Night Owl Cards

I think I've established that I don't have the greatest card show luck around here. Shows are few-and-far between. What was once a four-shows-a-year schedule is now down to two. (There are other smaller shows within a two-to-three-hour driving distance, but they're usually scheduled for the most inconvenient times on the calendar). I know my card show lament often turns out the usual "you think that's bad,? I haven't been to a show in 50 years, my life SUCKS way more" comments. But I'm not here to say I have the worst card show luck, just that it's not great. The latest example: I've been waiting patiently for the April card show at the state fairgrounds since the start of the year. It would be my first show since early October and it's annually the happiest show in my experience. Spring has sprung. Baseball is on the TV. The online site mentioned that all 105 dealer tables were sold out! See ya there! Then Monday this: Ye...

I make my living as a writer and an editor, which automatically means I am not handy around the house. I don't want to make generalizations, but I haven't come across many writers who could build additions onto their homes. I'm sure there are those who can (and will now make themselves known), but being Tim the Toolman Taylor is not anything that I've enjoyed doing. My father is handy around the house. He grew up during The Depression and The War. People didn't have money, they did things themselves. It was an entire nation of DIY shows. When I was a teenager, he tried to get me interested in working on the car. I'd stand in front of the engine and try to keep my mind from wandering. It wasn't that I couldn't do it, or didn't understand, it's that my brain didn't want to go there. Now I have my own car and my own house. I often pay others to fix the car and the house. I've never been obsessed with being frugal. That seems to be ...

I stumbled across Red Cardboard's housecleaning post rather late, and after taking a look at the goodies available, I shot off a panicked email hoping there might be something left for the taking. I shouldn't have been worried. I was reassured that there were some items left for me and, oh, by the way, would I be interested in a bunch of 1990 Target Dodgers cards? Ah, yes, the 1990 Target set. Those itty bitty black and white cards of bizarre shape and flimsiness that make up a monstrously large set of 1,100, supposedly featuring every player to compete for the Dodgers between 1890-1990. Sure, lay 'em on me. I looked at this as my chance to get much closer to finishing off this quirky set. And when the cards arrived, my anticipation grew. There were more than 30 complete 15-card panels, plus a number of other cards that had been separated from the panel in four- and three- and one-card chunks! Surely I could do damage with this: I eagerly set up my ow...