Ahhh, The Possibilities...

It is currently 4:15AM on Saturday as I write this. What is pictured above is what I wore all day Friday from about 10AM until just before now. It was a long night at the store. The day before (Thursday) was one of the slowest we've had in recent history. Tonight (Friday) was good. It wasn't as stellar as we could have made it due to an absolutely *BONKERS* new Magic: the Gathering set dropping today, but we will definitely take it.

The set is called Modern Masters and it is an *EXTREMELY* limited set of cards in terms of print run. The packs MSRP for $3 more than a normal pack ($6.99, as opposed to $3.99), but the set has *SEVERAL* $10+ value cards in it. As it goes, we, as a store decided not to sell any full boxes, nor make any individual pack sales of it. The set is meant to be drafted, so we decided that we would hold back our allotment from sale and break it out for events, prizes, and other big draws. While I know we've upset some people, I believe we've made the right long-term call. A number of places I know are selling full boxes (24 packs) of this set for $225 a box and higher. That's great if you want to make a quick short-term buck, but this set has the potential to draw so much more business than that if a store can market it creatively. We've already got a couple of ideas in mind... stay tuned for those.

I have to be back at the store in about six hours. I will be there, once again, all day. The only part that is even a the slightest bit mitigating is that the last half of the day/evening, I will be playing in Shady's Terracide game. I will also be more than half loopy when I do so. Currently, I'm not entirely certain where we can go in the game. There are some situations that we could clean up, but every time we try to fix something, three other things draw us away from it all. Ehhh... We'll see how it goes. If necessary, I will talk to Shady about it. I really do get the feeling that the game is one the downward spiral in terms of wrap-up, but I've been wrong about these things before. Perhaps it's the fatigue talking... who knows?

-- GopherDave

Not Even Trying....

Today at the store was... slow. Agonizingly slow. So slow that I felt guilty not doing any real work, but given how "GO-GO-GO-GO-GO-GO" I have been the last couple of months, slow was kind of what I needed.

"Planning" for the upcoming game is going. As I've said in earlier posts, I am trying to not pre-plan anything, as I want this game/comic to be about the PCs, and not the cool villains I can make or the neat plots I can spin that keeps the players going in circles. Yes, there will be plots, but (if I can keep my own tendencies in check) they will be centered around things I get from the players. I will add my own spices to the stew, of course, but I am looking for this game to be as player-centric as possible.

With that said, ideas for the game are starting to tumble into my head from a number of different sources. I have a player who, despite my saying do not cement any concepts down, has already handed me a back story for a character idea. I have been trying to not think about it as I did not want to cement anything in my head. Today at the store, in my very idle time, I came up with ideas for play off of said background. In addition to this, I was listening to some music last night (Planet P Project's "Pink World") and ideas were germinating from that.

As it goes, I cannot wait to get this game started. I haven't felt that in a long time. It feels good...

-- GopherDave

The Wellspring Has Sprung A Leak...

Another day in paradise... I am writing this from my laptop and all seems good. Looks like Cowboy did a fine job of fixing things up. However, a small part of me in the back of my mind is wondering when the next virus will hit.

"Lack of Work" continues on the Champions game. I find it frustrating because I actually have ideas of what I want to do and want to get them down on paper, but all of that runs completely counter to how I wanted to set this game up. As it goes, I have begun working on the ideas which are fairly generic and can be dropped into whatever the setting happens to be. Things like one-shot bad guys and plots like "Bank Robbery of the Week". It's all part and parcel of the genre. I just wish I had had this many ideas when I was running my last two Champions campaigns. It would have made keeping those games fresh a LOT easier.

Well, off to go do store stuff... I am hoping to get back tonight and make a more substantive post, but you never know what will happen here...

-- GopherDave

Checkin In...

Okay... the world can stop dropping rocks on my head anytime now. The lumps are beginning to show...

It's been a bit longer than I have wanted since I posted last. Part of that has been because of time, and part of it has been due to some wonky, new computer virus that my personal laptop picked up. I do not know what the issues are, but that machine seems to attract them. Anyhoo, my buddy Marko (the redneck computer technician) went and ran the machine through its paces and a couple of scans I didn't try, and we *THINK* we have the problem licked. I won't know until tomorrow though as I will not be needing the laptop until then.

Last post I spoke of my son moving out of the house, but his friend ("LittleTinyBabyMan") still being here. Well, LTBM has bolted as well. His promotion at work came through and LTBM got an offer from one of our employees ("DoubleL") to room together. Thus, we have an empty room. The boys have a limited time to gather what they want out of it, and then the great clean-up and switch-over begins. Pumpkin will grab Skribl's old room, and we will turn Pumpkin's old room into a home office/hiding place for me. As much as I need a quiet place of my own, I'll miss the boys. Dinero (the dog) already misses Skribl something fierce, and has become a little bit of a whining machine. He hurts, and there is no way I can explain to Dinero why Skribl no longer wants to be pack. Dinero will eventually get used to the "new normal", but it will take a bit for him (and me) to do so...

The upcoming Champions campaign is coming along nicely with six interested players (and one waiting in the wings in case there is an opening). The first meeting is on the 15th, and that is where we will have a "team-building" exercise to try and put together an intrepid group of heroes and do-gooders. Signed up for the occasion are... MapGuy, Rabbi, SquareHead, Ginger, Grumpy, and PapaJ... I'm not really into using the real names of my friends in my blog posts. Those who hang out at the store and read this know who those folks are. That's all that matters.

Just to get back into the swing of making characters for this game, I started playing around with some concepts. I know I said I wanted very little "pre-planned" for this game, but as I stated in an earlier post, what I am working on are "throw-away" bad guys. None of them will be very deep or memorable, but that is sort of the idea. It's not the bad guy's comic-book, it's the PCs/Heroes, and they shouldn't get upstaged in their own story...

peace... GopherDave

Sucker-Punch Packed With Pride...

So... A funny thing is happening... and I am not talking about how it took Store Supply Warehouse sending us six bases to find two that were not already broken and/or crappily made.

I just had a conversation with our son, and he informed me that he has pretty much moved out of the house. He still has some stuff there (most of which we will be getting rid of), but for the most part he is no longer part of our household. I sort of felt it coming, but now that it's here, the situation has got me feeling pensive, and at least a little bit scared.

I honestlly do not know how to describe what I am feeling currently. I'll miss him, probably more than either one of us will ever truly admit. It's the start of the emptying of the nest. We still have Pumpkin (she's got a couple of years left, yet). LittleTinyBabyMan ("adopted" son #3) is still with us, but he just got a promotion at his workplace and one of our employees is looking for a roommate, so I suspect he'll be out of the house in short order.

It's gonna be weird. There is a side benefit, though. Once LTBM moves out, Pumpkin has laid claim to what will be her brother's "old room". Once she moves in there, I will claim her old room as a man cave/office of sorts. I am sort of looking forward to that, but if it came down to having a man cave and having our son with us, I'd choose our son at this point.

To Skribl:

I love you, son, and I am proud of the young man you have grown into. I wish you nothing but good tidings on this flight from the nest to begin this grand adventure that will be known as "your life".

I realize I have not been the best of fathers much of the time, but please know that I have always tried to do my best, even if I was emotionally ill-equipped to do so correctly. As a result, I have made plenty of mistakes as your father. Those actions were never meant to be mistakes. I thought that whatever I was doing at the time was what was best. I know now, with hindsight and experience, this was rarely the case.

That said, if and when you need me, I will be there for you... to laugh, cry, advise, help, celebrate, support, or even just talk with you, because I'm your dad. That's my job and my purpose in life, and I cannot think of too many better reasons to be here than that.

Love, Dad

Sigh... More Of The Same...

Okay... got the new base in for the fixture in yesterday. Put the fixture together, but do nothing else with it for the evening. Get here today and put brackets, shelves, and product on the fixture. Things are okay. Three hours later, the fixture is doing the "Leaning Tower of Pisa". It seems that two of the casters gave out under the strain and decided to pull away from the particle board base upon which they mounted.

Took product off of the shelf, removed the two good casters, put the fixture back together sans wheels, put product back on the shelf, and called Store Supply Warehouse. Talked to them and they will ship out another base tomorrow. It will get here Tuesday due to the holiday.

When we put the fixture together, HiSign noted that the second based seemed different than the first. We just sort of shrugged and soldiered on. Wish we had listened to that hunch.

From a life standpoint, things continue apace. I really wish I wasn't as busy at the store as I have been as there are a number of things that sort of require my attention. I'll get through it, though. Always have... always do... always will...

-- GopherDave

Angry Gopher Is Angry...

Wow... To say I've had a bad twenty hours or so would be a huge understatement. I'm not going much into it other than that.

I will say that Store Supply Warehouse is both maddening and a champion with their customer service. Earlier today, due to some shenanigans with them, I was seriously considering arson, but they came through in the end. Basically, we had ordered some fixtures for the store just prior to the weekend. They showed up on Monday, a day earlier than expected. On Tuesday, HiSign broke the cases open to find the both of the bases for said fixtures were damaged enough that they could not be used. Called up SSW, they said "no problem", and shipped two more bases to arrive today. This morning, only one base showed up. In a rather hostile mood, I called them back to see what the deal was. The sales rep spoke to me, then to her manager, then came back to me and said "No worries. We'll ship out another base and it will be there later today around 5 or 5:30PM."

I was not surprised by the today part, because I was irate and rather insistent that be the case. I put the phone down, satisfied that things would be taken care of. Less than thirty minutes later, I get a call from SSW saying they found the missing base (U.P.S. damaged it before it even got on their delivery truck, so *THEY* had sent it back) and that my new one would be here tomorrow.

My face scrunched up a bit as I questioned this whole "tomorrow" thing after a representative of their company said a new fixture base would be here later today. The voice at the other end tried to tell me that would be impossible. Really? SSW is in St. Louis. We are in East Central Illinois. It is a four-hour drive. We are open until 11PM. It was Noon. From my perspective, they had an eleven hour window. That didn't seem impossible to me. Said representative insisted it couldn't be done. I disagreed. Vehemently. Asked to be kicked further up the chain. That person said it couldn't happen. I asked for the next level of employee. Got to the shipping manager. He also said that no one they deal with in terms of courier could make this happen. Once again, asked for the next level of management up. A few moments later, the shipping manager comes back on the line saying his boss is busy. My response... "I don't care if you have to send two guys with a U-Haul to bring me what we ordered. Your company said it would be here today. I'm holding you to that statement. (brief pause) Tell you what, put the owner of the company on the phone. I'll explain what has happened thus far and then you can explain to him why he is dealing with an upset customer."

(pause)

"Let me speak to my traffic manager about this. Maybe we can get someone we don't normally use. I will call you back within the hour."

It was 12:20PM at this point. About fifteen minutes later, I get a call back saying that while my part may not make it by 5:30PM, it would indeed be here today.

The courier rolled up at 4:50PM with an undamaged part.

See? Not impossible.

So, in short, will we use Store Supply Warehouse in the future? Probably. They won't be my first choice, as it took them five bases to get two undamaged ones here in a reasonable time frame, but they ultimately pulled their reputation out of the fire today after having stuck it in the inferno themselves. The fixtures that we got? They look good. When they are all assembled and product is on them, we'll take pictures.

Onward, angrily...

-- GopherDave