back and forths that we've had over the last few years :)
And one final thing, I had fully intended on being caught up with everyone's generosity by now, but I have been struggling mightily with posts since about the beginning of November, so public thank you's have been slow at best. I'm starting to feel guilty - I know, there's no need to, but I still do - so I will try my best to get caught up with those within the next couple of weeks.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Friday, January 10, 2020
Free Stuff Friday #1
So I've had this idea for awhile now, an idea that was inspired by a post that Wes, aka JBF, aka The Pancake King, did a few years ago. Well, I guess other people have done, and still are, doing similar posts, but my idea originated with Wes.
The idea's pretty simple, I've got a bunch of stuff laying around that I no longer want, and rather than trying to sell (when applicable) or trade it, I figured I just stick it in a blog post, and see if anyone wanted it, no strings attached (meaning that I'm not looking for anything in return).
The rules are pretty simple too, you can claim anything or everything, just do me one small favor, make sure that it is for you, as I'm not looking to help build up anyone else's trade fodder.
I'm not expecting the stuff in this first post to go over too well (I'm just really tired of looking at this stack), but depending on how future posts go, I'd like to try and do these at least once a month -- although if I end up getting virtual crickets, I'll probably stop after two or three.
The cards in today's post are kind of a mixed bag, condition wise, but feel free to inquire about a particular card(s) if condition is an issue for you. This first lot is just odds and ends, covering '73,'75, '78, '79, and '80 Topps.
This '81 Topps was a last second addition, hence it being by itself. Also, please note that I didn't spend a lot o time with these scans, so there's gonna be a bunch crooked pictures.
Anyone working on, or wanting to work on, the '82 Topps set? If so, here's some more...
If '82 Topps isn't your thing, how about '83...
Oh, and there's two 84's as well:
So... any interest? If there is, I don't know how quick I'll be getting the stuff shipped out. If you want a bunch, or all, and you're somebody that I've sent cards too before, I'll probably just set them aside, or add them to whatever I already have for you, and send them when I get enough to warrant a bubble mailer. But if you only want a couple, I could probably PWE 'em out pretty quick if need be. Either way, just claim whatever down in the comment section.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
The idea's pretty simple, I've got a bunch of stuff laying around that I no longer want, and rather than trying to sell (when applicable) or trade it, I figured I just stick it in a blog post, and see if anyone wanted it, no strings attached (meaning that I'm not looking for anything in return).
The rules are pretty simple too, you can claim anything or everything, just do me one small favor, make sure that it is for you, as I'm not looking to help build up anyone else's trade fodder.
I'm not expecting the stuff in this first post to go over too well (I'm just really tired of looking at this stack), but depending on how future posts go, I'd like to try and do these at least once a month -- although if I end up getting virtual crickets, I'll probably stop after two or three.
The cards in today's post are kind of a mixed bag, condition wise, but feel free to inquire about a particular card(s) if condition is an issue for you. This first lot is just odds and ends, covering '73,'75, '78, '79, and '80 Topps.
This '81 Topps was a last second addition, hence it being by itself. Also, please note that I didn't spend a lot o time with these scans, so there's gonna be a bunch crooked pictures.
Anyone working on, or wanting to work on, the '82 Topps set? If so, here's some more...
If '82 Topps isn't your thing, how about '83...
Oh, and there's two 84's as well:
So... any interest? If there is, I don't know how quick I'll be getting the stuff shipped out. If you want a bunch, or all, and you're somebody that I've sent cards too before, I'll probably just set them aside, or add them to whatever I already have for you, and send them when I get enough to warrant a bubble mailer. But if you only want a couple, I could probably PWE 'em out pretty quick if need be. Either way, just claim whatever down in the comment section.
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Sendin' and Receivin'
For some people, Twitter is a way of life, for others, it represents the very worst of humanity. I may not be overly fond of it, but I wouldn't quite put into the "worst thing that's ever happened" category... at least not yet!
I freely admit that I still don't understand the need for social media, but that could be just because I took so long to start using it, well, that and I just don't care about the majority of the things that other folks do. I never worry about the things that I can't control, nor do I feel the need to espouse my opinion on said things, so that kind of excuses me from most of what people seem to be talking and/or arguing about on a daily basis.
In the last couple of months, I spend, on average, about five minutes a day on Twitter, this being down from about the ten minutes a day that I spent on there before. Like I said, there just isn't a lot of reasons for me to be on there any more than that.
I've said it before, but the only two reasons I even bother with the site, are so that I can try and promote the blog, and so that I can easily keep in touch with other bloggers. At least that's what I used to say, but after seeing a chance tweet back in November, I have to add a third reason for using the site to my list, which is that it also allows me to connect with writers of blogs that I hadn't previously known about -- as was the case with, Trevor, from The Rippin' And The Tradin'.
You see, it was during one of my daily five-minute excursions that I noticed Trevor's tweet about needing only two more cards to complete his 1991-92 Upper Deck basketball set. Now it just so happened that I had a bunch of cards from that set sitting in a box that was destined for the thrift store, so I figured I might as well take a look and see if I could help this random person (who I was mutually following and didn't even know it at the time). I ended up finding the two needed cards almost immediately, they were literally in the first ten cards or so that I went through (fate?), so I let him know that I had them, and a few days later they were headed to their new home.
As is always the case, I wasn't looking for anything in return, but Trevor wasn't gonna let that fly, so after a brief wait on his part while I added some want lists back to the blog (this took place right as the Secret Santa was getting started up), he ended up sending five Reggie Roby's in return, four of which were needed (the other went into one of my random team binders). As mentioned, I wasn't looking for anything in return, but that being said, this was a pretty solid return.
Thanks again for the Reggie's, Trevor! This collection is probably my primary interest right now, so these cards were greatly appreciated, as I haven't had the best luck in tracking down cards of his on my own so far.
And to everyone else, you now have something "new" to add your respective blogrolls, and who knows, with some more support, Trevor might actually be encouraged to write a little more often (not so subtle hint 😉).
Oh, and because I can't see the name of Trevor's blog and not think of this...
Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.