Saturday the 14th eve

Just a couple short items to close out this mixed up week…

I don’t play a lot of video games (much to the chagrin of my brother).  I get obsessed with a game for a few weeks and then I don’t play anything at all for six months.  So when they finally came out with StarCraft 2, I got a little excited.  When I saw the $60 price, I became a lot less excited.  I’ll wait for the inevitable box set after the expansion comes out.  So I’ve been playing the original 1998 version all week.  Not because I’m an old school gamer or anything cool like that, just because I’m not spending $60 on a game I’ll ignore after a week goes by.
I have a question, am I the only one who farms out the entire map after defeating the other teams?  I wipe everybody out except for one or two innocuous buildings like a supply depot or a pylon and then I set up bases all over the place to gather all the minerals and gas available before finally knocking down the last buildings and finishing the game.  I like to imagine it like a race for supplies before leaving the planet to scavenge again somewhere else.  Am I alone in this?

Today I ate my first Hostess Twinkie in years.  I think it might have been close to 25 years since I’ve had one of those.  As soon as I popped it in my mouth I made a decision; I am buying an actual vintage metal “Star Wars” lunch box to carry to work.  Unless I can find a vintage style “My Little Cthulhu” lunch box.  A few years back I almost bought an old style lunch box from the comic shop.  I couldn’t decide between the “Ramones” or  “Bettie Page”.  I waited until they finally both sold and I didn’t have to decide…  I didn’t have anything to put in the box anyway, I just wanted it.
This week is the big “back to school” push and I don’t see an aisle full of bright, colorful lunch boxes.  Dukes of Hazzard, A-Team, Holly Hobbie, Smurfs, Hong Kong Phooey…  Can’t tell I grew up in the early 80′s can you?

The only reason I was in the store in the first place was to buy a memory card.  I had to buy one for work.  I need a 2G microSD card.  I was authorized to buy a 4G and hey, if you only need 2M, 2G will do the job just fine but why not get the extra room?  Our manager said that you can get them at Wal-Mart for $15.  I go in and sure enough, right on the empty slot that says 4GMicroSD is the price for $14 and change.  They’re out.  They have the 2G but dammit now I have to decide, do I want it now or do I want the 4G?  Becca was standing beside me and I’m always telling her to wait to get the right stuff instead of settling.
So we run into Best-Buy.  They have the 4G card.  Same brand, same packaging; $29 and change.  A nice hearty “Fuck this!” and I turned around and walked out.  Later this afternoon I ended up across town and picked up the 4G for $15 at another Wal-Mart but wow, Best Buy is twice the price?  All these people that have this hate for Wal-Mart must have deep pockets.  I’ll endure the zoo of sub-mutants masquerading as humans to get the 50% off thank you very much…

I just realized I’m out of yard trash bags and I’m planning on mowing the lawn tomorrow.  Is this sufficient reason to put it off and sleep in until noon?  I’m also out of DVD-Rs, I can’t take a second run into Wallyworld in one day, this stuff will have to wait.  It’s not the store, it’s the denizens.  I can only take so much exposure to what has become the “real world”…