Two For.... Whatever Day It Is

 I think I've been quiet in these part for too long, so let's bring back a couple oldie but goodie segments today.

Part of the reason I haven't posted in the last couple weeks was simply because I was looking for the Ranting and Raving graphic.... go figure it was on my laptop the whole time.  While a post of very little pictures isn't too appealing, I figured why not do a Savvy Loot Box post too.  I think I might have another one or two up my sleeve too if I can figure out what I got on separate trips.  If you don't want ramblings though, you can just scroll until you see more pictures.

For the Ranting and Raving portion of the post, I'll explain why I haven't wrote much this year.  At the beginning of the year I set some non card and blogging goals of cleaning up my computer.  A local radio station played their music playlist from A-Z, and it took like 11 days nonstop.  I have a lot of music so I figured I'd turn on Winamp (I don't have an Ipod or any other music apps, so Winamp is perfect for me) and load all my music up.  Basically I have a ton of music.  I won't say I got it all the right way (ARRRGH!) but in total I had enough music to last me until Memorial Day!  Yes, I had about 5 months worth of music on my computer.  It clocked in around 360 GB's of music.  My goal for the year was to knock it down, long range goal to half, but a more realistic goal would be getting rid of 60 GB's.  Now I will admit some of it is copies of the same song, so it isn't all different, but there isn't a ton of repeats.  Some of these songs I've built over the last 15 or so years.  It actually would be maybe double possibly if I didn't lose a lot of data about 10 years or so ago.  Anyways as of right this moment, I've knocked it down to 274 GB's, so way past the realistic goal.  I think in another month I can knock about another 30-40 GB's down.  Then I have to start sorting songs in various folders and that will take a while.  It's a lot easier to do because I realize that if I want to hear a random song of an artist I sort of like, I can just go to Youtube.  If I want like a playlist, I can just keep the ones I like.  No need to keep the entire catalog of songs I vaguely remember (again, ARRRGH!). It has really been my main focus the last couple months, and I'm also trying to clear up space so I can convert more of my dvd's onto my computer to preserve them from getting scratched up.

One reason I've been able to focus on it more lately is because hey, there's still a virus going around and getting out isn't a huge priority for me right now.  In fact a couple months ago I hadn't been out in over a month and a simple trip to the supermarket 15 miles ago gave me anxiety and I got sick.  Fortunately when I had to go the next time, I felt okay.  I just don't feel safe around other people until Covid had either been wiped out or a majority of people get a vaccine and deaths start to drop.  While it may never happen, I still don't want to risk it just so I can go to places where people are crammed together.

However I know I have to start getting out more, even if its just to storage.  I'm getting bored staying inside, and I've also felt in the dumps more.  The difference between before and now is that before I could get out when I wanted and not feel worried being around other people.  Now if I want to get out, I want to stay as far away from people as possible.  When the pandemic began last year, people joked that introverts wouldn't be too bothered by it because they are used to it.  However, there is a difference between being homebound and being a recluse.  The longer this lasts, I worry more will become a recluse.

February seemed to start on a high note for me, it was my birthday month, and the Chiefs were heading to the Super Bowl.  By the time the month ended, those things were mostly forgotten, and to be honest, neither would be as important than other life issues.  Right around the first week of the month, a couple people I remember from my youth passed away.  Marty Schottenheimer and Butch Reed were always guys I admired, Marty because when I became a football fan, he lead the Chiefs.  Butch was a pro wrestler and he lived about 45 minutes away from me in Warrensburg, MO.  So that was kinda sad.  The Chiefs losing the Super Bowl didn't bother me too much, in fact it didn't bother me at all, but I still wish they had won.  A couple days later though I was scrolling on Facebook and saw a prayer request for a pastor I knew.  He had apparently caught the virus and he was in bad shape.  The next day I found out that he passed away.  I took that a little hard, he was a very nice man, and his son and I bonded the few times we saw each other at church camp, and later on Facebook.  At the same time I look on Twitter and one of my favorite sports writers was trending.  Hmm, I wonder why Terez Paylor is trending.... WHAT THE??? Terez Paylor died unexpectedly a couple days after the Super Bowl.  Paylor began his career with the Kansas City Star covering the Chiefs, and later the Missouri Tigers.  He left to go to Yahoo Sports, and I followed him and even on occasion would try to see what he was up to.  I remember while at the Star he would randomly tweet stuff and he and I would tweet back and forth.  While I never met him face to face, by all accounts he seemed very nice and I never heard an unkind word from all the tributes to him.  I think what hit me the hardest was the fact that it was a week before my birthday and he died so suddenly and was a year younger than me.  The month wasn't being all that kind to me.  Then it got worse.

I found out a few days later that my cousin who was battling cancer had passed away.  While we didn't hang out a whole lot, whenever we would, we always got along and it was easy to talk to her.  My problem with talking to a lot of people is finding stuff to talk about, but with her, it was always straight forward.  I wish I got to talk to her more.  She passed away a right around my birthday too, and she was also younger than me.  Now you can see why I was down in the dumps. Things started to look up towards the end of the month, but then a knock on the door worried me and my mom.  My uncle stopped by and we hadn't seem him in a while, but he dropped off a piece of mail he got by mistake in his mailbox.  While conversing we found out that he too had Covid, and was in really bad shape a month or two prior.  So much so that he was nearly placed in an induced coma and didn't have a great chance of surviving.  Also found out my aunt had it as well, but not as bad, and my cousin did too, but not as bad as the others.  They are all doing better now, but my uncle still had trouble breathing a bit which I've heard from others recovering that they still had trouble with it despite recovering from it months earlier.  I think that's what worries me the most about the virus is the long term affects.

With all that being said, you try to find positives in your life so you aren't just always in the dumps.  For me I found a few.  My best friend got me some great gifts for my birthday, and so did my sister, and I will show them off in a future post (which also will explain another reason I haven't been blogging much in the last couple weeks).  I have many other items to show today for the Savvy Loot so it can wait.  Another positive is a personal goal I actually didn't set out to accomplish but am working on after realizing what I started.  It was around the middle or end of January that I realized I hadn't said a curse word in a few days.  If you really know me, I'm like those people that are friendly face to face, but behind closed doors I cuss almost for no reason.  I'm not sure what happened, but for that week, I guess nothing made me mad.  Anyways once I realized it, I tried to keep it up.  In the month and change since I started I think I've let maybe 2-3 slip, and even then I was quick to realize I said it.  It has been funny though when something happens and I'll just randomly blurt out... "oh POOP!" or something like that.  Its also funny when I really want to say something like THAT BULL.... ugh,  and just stop mid sentence.  It makes me aware of how much I really did cuss and surprised me that I didn't do it more often in social settings.  Again, it wasn't something I planned on doing, but in the back of my mind was something I did want to cut down on for a while.  The hardest part of it was all these people I know dying and getting frustrated but you know a single word won't change anything, so your self-aware to not say it.  Also I'd say it a lot playing video games and its almost comedic how I get angry and just not say anything other than grunt.  So I guess there is something you can always improve on.  Now if I can lose some weight as easily as I stopped cussing.

Alright enough ranting and raving, lets get to the Savvy Loot Box.  The concept of this is there are a lot of loot boxes out there charging anywhere from 20-40 bucks and they send you stuff.  Its a cool concept, but my issue is two fold, first I don't have that kind of money, and second some items you get you don't like, so you can either sell it to get some money back, or just hold on to it.  My solution was this.  I go to my local second hand store, Savvy Seconds, and I limit myself to a total of 5 or 10 bucks of only things I would want.  Most of the time, I spend under 2 bucks and still find plenty of items to make me happy.  Usually its movies, music, or books, and this time is no different.  Sorry for those wanting to see cards, but I think I have a post or two coming up dedicated to cards.  So let's look at what I got on my most recent trip filling the Savvy Loot Box.

Well, first I'll show what the VHS selections are to choose from.  This is mainly for Jon over at A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts as I enjoy his posts and seeing what he finds in his thrift hauls.  VHS tapes at Savvy is 5 for 50 cents or 10 for a buck.  Or basically 10 cents each.  I usually buy in lots of 5 or 10 just because but on some occasions I will get 1 or 2 by themselves.  On this trip I was so excited with what I got.  Initially I had 11 movies but put one back.  Maybe next time Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.  I mainly buy movies I can't find on DVD like random sports bloopers, or movies I still haven't bought on DVD because I've never seen it anywhere.  My goal is to convert a lot of them to blank DVD's and if they are oddball and not on Youtube, I may put them up there.  I have a couple to upload, but last year I posted a Slumberland promotional video and a video on if you find a dead bald eagle.  Very oddball, and not a lot of views but its something random that who knows might take off.  Otherwise I also love to find used blank VHS tapes to hopefully mine some commercials off of,  They get a lot of views on Youtube and I posted some late last year on there.  Today no blank ones, so let's see what I got.

Here are nine of them, I'll show the other in a minute.  Another reason I get VHS tapes is I buy some because I had them growing up, and want to show the cases off.  I like to have them in as best condition as possible, but the Ninja Turtles one is pretty rough.  I will upgrade if I find another one.  I try my best to find the exact cover that I had for movies, as some were re-released many times.  Next trip I will see if they have better looking cases for the Disney movies, those are in really bad shape too.  Maybe Snow Dogs will be in good condition and I'll use that.  Oddly enough I don't have either Disney movie on DVD or Blu ray and want to some day, so hopefully these will convert to dvd in the meantime.  After I got home I realized we never owned Overboard on VHS, we only had it recorded off the TV, but oh well.  I do own it on DVD, so in hindsight I should have skipped it.  Tremors 2 I got for a couple reasons.  First and foremost, I don't remember seeing it.  I'm sure I have, but I have no memory of it.  I've watched the first one and the most recent 2-3 so might as well watch them all.  I also got it because its an ex-movie store rental, and since there aren't any around anymore, I wanted it for memories.  I even knew which store it came from from the sun faded look.  A local place called Home Theater had a few movies right by the windows forever and they looked so awful, but that's the memories.  I have another cool thing to show on the next one of these posts pertaining to movie stores, so I'll do that in a future post.  The Garth and Hot Rods fit into the oddball and while I know the Garth music videos are likely on Youtube, I'm curious what bonus stuff is on there.  Plus early 90's Garth was my favorite.  The Hot Rods one should be fun to watch at least once, so for a dime it was easy to grab.  The last two though, almost made me squeal, and they were both right in front of me right before I snapped the photos of all the movies.  Noah was a movie starring Tony Danza that as it likely implies, he builds an ark.  Somewhat like Evan Almighty, it was a nice movie that I randomly saw on one of the religious channels about a decade ago, but I never saw it for sale anywhere.  When I found it on Youtube, something seemed off about it, so I have been holding out hope I could find it.  Today was that day.  Then immediately after finding it I panned down and I saw THE CHASE emblazoned on the side of a box.  I got really excited.  Another movie I've wanted to own for well over a decade, I've never found it for sale so a VHS copy is better than nothing.  I had recorded it off HBO or Cinemax in the late 90's and always wanted a copy.  Eventually the tape got damaged or I lost it so its been many years since I've seen it.  If you've never seen it, Charlie Sheen is accused of a crime he didn't commit, so worried when cops see he at a convenience store, he takes Kristy Swanson hostage (with a candy bar, a Butterfinger to be precise).  It lead to a high speed chase on the California freeway, with many funny scenes.  It also stars Henry Rollins, Flea, Josh Mostel, Cary Elwes, and Ray Wise among others.  What I find interesting about it is that it was released in March 1994, about 3 and a half months before the infamous O.J. Simpson chase.  I also enjoyed how they made fun of TV news coverage of events, something the news hasn't really changed since then.  If you have a chance you should watch it at least once.  I think I'll watch it later today.

So that was nine movies, I left one off.  In fact it was a double of a movie I showed above, but a different version of the movie.  You'll see.

This is called a screener, and they were distributed by the movie studios for video stores to showcase the movie.  They usually have a scroll at the bottom of the movie so it will annoy you enough to buy the actual movie.  Once the time ends, the studios usually asked for you to send them back to the studios I presume to be destroyed.  This is the second screener I've seen but the first one I passed on.  Somebody else else bought it a few days later and tried selling it on Ebay for 50 bucks.  I wouldn't think Operation Dumbo Drop would be worth that, but to each his own.  I really liked Cool Runnings, so making money on it wasn't my goal, but someone is trying to sell one in slightly better condition for 50 or so bucks on Ebay now, so hey if I could get 20 bucks for it, I'd really consider it.  I like how this case shows all kinds of stats and different cover art, so I think it will display well.  I tried looking for the shirt on Ebay they mention, and it hard to find, but not too interesting.

In total, 10 movies for 1 dollar, I'm off to a solid start.  The next item is a book and I forgot to take a picture of.  It's a book about Payne Stewart, that he might have even helped write, but was released after his death.  I haven't looked at it much yet, but hope to one day.  On a side note, besides cleaning up music files, I would like to start reading all these books I've stockpiled the last few years.  So maybe since some other goals I'm starting to work on are doing good, maybe I can get to that by the end of the year.  I have a couple I really want to dive into, so we'll see.

Okay, so I bought another movie, this one for a buck, but it was on DVD.

This was a movie that I saw shortly after it was released on DVD, and kind of wanted, but never wanted to spend much on it.  For a buck, it was in my price range, and I also figured it was a movie my mom might enjoy, so with Easter coming soon, its time to dig out some religious movies for her.  She watches The Ten Commandments almost daily, so I try to find others she might enjoy.  I hope to convert this on my computer soon so she can watch it.  I've realized its easier to pop in a flash drive onto her blu ray player and just let 7-8 movies play straight through instead of switching movies every couple hours.

So that's $2 so far, but the books are 25 for a quarter I think, but my mom bought the remainder of books, and only got ten (still a quarter, but still a nice deal).  I looked at CD's but none caught my eye, and nothing else really stood out.  A couple months ago I noticed there were no cards at all, so either someone bought them all or they just got rid of them.  I hope they get more, but the ones they had were there for a few months so they were well picked through. One day I might donate some of my cards there just to get rid of them.  However I fear if I do, I'll end up buying some of the same ones back, so I don't know.

Anyways, this trip set me back $2, not bad for 11 movies and a book.  BUT WAIT!  As I stepped outside to look at the free stuff, my mom spotted some more VHS tapes.  After taking our other loot to the car, I went back to check.  JACKPOT!

First the DVD I don't hold much hope with, I remember these selling at Dollar Tree a decade or more ago and are rough conversions of old Bugs Bunny cartoons.  But free is free.  I'm not a trekkie, but again free is free, and Raising Arizona I've only seen parts of, so I guess I can watch it all now.  I presume these were free because they didn't have a case.  I'm not really sure.  The fishing one I got to make my friend laugh.  He'll message me on Facebook laughing.  There is a stand up comedian named Brian Regan who has a bit about taping fishing off TV and we randomly mention it.  In fact last month he randomly asked me if I watched any fishing on TV lately.  I am in search of a fishing video that I don't know exists.  There is a story that Jerry Reed was once on Bill Dance Outdoors and they weren't catching anything.  Anyways as the story goes, Jerry caught a fish, I forgot the size of it, but he got so excited.  The thing is though, Bill Dance never kept the fish, he always tossed them back.  Jerry was like "Well, buddy ol' pal, I caught this fish, I'm keeping it".  Anyways, when he wasn't looking Bill grabbed the fish and let it go.  When Jerry found out he was crazy.

If that is a true story, I would love to see it.  From what I heard, they filmed it, but it was never shown, so maybe one day it could pop up on Youtube.

Free movies are good, but you know what's better?

Free oddball videos.  Ones that if uploaded nobody will watch, but to me its like preserving history.  Someone took the time to make these, so let's see if anybody is interested.  I can't think the Family one will have much viewing, but maybe the second one will.

What's better than that?

Tapes that could be mined for commercials.  I love seeing these especially ones where things are mis-spelled (which I may not have spelled that right).  I assume Aminal Plant is Animal Planet, and its safe to say Taxes Ranger Walker is Walker, Texas Ranger.  Both have huge potential for commercials.  After I got home, I noticed something on a few though which will make me hold off on checking them for a while.

I have a feeling that might be mold.  If it is that isn't good, and the tapes themselves are likely not to be saved, but I will check.  All in all I can't complain.

So I have a lot of work to do now, but it will be a nice break from cleaning up music.  The weather is also getting better so a few trips to storage might be in my future as well.  So trying to stay positive, I think I had a good trip, and don't have as much to rant and rave about.  Apologies if you you felt the post was too long, I hope to have a couple more posts up soon.  I know I say that a lot, but I do want to clean up files on my computer and these should help.  Eventually I'll post some I've had holding onto since 2017.  Better late than never.  Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a great day and weekend.