Topic: A Day In The Life of The Phat Kid

[Clonehead]

You were rokin out them, huh?
All of those bands sound too new fangled to me. LOL

[Phatty]

Naw, they're just right!  In fact, they came out big back around 1994-1995, which to me isn't too new!  I did have a freakin' blast though!

[Phatty]

So, instead of taking time to relax a bit after getting back from Celebration V, I decided to hit things head on.  I blame it on the OCD and ADD, but whatever.  I no sooner pulled into the garage yesterday after coming home from Florida, and I was out mowing the lawn because it was thicker than the tree tops of Endor!

On top of all that, I decided that I needed to build a work table in my Star Wars room.  See, my SW room is upstairs, while my work table is built into the wall in my basement.  So I went out, bought some 2x4s and a 2'x4' sheet of 3/4" MDF board and built it into a wall in my SW room.  It's definitely NOT the prettiest piece of woodworking, because frankly, I suck with wood, but it's level, it's sturdy, it doesn't move, and now I can enjoy both my customizing and all of my SW collection.

Speaking of which, I have decided that I have too much Star Wars stuff that is collecting dust or filling up plastic tubs, so I'm on a cleaning rampage.  I'm keeping the things I REALLY like, but everything else will be finding their way to Ebay.  I'm keeping my complete Episode 1 carded collection, and then just the figures and ships I really like and don't already have carded.  Some of my Unleashed figures are going too. 

Tomorrow, I'll be taking pics of my new table, as well as my new set up of my Sideshow and Gentle Giant stuff.

By the way, Shawn, I counted my mini busts....48 on my shelves, with 11 more on pre-order, 3 more I haven't ordered yet, 5 classics busts, and 3 animated maquettes.  What can I say, Gentle Giant's my crack!

[Tamer]

LOL! Yeah, I would say you are hooked. I really have to say thank you for getting me hooked too! I am loving those new twelve inch GG Vintage figures and appreciate you hooking me up at CV. There are a ton of new busts too I will have to order.

Sounds great on your new room, boy you sure didn't waste any time. Did you get your art framed yet? I don't know why we didn't take pics of you holding that on day one. We might have to add those to the day one image gallery! I would have been a bit worried about you if you sold your entire Episode One collection after the stories you told me about getting it!

[Darth Aussie]

Stories hummmm?.... .....do tell....lol

[Phatty]

The are will be framed by year's end, but that's after I get my tractor fixed and get some money set aside for Christmas.  I'm glad you like those 12" GG figs, and you're more than welcome.  I looked last night, and I can order them both right now if I want them, so no worries there.

As for my Episode 1 story, it goes a little something like this:  Back in 1999, a Toys R Us near me had their Midnight Madness sale going for the new Star Wars toys.  I went with a couple of friends, planning on picking up 3 figures: Darth Maul, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan.  But, then I saw a couple others I liked, so I grabbed 5.  See, I think I have a mild form of OCD, so I like even number groups (Yes I know 5 is an odd number, but it's the grouping I tend to lean towards!) and was happy with 5.  But then someone mentioned that there were 4 different battle droids.  Well, I didn't want to NOT have all 4, so I grabbed them all.  Now I was at 9, so I grabbed an Anakin to make it an even 10.  Then 13.  Then 15, Then 20.  And before I knew it, I was at 23, which was each figure in waves 1 and 2 for the line, and all that was out then.  So, instead of getting the 3 I went in for, I got all 23 and spent quite a bit more than I had anticipated!  And over the course of that year, I managed to get a complete set of Episode 1 figures. 

[Darth Aussie]

I'm ashamed to say i had a similar experience with my local Kmart here. I'd gone along with a friend who had planned to grab just a few of the first wave, i was going to do the same.... At the end of it we had three trolleys full of figures , deluxe and vehicles between us. Needless to say that was a time when i had a lot more disposable income than i have now ..lol!.....

[Phatty]

Ya know how they say, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade?"  Well, I've been trying to make some pretty high quality lemonade lately, and today, I found out my lemons are rotten!

A local hotel in the town I work in was found to be in violation, as their fire alarm system was non-functional.  So, they were given the choice: Be shut down until it is repaired and operational as per city and state guidelines, or pay the guys on our Fire Department to do fire watch at $26/hour.  They chose the latter, and it's pretty simple: we get to have our own hotel room throughout the duration of the repairs, and every hour, we walk the halls, initialing at 6 check points, and then go back to our room.  At the end, they hand us $208 in cash for our "hard work."  I make as much in 8 hours doing fire watch as I do in 13 hours at my part time job, so guess which one I'm doing this week! 

In any case, I picked up one, to buy my wife stuff for her birthday.  I picked up two more to buy myself a PS3.  I'm currently working my second one as I type.  Now, here's where the fun comes in...  This morning while I was asleep at the firehouse, my wife calls to ask if I'd mind picking up something from the store on my way home: a new hot water heater.  Yup, mine blew this morning, and need replacing.  Better yet, it ran me just about the same as what I was setting aside for my PS3.  Oh well, that's the price of owning a home, and I'd much rather have hot showers than another gaming system.  Luckily, a friend from work came over this morning and helped me out, and we were done in about 4 hours.  No copper pipes made it a lot easier.  Just replaced the galvanized piping and it was all set to go. 

Oh, and on top of all that, we discovered last night that my wife's license plates were expired as well, so that was another $125 today.  We never got a notice in the mail, and with getting my new car all set up, it didn't dawn on us to check on hers!  But that's ok, it's all taken care of, and now I can once again focus on picking up some extra hours here and there for my PS3!

[Tamer]

Daggone, what bad luck! I have been there before.

That sounds like a great part time job to have for sure though! You should be able to recoup those losses and get your PS3 quick like!

[Clonehead]

Bummer on the water heater, Pat. Yep, when you own your own home, it seems like it is always something.

Good luck on getting a ps3 soon.

[Phatty]

Yeah, it could have been worse, but it's not the end of the world. I was able to get the money to get it replaced today, and that was all that mattered.  And now that's one less thing I have to worry about, at least for the next 6 years until the warranty goes up that is!

[Tamer]

It sounds like you have already done it, but I replaced my top water lines on mine with the adjustable mesh versions so replacing those sure does make replacing them easy even if it does stink. For the price a twelve year one was way overpriced. The worst thing is getting rid of the daggone thing. I remember moving mine out of my house when it felt like I was moving tons. I really don't think there is any way to totally drain the water out of the daggone things.

[Phatty]

I don't think there is either.  If I had an appliance dolly, that might make it easier.  But I went even easier still: I called in a favor!  My youngest brother's friend is trying to get on my fire department, so I wrote him a letter of recommendation. So, in return, I asked him to grab a few strong guys from where he does construction and get it out for me!

[Tamer]

Pat, I knew you were fairly bright, but that is downright golden. Still, young guys have no problem with that kind of thing. Ah, I used to have no problem.

[Phatty]

As some of you may have noticed, I've been a bit scarce on the forums as of late.  I don't have any children, but I do have two fantastic dogs, who are our children.  A couple of weeks ago, Max, my oldest dog, didn't have his tail up as he usually does.  It was hanging there limp, so I took him in.  It was thought of as a sprained tail, since he slid down the stairs about a week before that.  At the time, I didn't think he'd hurt himself, as he was still his usual self.  But it got worse.  He began to have trouble standing and going down the back steps to go to the bathroom.  He was eating less and less until not at all unless you fed him by hand while he layed on the ground.  He couldn't drink water unless you held it up for him so he didn't have to bend down.  We took him back in again, and they did X-rays and blood work.  What we found then was that he had cancer, so far progressed it was already in his bones and that was causing his troubles.  That diagnosis was on 12/1.  I was able to spend that day and the next with him and spoil him rotten.  I had to carry him outside and set him down to pee, and then carry him back inside, but I was ok with that.  Then last night, my wife called me at work to tell me he couldn't even stand to readjust himself anymore, and he had nipped at her when she tried to do it for him.  That was him telling us he was ready to go.  This morning at 10:00 CST on 12/4, I laid my boy, Maxim Yoda Newell, to rest.  We're having him privately creamated so tha we only get back his ashes, and we'll forever cherish all the great times, love, and affection we got from him and gave in return.  There was no better dog on this planet, and he will be forever missed and loved.  I won't be online much for awhile, as I need time for myself and my wife.  This is the 3rd dog I've had to put to sleep, and it never gets any easier.