…
Okay, that’s sort of been dominating the landscape of my life lately, so bear with me.
On Wednesday I was supposed to go in to work for a training session. It was supposed to go until 4, which would be after the time that Scott and I usually meet at the comic shop.
I had IMed him (via dial-up) to let him know that call him if I got earlier than that, but he mentioned that there will be no money in his comic book budget until September, so he wouldn’t be going anyway.
I decided, then, that I would stop at the comic shop on my way in to the training. As I was getting ready to leave, the goober (seriously; he had a mouthful of “chaw,” and pronounced “activated” as “actimated”) cable tech arrived, and I didn’t want to leave while he was there, so I ended up missing out on the training (and the OT).
It was nearly 3 by the time he left, and as I prepared to leave for the comic shop, I remembered that I’m made of money (small amounts of money, but hey, pennies and nickels are still money), so I IMed Scott and told him that I’d spot him for this week (but not next week; I have a training again), and also pay for a late lunch/early dinner.
So after buying the comics we decided to try out the nearby Thai place. I’ve never really had Thai food before, so I figured now was as good a time as any to try it out.
Scott and I were both terribly amused by the names of some of the dishes, as they all tended to be alliterative and just generally seemed comic book-y.
There was one dish in particular, though, that literally had comic book written all over it:
I told Scott that if it were in a comic book, it would appear as huge, Walt Simonson-style onomatopoeia, much like what you see above.
Ultimately we had no choice but to order it. Scott went with the version made with chicken, I went with the beef. It was pretty damn good.
Apart from seeing Superbad, that was probably the highlight of my week.
At least until I got to work, where on Friday I went to the candy machine and had multiple good things happen:
- I found that the candy machine had been restocked, in particular with my new addiction (Hot Tamales Ice)
- I found that the candy machine was no longer stuck in “Coins Only” mode
- I got two for one, due to a quirk of the coil that holds items in place and rotates to release them
So I hit the candy machine trifecta. It’s probably rather sad and pathetic how much this all pleased me.
As I mentioned earlier, and like to mention frequently, I’m made of (very small amounts of) money, but, once the house is purchased, that will no longer the case, as I will be remade out of debt.
Very large amounts of debt.
So, operating on the principle of “spend it while you can,” I went online Thursday and ordered close to $150 worth of comics.
On Sunday I’d spent a significant amount of the day bagging up some of my comics, and making decisions as to which comics were worth keeping and which were destined to end up on the pile that’s going to the thrift store/in the garbage.
There were several that were in terrible shape that I wanted to replace, so I wrote their names and numbers down, and did the same for some comics I once owned but no longer have in my possession, for various reasons, and would like to own once more.
For example, I used to own every issue of John Byrne’s Next Men, from the special Zero issue through to the final issue, #30. However, I let a friend borrow them years ago, and after they were returned to me I found that 0, and 14-29 were missing, and my friend was never able to find them.
Those comics actually make up the bulk of the expense of what I ordered. Most of them were in the $2.50-$3.00 range, but for some crazy reason, #21 was $75! And that was the sale price. WTF?
(My best guess is because of the Mike Mignola cover and the guest appearance by Hellboy)
The cheapest copy, in Fair condition, was $30. Still too much.
I found another online comic shop selling it in Very Fine condition for $20, and went with that, though that site had a copy of it that was selling for $315.
Not sure why that issue is so special, as, in a post-collapse market, that’s very expensive for a relatively recent comic.
In addition to the comics – the receipt of which will be even more exciting than my candy machine trifecta – I bought a fancy black aluminum case for my phone. It was actually.
Earlier today, Brian IMed to inform me that there was a house on fire on the street where my soon-to-be new residence is located.
He and Kathleen seem to take a perverse delight in informing me that there have been a lot of fires on that street. During the home inspection, Kathleen kept commenting on different features of the place that would be a boon to firefighters should there ever be a fire.
I just don’t understand the point. There have been a lot of fires there. So? Am I supposed to not buy the place? A little late for that now.
You could just as easily point out that there have been a lot of fires in Leesburg, or in Virginia, or America.
Where in the world can I move where there’s no danger of fire?
As it stands, the place I’m buying has managed to remain unsinged for 41 years, despite the preponderance of fires in the neighborhood. Without trying to jinx myself, that seems like a pretty good record.
And it’s not like the place is littered with burned-out husks and the shattered dreams of the people who lost their homes. It looks very much like any other neighborhood.
Besides, that’s what fire insurance is for. I’ve lived through a fire. I don’t particularly want to do it again, but if I have to, I’ll manage. Nothing is irreplaceable (as can be demonstrated by the replacement comics I just bought), except for lives, and I’m not going to spend mine in fear of losing it, no matter how much they try to fuck with me.
(I will say that the more devilish part of me wants to set a bunch of fires in their neighborhood and then say, “Sure have been a lot of fires on your street.” Of course, now that I’ve said that, their neighborhood will probably get hit by an arsonist and I’ll get the blame. Oh well.)
In any case, that will do it for my non-bitching about my shitty, shitty cable company post.
Given that I have very little hope that my outage will get resolved before hitting week four, I probably won’t post again until I’m at work.
1 comment:
Don't forget the appetizing Doom Doom! If we go back there, I'm going to have to try that. The name is just too awesome not to.
Post a Comment