Collecting To Excess And Then Rebuilding

First the rebuilding, mostly because I think it's funnier.
Though I'm not a big baseball fan, I would totally buy this shirt. Tom sent me both that, and this article. It's going to be a long season, I think. On the bright side, they haven't lost a meaningful game yet. I think I'd like to get a t-shirt with the Steelers logo, the Pens logo, and the Pirates logo. Beneath the three logos, "Two Outta Three Ain't Bad"
Now, the next two links deal with collecting to excess. I'll freely admit, my mom is a packrat. Thankfully, I did not inherit this gene. I do, however, enjoy watching my own collections grow. Recently with the posting of the pictures of the library and conversations with some people at work, I've been accused of being a packrat and having too much stuff. I don't think I'm overly afflicted with this. Four things that people automatically leap to point out at my house are (in no particular order) legos, books, music, and movies. However, as I'm sure others will back me on, I know
one person that's got me beat in both movies and legos. Hands down. No contest. Yes, I do have a lot of books at my house, but I have a passion for the written word, both to read and to write. I also have an antique typewriter, three electric typewriters, and a word processor. Anyway, I came across the following two items on back to back days and I don't think that I want to hear anything about my collections ever again.
This collection makes me wish I had three million dollars. I'd probably spend the whole first month of ownership just browsing.
This woman needs some sort of intervention/beating/help/therapy or all of the above. This woman puts my mother to shame. The post has a ton of pictures to load, but it's worth it. Reading the descriptions are even funnier.
So, my collections are just average, everyday normal collections. Just like I've always said.

Retratction!

I guess I should pay more attention to the comments section. I opened it up for revising the answer and then promptly forgot that Randy had upped his guess to 3,500. So, he was the closest to the actual number of books without going over and I guess he gets to keep his showcase showdown. Not much else is going on recently. I watched the Daytona 500 and saw lots of old race footage since it was the 50th Anniversary running. That was pretty cool. I also had 6 of my 8 drivers finish in the top 20 which is a decent week. The other 2 finished in the low 30s, which doesn't go well in the points standings. I'll have to wait for the results to come in to see. And, the Pens managed a win against Buffalo so all in all it was a pretty good weekend. I didn't get to install the light in the nursery like I wanted to, but that will come with time. I mean, I have a ton of time left. Counting down to the current due date, I have a whole 133 days. That's a lifetime, right?

Single-Handedly I Tell You

So, I was at half-price books recently. What, I'm allowed. Anyway, I had methodically gone through the sections and heard a couple of people comment on my "list" that I carry. One of them actually commented to me, which is nice. I usually just hear it second hand. "Look at that guy shuffling papers." Anyway, I'm checking out. The counters at half-price are structured in such a way that they have three sides of a square to check out customers. Frequently, they only use one side, but occasionally there are two open. So, across the counter from me are two women, probably late 30s, early 40s. They are thrilled with the novelty of buying books at a half-price. The second one has her total come up to around $25 and remarks to her friend that in a regular bookstore you would have to pay $25 for just this book and holds one up. Turns out, it's some selection from Oprah's book club. I didn't see which one and as far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter. So, the first woman asks if she's heard anything about the book itself. The second woman actually verbalizes...out loud...in public, the following sentence. "I have no idea, but if Oprah recommends it, then I'll read it." The girl that was ringing up my books almost snapped her neck, her head spun around so fast. (She was, in my opinion, in the end stages of a goth look...kind of grungy, nose-ring, colored hair, but realizing that she was getting a little older) I'm just appalled and beginning to seethe. The two women continue their purchase, take their bags and head for the door. As the door is closing, Terri walks up to me. I turn to her and say, "See, I told you. I actually heard one of those women say out loud, 'If Oprah recommends it, then I'll read it.' I told you that woman is single-handedly destroying literature." The counter girl almost chokes trying not to laugh out loud. Then she turns to me and says, "I'm sorry, can I get a high-five for that? I'm not allowed to say things like that here, but since you did I'm going to agree." So, I exchanged high-fives with the counter girl with Terri rolling her eyes that not only is someone in agreement, but they're willing to admit it. She figures that's all I need and know she's going to have to listen to my anti-Oprah rant for the next several hours. Luckily, I was appeased by the high-five and the eventual thought of relating the story here.
Oh, and because I let it linger a bit too long, the final tally on the books contained just in the loft/library (that doesn't count books housed in the bedrooms, living room, dining room, or kitchen) is 3,573. So, that would make Susie the closest.

It's Official...I'm Screwed

Well, go ahead and laugh, everyone else has. And, while you're doing that, you can meet my daughter (name pending...I'm sure that will cause several more posts in and of itself.)
Tonight, instead of relaxing and watching the Pens beat the Devils, I have to clean out 1/2 of the loft so that someone can have her scrapbooking area available to her. This may be the first time in 15 1/2 years that I've lost a bet to my wife. I think the only one truly happy by all of this is Gage who adamantly kept insisting that he wanted a little sister. We're going to videotape that for later review. Like when she breaks his favorite toy, or starts dating his best friend.