Another Festivus has come and gone, and, oh yeah, Happy New Year!
I promised (threatened?) that I would post some of the more interesting/entertaining grievances that were put in our Festivus grievances box. Turns out, we only received 5 total this year!? Either that means that our customers are fairly content – a good thing – or unless I offer some sort of potential prize, as I did last year, you ain’t going to the trouble – hmmm.
Anyway, since there were only 5, here are ALL of them:
“I hate that we are blatantly selling the gov’t. to the corporations and no one (including the TEA BAGGERS) seems to care” Good point, but at least all of those out-of-state contributions didn’t put “I’m not a witch” into office!
“The dumbing down of American politics. The truly stupid rise to the surface. It’s all sloganeering and name calling. Anything goes. Whoever shouts the hardest and loudest wins. Nobody researches the facts anymore.” I’m with ya, Mike. You wouldn’t believe (actually, I’m sure you would) the outrageous claims and statements in emails I received from a few of my friends who lean to the other side. Check out snopes.com! Even FOX News doesn’t run with some of this stuff!
“I hate inviting people who I don’t like to my X-Mas party (My wife makes me)” Sorry to hear about that, Candy Butt (no name was left). If the right wing allows scientists to do more stem cell research, perhaps they grow a spine for you!
“I hate when people stop for no reason and cause the people in back of them to do rash things or go insane for the rest of the day.” Whoa!, Dan, try to reign it in. At least you are admitting there is a problem. That’s the first step. Just 11 more to go. Good Luck!
“The lack of ‘Festivus’ ice cream” Finally, someone who has a legitimate complaint!! Although, Mr. H. had to add that the grievance box needed a bigger slot! There’s no pleasing some people!
Here’s hoping everyone had a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you observed this season! We all share a big one in a few days – New Years and the breaking of the resolutions. Personally, I’m gorging myself on great holiday feasts so that my diet and loss of tonnage will be all the more impressive.
As I always plead, even if not purchasing one, at least pick-up a copy of Previews each month and tell us in advance what you would like us to reserve for you. How many have requested the Fantastic Four # 587, the issue coming out in January? Yes, Marvel editor, Tom Breevort, former Newark resident and Captain Blue Hen customer, claims one WILL die in this issue! The Fantastic THREE has been foreshadowed for some time. This is it! Requests for multiple copies will only be guaranteed if placed BEFORE 1/3!! I know, you’re jaded with the “deaths” of Superman, Batman, Captain America, and scores of others; but, who knows, this could be the real McCoy!
Looking for a nice jumping on point to an ongoing series? Marvel has announced that you should check out issue numbers that end in “.1″ .
My wish is coming true on January 2nd – texting and hand-held cell phone use will be illegal through-out Delaware and the police are going to enforce it and levy fines (Prior to this it was just dangerous and down right stupid!). Now, the increase of blue-tooth phones is coming. A word of advice – take the damn things off your ear when walking around. It looks ridiculous!
As I have noted before, two of my favorite shows are on the History Channel, American Pickers and Pawn Stars. Santa even brought me an American Pickers tee-shirt. There is another show about the auctioneers themselves and A&E and Spike TV have taken this in a slightly different vein and have shows chronicling people who go to storage facility auctions – Storage Wars and Auction Kings.
Last week, I attended my first storage unit auction and it was exactly as depicted on the show. Each of us had to register in the office. No money was required up front. I’m guessing that there were about 15 different individuals or groups of 2 or 3 following the auctioneer as he lead us through the maze of units. 8 were up for grabs that day. He had just come from another site and rattled off at least 3 more sites he would be going to after finishing this one. I assume that some were planning on following him all day. The rules were that this was a “cash only” sale – no checks or credit cards. If I understood him, there was also a $100 deposit. This is probably to insure that the high bidder actually cleans out the unit completely and doesn’t leave trash behind. They open the door and you can look from the outside – no touching anything inside!
The auctioneer was friendly, even humorous, but he was all business. He stressed that we were to stay on the blacktop, “don’t walk on the concrete area”, and of course he had to remind people immediately. The first unit was opened (the previous 
owner/renter’s lock had been cut off and was on the floor) and we all peered in. Not much! Since I had never been to one of these before, I planned on being a “lookie-loo” as they are called on “Auction Kings” – just curious on-lookers. BUT, if I happened to see some comic boxes … That first unit went for 10 bucks. The second was even worst – 5 bucks! The third turned out to look like it was worth something – loads and loads of computer equipment in original boxes! It was a decent sized unit, maybe 10 by 15″ and the owner had put in shelving units and it was still overflowing. High bidder took it for $660. If it was recent generation parts, it had to have a retail value of WAY more! Around the corner, we were stopped at a large double unit, but he only opened up one of the two doors. You could barely see into the other half and it appeared to be the entire contents of someone’s home – lots of furniture, bikes, household stuff, etc. It all went for $225! By the way, they were giving winners several days to clear out the larger units. When the door went up on the next unit, it looked like the computer unit we had seen earlier, only smaller. The auctioneer said that it had been owned by the same renter. The two bidding against each other for the larger one seemed to try and strike up a deal with each other, right in front of the auctioneer. He flew into a torrent of what fines and years of jail time they were facing if the FBI became involved. Evidently, that’s a no-no! So do it privately!
The next looked like the owners had already taken what they wanted. The remaining boxes were ripped and it looked like trash. The group of us just started walking away, following the facility guy to the next unit. That didn’t stop the auctioneer from trying to hawk the unit and finally “Hernandez” (who had already purchased several lots and appeared to be known) agreed to give him $5. Another unit that appeared to be almost empty went for $10 and the last one was crammed to the door with worn furniture and totes. No telling what was in there and someone bought it for $50. The whole route only took about 20 minutes. I didn’t buy anything, and one would need a truck and a place to store stuff (naturally, the facility would allow you to rent that space!), but I am definitely open to going to other sales.
Now before I go, let me share a great website with you. Mark O., one of our regulars clued me in to this. In your search bar, put in “Mike’s Amazing World of Comics“. It is an incredible work featuring cover galleries, a comprehensive list of DC Comics (Mike is actually attempting to get every DC comic!), Marvel Comics and more. He even has time lines, where you can click on a month and year and see what was on the stands! This site will keep you occupied for hours upon hours. Thanks, again, Mark!
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