The Gift Of Shame

I love unexpected packages! They seem to be packed with the most amount of joy because the package comes out of nowhere. It usually means that someone thought of me enough to take the time to scour their cards and hand pick some gems just for me. Then they had to dig out my address, copy it on an envelope and make a special trip to the post office. That's some real thoughtful stuff there. Some days I don't want to venture out to the post office, so I have respect for those who do.

The package that came out of left field arrived on Friday. I had just spent an entire day out in the rain, dropping my dog at the groomers. The shop that we use, The Barker Shop, is located about a half hour away. If Tess is just in there for a basic grooming, it doesn't make sense to drive all the way back home just to turn back around again.

I killed time window shopping at Target, Half Price Books, Best Buy and Dollar Tree. It was a steady rain that poured down the entire time I was waiting for the call to pick Tess up. I stopped by McDonald's to be a dollar menuaire, or whatever they're calling it now, only to be told that the double cheeseburgers are no longer being offered for a dollar. Instead, I am told to order a McDouble. I inquired as to what the heck the difference was. I was informed that the McDouble only had one slice of cheese instead of two. Big deal. Gimme the dollar sandwich. Weirdly, it just didn't taste the same. Maybe it was the power of suggestion.

I gassed up at BP and got the call to pick up Tess. I brought her home and miraculously the clouds parted and the sky cleared. Good grief! Now it looks nice, just like when I left.

I browsed my mail. All three items of mail were totally unexpected. One was a booklet on Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame vacations, which turned out to be very informative and very cool looking. I've always wanted to go, but I never signed up for anything. Weird. The second was a package from Pearl Jam. I let my membership lapse sometime last year, so I wasn't expecting the newsletter. Not only did I get the newsletter, but I received the vinyl 45 Christmas single from 2008. Better late than never.

The last piece of mail was a package from Thorzul. I wasn't expecting anything, but there was something wrapped in a Target circular. Hmmm... they have the same crap on sale up in Milwaukee too. I thought it was strange for Thorzul to send a Target sale paper until I looked inside. There was a small plastic case and a yellow Post-it note with writing on it.

Steve,

I scoured your want lists and found some stuff for you. Keep up the good work!

- Thorzul

There was also some mention of the Sox/Brewers series this year. It seems Thorzul will be going in June and welcomes civilized Chicago fans in town. I hope one of those games will be in throwback uniforms. I loved the old Brewers uniforms.

I looked at the case and was greeted by a Frank Thomas Post trading card. The case was overstuffed with cards and I was joyful. Let's see what Thorzul sent over.

1991 Cracker Jack
Frank Thomas (sealed)

1991 Studio
32 - Carlton Fisk

1992 Post
24 - Frank Thomas

1993 Flair
185 - Roberto Hernandez

1993 Select Traded
43T - Rodney Bolton
81T - Jason Bere
118T - Ivan Calderon

1994 Topps Gold
601 - Frank Thomas

1996 Stadium Club
321 - Robin Ventura
398 - Dave Martinez

1996 Stadium Club Extreme Players Bronze
285 - Frank Thomas

1997 Collector's Choice All-Star Connection
10 - Frank Thomas

1997 Pinnacle
102 - Frank Thomas

1998 Topps Opening Day
158 - Albert Belle

1998 Upper Deck
60 - Albert Belle

1999 Topps Opening Day
52 - Albert Belle

2007 Topps First Edition
173 - Rob Mackowiak

Thanks, Thorzul! That was an absolute delight to open up! I think I'm going to leave the Frank Thomas in the Cracker Jack wrapper. It seems better that way. I like the 1993 Select Traded much better than the regular Select that year. The black goes well with that style. The regular green... not so much.

Since you were so generous with unexpected delights, I'm going to share something with you.

Stickers!

I asked Tracey which page in my sticker book looked the most shameful. She picked out the back page. There was something not quite right about animated ice cream cones with a come hither look, all lined up in a row.
You see, you're not the only one with sticker shame in your past. There's something ultimately disturbing about a chocolate ice cream cone fluffing its own ice cream head. The same goes for a strawberry cone holding one hand out with its tongue sticking out. Or even a sundae cone winking at me with a cherry on top.

The other three non ice cream cone stickers feature a baseball inside a glove with the saying, "You're a Hit!" on it. I thought a hit involved the baseball staying out of the glove. Anything goes in the world of stickers I guess. The one that's semi-unreadable reads, "Official BLIPS Sticker - Accept No Substitute". It had something to do with Atari 2600 games and the popularity of arcades. The final one is Heathcliff trying to catch a fish in an old timey fishbowl.

The sticker book has seen better days. I only found it a few weeks ago, while cleaning out a closet. So there you have it. Free gifts, rain and a shameful past. See what Thorzul has wrought?