127 Sale - Take 2 - Day 2

Now that car space is at a premium we are much more picky about what we buy. Kinda.

Funniest item: hand carved dog pooping with sign that said "no dumping"

Signs of note: "Man Sale", "Guns and Ammo", people who aren't ashamed of what they are selling and people who did not use the speak and spell as a child (see below)

Interesting person: Met Mr. Hoff, a 62 year old self proclaimed local history buff who proceeded to let us know (among MANY other things) that St. Mary's Lake is man-made and those who dug it did do for 25 cents per day plus a drink of alcohol and they used to drill for oil in the lake. Mr. Hoff carries around copies of his family tree in his truck and can trace his roots in the US back to 1644. (youtube video to follow soon)

Overheard: "I don't even own a 9 mm but I buy ammo whenever I see it 'cause I have the right to protect my property and when they take that away from me..."

New vocabulary: "zukes" = zucchinis and "maters" = tomatoes. Also, WTF is apparently now widely accepted among everyone as part of the English language

Did not buy: vintage Playboy puzzle

Bought: more video games, Mr Men figures, Scooby Doo books, Super Mario figures and more

Money spent: a lot less than yesterday

127 Road Trip - Take 2 - Day 1

We had so much fun on the 127 yard sale last year that we just had to do it again. We started off early by shopping at Savers outside of Toledo (this is the US Value Village).

We almost got into big trouble when I dropped our credit card down the skinny space beside the parking break. Luckily that day was saved by my ingenuous idea of using the sticky part of a ladies pad to retrieve it!

Here's a quick summary of our first day of salin':

Highlight of the day: house just off the 127 on the north side of Sherwood, Ohio which had dozens of bins full of every kind of toy you can imagine! Fisher Price, Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Bright, video games, Teddy Ruxpin... it was like an out door 1980's Toys R Us with garage sale prices!  Loved it. Doubt anything will ever top it.

 Some people were willing to trade:

Cool finds: Fisher Price Sesame Street set, Tupperware spice jars, glo friends, Jarts (these are for you Bill!), and LOTS of video games!  We estimate that we accumulated roughly 50 games... and these were later added to by our friends who really managed to wring a deal out of the vendors.

Friend finds that they generously gave to us (Thank you! :) Smurfs! Video games!  Pac Man Tray, Jaws 3D cards, and so much more!

New vocabulary: 

"dip" = chewing tabacco (there is a misconception that this doesn't exist in Canada. It does. But most of us are too smart to chew it).

We say "bag" they say "sac".

Interesting people:

Met a woman who is 43 yrs old AND a grandma! She was very nice and friendly and thought that when she visited Canada in the 1980s we hadn't been born yet. I think we have our sunglasses to thank for hiding our wrinkles from her.

Drive thru booze stores:

For when you're too drunk to get out of your car.

Food missed: Donuts in Celina :(

Glad we didn't buy: used rat traps

Wish we had room for:

Wedding leftovers:

Loved the free sugar cookies from Julie and Freddy Peebles wedding. Big thanks to Julie's mom for letting us park way too long in her driveway.

Deja vu: Saw the Atari console and games set that we passed on last year. It is now on sale for $100, down from $125.  Thankfully I picked up a good condition unit for $40 in Peterborough last year.

Priciest non-road vehicle item: 1950s John Deere toy tractor for $1150.

Miles travelled: Too many

Money spent: Too much

All of our day 1 booty. Probably day 1 - 4 booty because the car is bursting already!

Dinner at the Gatsby's

Due to the massive amounts of email requests, we decided that we should "officially" open up Robinsby Acres to tourists.  We figured we were being selfish keeping all this beautiful land to ourselves... especially since your generous monetary contributions helped to fund it!

There was however ALOT of work to be done.  Somehow we had to turn this piece of nuclear wasteland into a sustainable farm that is capable of feeding the massive influx of needy people who happen to pass by.

Using all my good ole American know-how (which basically involves tightening and loosening screws) I knew this was a lost cause as the growing season was quickly approaching.  So I hired a friend...

... a man with vision... a man that is well versed in "motivating" the workers and military strategy... I give you Germany's own Von Schlieffen!  He came cheap for we found him wandering the streets with a sign that read "will work for beer".  Apparently, since his infamous plan failed in World War 1, he involved himself in several other ideas that nosedived soon after they started (Betamax, XFL, George W. Bush, etc.).  He was also responsible to convincing the Fox network to air the television series Firefly out of order before it was cancelled.. bastards!  Anyways, Von Schlieffen can be seen here earning his beer by supervising his mistress as she tilled out fields.

Success!  Thanks to the nuclear waste that is buried under the garden, the produce arrived the day after we planted it.  The guests (seen dining) seemed to be very pleased at the quality of the harvest.

We laughed, we cried...

Our first international visitors from Trinidad and Mexico.

Our Chief of Security (Branson P. Daug) decided it would be fun to play a game of "find the turd".  I won... or lost depending on how you view it.

We then retired for the evening while Von Schlieffen cleaned up.  All in all a great day:)

Chief of Security Position Filled!

As I'm sure you can imagine, Robinsby Acres is a highly contested property as it spans over rich oil fields that the Canadian Conservative government wants to exploit.  Last night we caught Stephen Harper trying to build an oil pipeline directly from our property to his on Sussex Drive in Ottawa.  I think he was drunk as when I approached him, he kept wanting me to take off my shirt "like Justin used to".  As we do with most of our drunk and disorderly intruders, we called a cab and sent him home.


This is the third time Prime Minister Harper has tried this... this time he was disguised as the McDonalds Hamburgler.






So we have hired a new chief of security here at Robinsby Acres.  His name is Branson P. Daug, and he comes highly recommended by Michael Vick.

His vocabulary isn't very big; in fact he only knows one word... "woof", but he uses it quite well.

This is Branson as the keynote speaker at last years Dogarama.  His topic was regarding the correlation between beef bones and diarrhea. Apparently this is what all the top dogs are working on in science labs all across the country.

 
We celebrated his new job placement as chief of security last night over drinks.  As often happens when I drink too much, I ended up pooping on the floor.  Branson wasn't impressed with me.

There was a bit of a skirmish the next morning when we got into a big argument about which morning show we should watch while we drank our tea.  I wanted to watch Canada AM, but Branson insisted on Breakfast Television.  He's got a thing for Dina.

In the end though we figured it had been a rough night, so we agreed to take a mid morning nap.  Branson sleeps with one eye open though in case Stephen Harper makes bail and tries to steal our oil again:)

Telemarketers:  please send all your information to Branson P. Daug.  In addition to security, he also handles all of Robinsby Acres finances.

Value Village

March Madness!

Time: 2 days
Number of Value Villages hit: 15
Number of Salvation Army Stores hit: 3
Other: Talize (1) - coming soon to PTBO!, Buy n Sells (2)
Money spent: too much!

Findings:

Priciest VV: Thornhill
Cheapest VV: Rexdale
Crappiest Toy Selection: tie between Queen St E and Danforth/Woodbine
No parking in front of the Games store at Keele and Bloor between 4 and 6 pm (if you do the police will make their presence known and strangers will honk and you and wag their finger to admonish you)
There are awesome bakeries all over Toronto EXCEPT where we live!


It's Spring Break, and we did not go to Florida this year like we usually do.  So we decided to do something a bit different... visit every single Value Village thrift store in Toronto and Mississaga... 15 in all.

It took two days, and a full tank of gas, but we did it!  After about the sixth one, they all started looking the same, however the excitement at what we might find kept us pumped up.  Who knows... maybe we would find inexpensive Sega Genesis games?

Richmond Hill location

Lawrence & Markham Rd. location

Vaughn location

What is that in my hands?  Could that be Sega Genesis games for $2.99 - $4.99 each?  I wonder if there are any in there that the Sega Dude doesn't have?  Lets take a closer look shall we?!

Holy crap it is Michael Jackson's Moonwalker!  Before the king of pop died, this game went for around $10 - $20, but now stores are charging $40 for just the cartridge.  I guess it is a good thing that the one I found was complete.  True, there is a small tear on the instruction booklet, but the cartridge and case (with tab intact) are in mint condition.  If the Sega Dude wasn't such a dick, I would just give it to him.  

I've posted it on craigslist.  http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/vgm/3675189602.html

I'm not sure why we didn't buy this?  Maybe $2.99 was just too PRICEY! It is a knockoff Simon game from the '70s








Unfortunately this is not our new couch.  We didn't buy this only because we didn't have a way to take it home.  It has only one cushion, would make a great couch to sleep on

GOLD!  In these bags are G1 transformers.  I rarely see these anymore as every jerk in town collects them (it's a good thing my collection is almost complete, though the Sega Dude might say otherwise).  In fact I actually found a two pieces i didn't have.  The others are on craigslist.  I throw one in for free if you buy Moonwalker:)

The Value Village at the Thornhill location had the neatest toy shelves I've ever seen in a thrift store!  Usually the shelves are a disaster as people seem to enjoy watching their kids destroy the toys that they have no intention of buying.  Fortunately the things I like are made of metal (Tonka Trucks), or behind glass, so kids don't get their grubby snot fingers all over them.

These two finds are two such examples.  Behind glass, a collectors edition copy of both Elder Scrolls IV, and Dungeon Lords were found.  SCORE!  Both of these were fantastic games, but I think I enjoyed Dungeon Lords more as it had a much better ending.  Elder Scrolls games are good, but they just can't seem to end them well... very anti-climactic.

This last shot was actually not taken at a Value Village, but rather at a store called Talize.  This is a store that is a bit more expensive than a thrift store, but more upscale and classy.  This is where the billionaires thrift shop as the prices are about 50% more.  Anyhow we caved and purchased a working Fisher Price TV and record player.

All in all, a good time.  This is definitely not trip for everyone, and hardly matches that of the sandy Florida beaches, but it beats the 24 hour car ride home:)

Mega Man's List of Pathetic Robot Masters

I've been a fan of the Mega Man series on the Nintendo Entertainment System since I was a wee lad.  The premise of all 10 games in the original series is pretty much the same.  The evil Dr. Wily escaped from prison and built/programmed 8 robots masters to take over the world.  The hero of the series, Mega Man destroys must destroy all the robot masters in order to save the world.  What makes this game unique (at least for the time) was that not only do you absorb the robot master's power when you defeat them, but you could choose the order in which you wanted to challenge them.  This came in handy as the game built on the rock paper scissors scenario.  Each robot master had a weakness for one of the other master's weapons.  For example in the first game, I always started out against Bomb Man as his weapon was effective agains Guts Man, whose weapon was effective agains Cut Man, etc..  The real pros of the game however only use the hand cannon that you start out the game with.  I am not such a pro:(  There really is something special about cannibalizing enemy robots and stealing their powers.

Something has always bugged me however.  There was always one robot master in each game that was just really pathetic.  It made you feel kind of bad knowing that the other robot masters probably made endless fun of this afterthought robot.  Either that or the designers of the game decided to play some sick joke!  I've selected the one robot master from each of the 10 original Mega Man games that really stuck out above the others for how useless they were.  Ironically (I think I'm using that word correctly), the level you played while trying to reach these abominations had the best music?!

Cut Man - Probably the least pathetic on this list.  This robot walks around with a pair of scissors on his head

Bubble Man - This guy wears diving goggles and shoots bubbles at you.  Even the game designers must have felt bad for this guy as his weapon was the only one that worked against the last boss.

Top Man - It would have made more sense if it was a sexual reference, but sadly no; he just spins around really fast

Dust Man - Was counting on the fact that Mega Man might have a serious allergy.

Gyro Man - Originally from Greece but left due to the current economic downfall.  He throws sandwiches at you.

Plant Man - I thought my friend was lying to me when he told me about this one.  Sadly he wasn't.  I suppose he does fit into Robinsby Acres theme of making our planet greener... however even we would put this abomination down.

Junk Man - While I do like the Junkions in the Transformers series, this guy was clearly one of Dr. Wily's afterthoughts.  "Scheisse...  I only have 7 robot masters and a lot of spare parts left over. Vait I know... I have Junk Man."  Wily is German by the way.

Search Man - Kind of stupid as it's the other way around... you have to search for him.  After defeating him, you get equipped with the Olly Olly Oxen Free blaster which fires steaming cow dung at your opponents.











Jewel Man - Capcom was going to make Cash Man a robot master who throws bricks of one hundred dollar bills at his foes... however Russell Oliver had already patented this name.  "Oh YEAH!".  Russell Oliver can frequently be seen in the city of Toronto in wrestling bouts versus Harold The Jewellery Buyer.

Sheep Man - Yes... this is real.  He's pals with Gyro Man.








So there you have it!