State of the Blog Address

Despite being a lazy, worthless hobby blogger, I still manage to keep about 30 people amused each day.  Yes those are my unique hits every day.  Despite new content since the summer.  I'm still getting about 225-300 page views a week.  It's crazy.  I'm guessing it's because of my finely tuned blog roll over there on the left. 

I should really start blogging again.  It was therapeutic and helped relieve stress, which I have much of.  For those wondering where I have been, and for those that haven't, here's a recap...

====Been working as hard as I can with my new start-up job.  We are almost 2 years in and everything is going good but it can always be better.  The guys I work with are the best in this business and our philosophy is one I wholeheartedly believe in.  In this short time, we have built ourselves around almost 200 clients, representing over 700 properties.  More clients means more stability and that's my goal.

====Baseball.  Baseball.  And more baseball.  The kids were in spring season and also fall this year.  They both did really well in the spring.  That was the last year for both of them in their respective leagues.  My oldest moved up from Minors to the Majors in the fall.  My youngest moved up from Rookie to Instructional.  However, the weather didn't cooperate much for the fall, which is why the last games finally happened in the middle of October.  At one point we were having 3-4 games a week between the two boys to cover make-up games.  Plus there was still a tournament for both leagues.  But seeing my kids play is priceless and I would give up everything just to be a part of it.  Turns out I have two pretty consistently accurate pitchers on my hands and two guys that love to be part of the game.  

====I got married last week...October 24th to be exact.  Those "new" relationships take a lot of work sometimes but mine just happens naturally.  It helps that she has almost the same affinity for small pieces of cardboard.  I got to marry my best friend and quite possibly my soul mate.  I never thought I would ever get married again.  Life just happens this way sometimes. 

==== I couldn't wait for the NHL season to start.  But what happened to my enthusiasm?  Despite the great start by my Penguins and the hopeful season ahead, Comcast once again failed me by first, promising free Center Ice previews for the month of October and not delivering...at all!  Not one stinking game, despite the constant advertising for it.  Second, they have rearranged scheduled programming from the beginning of the season, bumping games and opting instead to show rebroadcasts on some channels.  Good thing I have the Pens App on my phone.  And third, well, I just can't take anymore awful announcing on the games that do get televised.  The nationally broadcast games on NBC are just bad.  They really are.  I get lucky some nights with simulcast HNC games on the NHL Network but those are few and far between.  Maybe the second half will get better.

====Was uber excited for the NFL season.  Then it started.  What happened to defense?  I mean seriously?  Where is it?  45+ points per game is certainly exciting to some but I like smash mouth football.  The league has taken the defense out of the game and castrated them.  You get 15 yard penalties for even thinking of making a tackle this season.  I guy touches your arm as a common gesture during a conversation and it's a spot foul.  It's really pathetic.  This isn't my fathers football league, I understand that, but it isn't even mine either.  And the Steelers?  Ugh.  Other than a couple games, they have been atrocious compared to previous seasons.  At least watching RedZone on Sundays is still quite entertaining.

====This is the first year I have bailed 100% completely on fantasy sports (unless you count Topps Bunt).  I just wasn't into it this year.  I thought that I could be a better fan and watch for the joy not because I had some vested interest in the Jacksonville Jaguars vs. the Miami Dolphins.  But alas, I miss it.  I miss stats.  I miss caring about players I hate.  I miss the trash talking.  And it's going to hurt at the end of the season when I don't get my $250-$400 that I have won for the last 10 years.

====Cards have honestly bored me to death lately.  Part of the reason is that I just can't find the time to get organized.  When I think about my collection, I feel like that guy right over there.  Beat up, bloodied, and hurt.  I have a card room.  Upstairs in my home.  It could be amazing.  But it isn't.  It's the bane of my existence.  Cards everywhere.  Unsorted boxes and piles of stuff lying around...It's sad really.  There is just too much and despite my efforts to scale down (If anyone was wondering, I sold the Card Garage...well about 85% of it at least).  I am more than happy to sell or trade most of what I don't want.  The problem lies in the fact that I don't really know what that stuff is. 

So I'm looking for a jumpstart.  Something to unearth the beast that slumbers inside me.  So far, the hockey releases have been less than what I expected.  MVP disappointed me (what a shock).  I wanted something more from Artifacts.  I still haven't bought any O-Pee-Chee and I'm hoping the Upper Deck flagship brings me out of my funk.  There is a show coming up in November in Chicago that I usually attend every year.  Maybe that will release the Kraken?  Maybe. 

====Along the same lines as the last comment, I haven't even touched much by the way of cards.  I have had no reason to.  But I actually just responded to 3 Zistle trades last night, which is a good start I guess.  The more interactive I am with all the blogs and card sites I have used, the more active I will get back into my collection.  As for selling stuff, I really wish my Collector's Revolution inventory would move better but I just can't figure out how to master the art of social media (which seems to be the catalyst for the larger volume sellers).  I still do pretty good on COMC though considering I have yet to invest a dime.   

====Music takes up a lot of my free time.  My band, 6ix 5ive 9ine has been playing out a lot more frequently the last few months and the response from the crowds has been great.  It will be interesting to see what 2015 brings for us.  My wedding, that I mentioned earlier, even took place at one of our gigs.  It was epic.

On weekends I am not spending with my kids, there is usually something planned.  Whether it is a gig, practice time, or rehearsal, being in the band and making things work takes up a lot of time.  But is definitely worth it (of course not financially since I'm no where near quitting my day job).  We have toiled around for a long time and to finally get to play for people over the last few years is a blessing.  I love my band mates (which is good since I married one of them).

That's about it.  Boredom, laziness, being busy...you know, the usual distractions from card collecting have kept me from the blog.  But I'm still not going anywhere.  I'm not closed for business and the blog will still be here for all you faithful that, if nothing else, use this as a jump point to read the great stuff from all the non-lazy, non-bored, bloggers out there in the world.

The State Of My State Address

As most of you are well aware, I have been absent from the collecting community for some time now.  Sure I have had a few moments here and there with posting comments on other blogs but with the exception of two posts of my own, I haven't really been here since October 2012.

From a collecting standpoint, I have been out since the Chicago Sun-Times show in Rosemont back in November.  That was sort of my swan song, so to speak, since I have taken this somewhat-self-imposed-but-not-really-hiatus.  At that show, I picked up some Series I, a few "retro" boxes, and some singles for the PC.  I even shut down the Ebay buying which, for me, is a difficult task.  Not long after that, the wheels fell off. 

Since I have received numerous queries from many of you in the hobby community, as well as others who apparently read the blog but have no interest in the subject matter (I know, weird, right?), I figured I would indulge your requests and clue you all in on the state of my state and why I have isolated myself, hopefully temporarily, from this great hobby.  I know.  It isn't anyone's business but my own.  But I have never been one to not share a good story.  So bare with me because this could get long, and ugly.

Essentially, my train derailed back in November and continued to explode, one car at a time until the whole thing was a fiery pile of twisted scrap metal and charred remains (how's that for imagery?).

ISSUE #1:  Some of you already know this but I am going through a divorce.  There, I said it.  Shockingly enough, it had nothing to do with my card hoardin...er...collecting.  Or maybe it did?  No, I'm sure it didn't.  Maybe...Frankly, without getting into all the gory details of our failures as a married couple, it is safe to say that this was probably over a long time ago and was just prolonged for the sake of being "comfortable in our misery".  Regardless, it is what it is and I have been preoccupied with all the minutia, you know like finding a place to live, handling the children, moving all my stuff, dealing with the holidays, etc. etc. etc.

ISSUE #2:  I was fired from my job at the beginning of January.  Again, without going into the gory details of my untimely departure, lets just say there was an employment contract presented to us that, for lack of a better phrase, bound us to slavery to the corporation.  We tried to negotiate more balanced terms of employment but the owner of the company was unwilling to negotiate and eventually fired five of his income generating employees.  Pretty crazy, huh?  Its been rough going, especially since he has begun fighting everyone's unemployment, started to spread rumors contrary to reality within our small industry's "community", and has begun to threaten us with frivolous, unfounded lawsuits that he won't win but will be able to outlast us with deeper pockets.

We have all stuck together though, eventually forming our own business one weekend (literally it took like a weekend). I can't begin to tell you the difficulty, stress, and fear that goes with it.  Minimal investment capital, threats of litigation, and expenses that keep piling up can take their toll on any business start-up.  But we are not going to be broken that easily.  I, for one, can't be considering my situation with ISSUE #1.  Perseverance is the only way.

ISSUE #3:  Because of ISSUE #1, I have had to relocate my residence.  I moved the majority of my things out of the house.  I have taken most of my personal card collection with me but there is still a lot of it back there.  A lot meaning the Garage is still there.  I have been working on getting rid of it but every time I work something out, it has fallen through.  Mostly because something has occurred where I couldn't be where I needed to be to make the deal happen (again, see ISSUE #1).  There have been buyers on the hook for each of the collections separately (ie. football, basketball, etc.) but no takers on the entire thing.  I have been trying to avoid putting all of it into a storage unit but if I don't get it out of there soon, I fear there could be a bonfire held at my former home.  Good thing it's still winter and we are now buried under some actual snow accumulation.  I assume cardboard is harder to burn that way.

I do have quite a bit of my hockey stuff here with me, including my player PCs, my team PCs (for the most part), and a variety of other stuff.  What I don't have are my bulk boxes and all of my binders.  Those have been relocated to the Garage.  You don't realize how much stuff you actually have until you see it all in one place.  I have a lot.

ISSUE #4:  This issue is probably the same for many hockey collectors out there.  The NHL is finally back on the ice and playing the game we love.  Having been without the game since October and not being able to watch the games and cheer on my Pens, I've been less than thrilled with the idea of putting any effort into my collection.  They want to fight about how my money is spent, let them fight.  I just won't give them anymore of it in the form of purchasing new product.  Add to that all the issues from above and you have a general malaise that has come over me toward our hobby.  Even when I wasn't blogging everyday, I still would check the blogs, read the posts, read the articles by the industry players, watch the tweets, you know, stay up with what is going on in cardboard.  But that hasn't happened for quite some time.  The NHL finally breaking the lockout and getting back to what they do best has actually put a glimmer of hope back into me.  Believe it or not, I pulled out a box the other day and went through it just to try and inspire something.  It really didn't work but it was a good effort.

Then, as I walked in to see my kids the other day at my former home, there was something familiar on the counter.  A little yellow envelope that all of us in the collecting community have come to know and love was perched on the counter top  fresh from the days mail.  But as I mentioned, I stopped my Ebay feeding frenzy a while ago and I know I hadn't ordered anything.  My redemption cards had all been fulfilled and I hadn't traded with anyone in quite some time.  What could this be?  I looked at the return address and saw a familiar name.  It was from Card Boarded.  We all tout the generosity of the blogging community all the time and this time is no different.  Inside the little yellow envelope was a variety of Pittsburgh Penguins that he had "lying around" and figured they could use a home.  Well, I'm glad they found there way to me.  I have looked these things over about a hundred times now and even went as far as scanning them.  I'm not saying that totally brought me back from the grave but it definitely ignited a spark that had been missing.  Thank you, my friend.

ISSUE #5:  As some of you know, I am also a musician of sorts and play in a band.  Well, I actually play in two bands.  Since December, we have been playing out more and have been getting paid for it.  Paid!  I know it's weird to get paid for something you enjoy but nonetheless...Most of the gigs have been with my original band but we have had a few with the other band too.  We are still trying to get our sea legs under us in that one.  So hobby time is becoming few and far between.  We have practices on Friday nights in one band and Saturday nights in the other.  Some of those nights are our gigs which means we forgo practice of course.  Because of ISSUE #1, every other weekend is spent with my kids and that is as close to a full time job as anyone can have.  That leaves Sunday nights every other weekend for "me time" and much of that is spent preparing for the week since ISSUE #2 has me doing quite a bit of work outside the "office" so to speak.  Playing music that I love has taken away some hobby time but it is definitely not something I'm going to complain about.  One hobby for another isn't necessarily a bad trade.

ISSUE #6:  When it rains, it pours.  Since all this has been taking place at the same time, it was only fitting that twice since November, my truck has run into some kind of mechanical/maintenance trouble.  First it was the tires.  I had to replace all four of them (not an expense I expected).  Then as the breaks had been doing some weird things, I had them checked too.  Of course they needed replaced but so did rotors, calipers, and tie rods.  Then, as a gesture of good faith, I picked up a large order of water softener salt for my ex-employer while I was still there.  I believe it was 50 bags.  My truck now has some serious shock/strut squeaking and creaking.  I had it looked at...I'm not going to tell you what the cost for repair will be because I don't think the truck is even worth that much.  Add to that the fact that this sub-zero weather we have been having has reeked havoc on my battery and caused quite a few starting problems and you have a recipe for vehicle disaster.  My "new", non-income generating job requires about 80 miles a day of driving in my vehicle.  With gas prices soaring back up to almost $4/gallon, new tires, old shocks, and a weak battery, I'm probably sitting on a time bomb.

I'm sure there is more that I am leaving out but I'm also sure I've already lost many of you.  I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining because I'm not.  I just wanted to set the record straight on why I haven't been around.  Plus, it's good therapy to write sometimes.  Right now it may seem like it but I haven't given up entirely on the hobby.  I will still be here doing my thing.  I have some interesting ideas for posts going forward and I hope to get those going.  I have a feeling that once I decide to revive myself, I will be more introverted toward my collection rather than focusing on accumulating.  The funds just aren't there anymore (hopefully not permanently).  I just need to get some things straight.  Get my house in order, so to speak.

I will end with something that my 12th grade English teacher used to say.

"That which doesn't kill me, makes me stronger."  

I don't know where she got that from.  I know she didn't make it up.  It was probably some philosopher or scientist.  Frankly, I don't care who said it.  I just hope Mrs. Miller was right.

(knock, knock, knock) Housekeeping!

Before you say "not another resolution post", don't worry, it's not.  I have convinced myself not to do one because I just end up disappointing myself in the end.  But, I have been trying to do some housekeeping on the blog.  The content is starting to get a bit overwhelming and hard to manage so rather than running out of room on Blogger, I have been adjusting and condensing some of the features of the site. 

First, the Card Garage is not closed.  It is just in hibernation.  I will most certainly bust it back open sometime here in the near future but not yet.  I haven't had the time or energy to start going through boxes again.  And, with the exception of searching for a few singles for some people, I have been more focused on my own PC and newer product. 

Second, I've been trying to clean up my want lists a bit.  I started with creating a page for my Tangradi collection, which consists of scans of all the cards I have of his.  I also cleaned up my Bill Guerin list and posted it to Google Docs.  My plan is to do the same for my other player PCs but they are considerably larger and will take some more time to work on.  As for my set needs list, it is still constantly updated and grows all the time.  My goal in the near future is to get the trade lists updated or at the very least, full of some content that is practical and easy to search.  I haven't decided on list form, or images.

Third, I have linked to all my box breaks along the side panel.  I know I did this before but I was missing a ton of them.  I did this more for myself because I am always looking for past posts with images and most of them are in here.  Plus, I noticed that many of these posts get multiple hits each and every week.  So if you have already noticed them, great.  If not, now you know. 

Fourth, I have removed all blog links for sites that haven't been updated in a year or more, effectively removing 24 blogs.  If you were on my list before and were removed but want to be put back on, let me know.  Also, if you have a blog that isn't listed or know of one that should be on there, let me know that as well. 

Fifth, I'm working on a different design.  I'm bored with the current one.  I just haven't found something I'm comfortable with yet.  Plus, the organizational aspect of the current one works well and many other Blogger designs are less than adequate.

Sixth, I have some things that I want to do to get more engaged with the site again.  I've been wrestling with the idea of a contest, feature post, and possible guest content.  We will see what, if anything, comes out of it.

State of the Blog Address

Anyone know what the one year anniversary present is?  It's paper, right?  Yeah, I think it is paper.

I could use this occasion to take time out and reflect on what the last year has brought me in the world of blogging.  I could ramble on and on about how I am grateful to even have blog that I can write about my thoughts.  I could thank everyone who "follows" my writings and has wished me well in my endeavors.  I could wax ecstatic about how generous the blog community is or how much more engaged in the hobby I am because of the blogs.  I could, but I won't. 

It's all done before and been done better.  Everyone of us knows how lucky we all are in being a part of this community.  I am glad to be a part (albeit a small one) of it and I think that says enough.  Plus, unless there is a contest involved, I doubt anyone really cares anyway.  So instead of blubbering over my gratitude's like a Hollywood awards show acceptance speech, I figured I'd just give my 2 cents worth on my time in the blogoverse.

I made it a year despite the fact I didn't think I was going to make it a month.  This has to be the only non-paid, freely voluntary work I have (somewhat) consistently stuck to in my life.  To show for it, I have over 30 people that at least pretend they read my drivel...some on a fairly regular basis.  I have even had some family members acknowledge my random musings once or twice, which I still don't know if it is a good or bad thing.  I have probably increased my collection 10 fold because of all the trading I've done since my arrival here as well.

Because of all that, I think I have grown as a collector and am no longer embarrassed by the fact that I still participate in a "kids" hobby.  Because it isn't a kids hobby.  It is a human hobby.  Those of us that turn on the way-back machine and relive our childhoods each and everyday are the reason the hobby stays alive and will never go away.  Sure it can be time consuming and wallet consuming.  Sure it makes me schizophrenic at times and causes me undue stress and anguish.  Sure it gives me a complex and forces behavior similar to severe obsessive/compulsive disorder.  I'm okay with that.  I'm not afraid of people knowing about my "secret" hobby.  It's all out in the open and I am much more comfortable with it.

I have learned over the past year that my collecting habits have always bordered on the edge of hoarding.  Not hoarding in the sense that I need to go on TV to show off my living room packed to the ceiling with garbage bags of laundry, old pizza boxes, and Hummel figurines.  But hoarding in the sense that I have always kept everything that has come into my collection with very few exceptions.  This isn't limited to cards either.  Programs, ticket stubs, SLU's, Headliners, pennants, photos, etc. have all played a major part in my stockpiling over the years.  I have received numerous inadvertent advice from the blogoverse in regards to focusing my collection and parting with items that really have no meaning to me other than being used as "stuff".  I still have too much "stuff" and if I stick around (which I plan to), I hope that will change. 

I have learned that being a sports fan and a collector both elates me with joy and frustrates me with anger and hostility.  I have always known that I can be a bit of a "sore loser" when it comes to my teams but only when I began writing about it did I realize some of my issues.  Being a fan of Pittsburgh sports teams isn't always fun.  Winning traditions have always been a big part of the city and anything short of a championship is generally considered a failure.  Having an outlet to express about frustrating moments as well as crowning achievements has made me become a better fan (In my opinion of course.  My wife would still disagree with me as would my old coffee table).

I have also learned that I suck as a trade partner.  Too many of my trades with everyone take months to occur.  This isn't fair to anyone involved.  I seem to get packages on a fairly regular basis but my trips to the post office become less and less.  I have two dozen (yes, there is really that many) piles of cards sorted out to go to various people around the world that have been generous enough to send me stuff.  I think I just underestimated the kindness of everyone and got buried in trade proposals.  I assure everyone I am trying to get caught up, and I will.  It's a work in progress and my noviceness (is that a word?) in the logistics of what goes into a trade these days got the better of me.  I guess it's no longer as simple as a few guys sitting in someones bedroom with their binders open, trying to trade all their Expos cards to the new kid for his 1974 Topps cards that his uncle left him and convincing him it's a good deal (all the while trying to accumulating as many 1987 Jose Canseco cards as he can because he knows that guy is the greatest baseball player who ever lived).

I think most of all, I have learned that despite never meeting any of you in person (Sal from Puck Junk being the only exception) I consider everyone of you brothers (and sisters, er, siblings, yeah siblings)-in-arms and would call any of you a colleague and friend.  It has been a fun 365 days and with some concerted effort and a little luck, hopefully it will last a long time.

I guess I just spent the last few moments doing exactly what I set out not to do...patting myself on the back, reflecting on my accomplishments with the blog, gushing about all of the wonderful people out there and chastising myself as a bad blogger.  So with that contradictory commentary, I leave you with the obligatory:  Happy First Blogoversary to The Real DFG blog.

That is all for now.