a99kitten's Musings

It’s pretty much done! I. Love. It.

Case – daytime!

There are still some figures that I don’t have but want, so I will add to it, but all of the loose figures that I have are in the case! It is a lighted cabinet so I had an electrician come out and install a plug right behind the cabinet so there is no cord to be seen :)

Lights!

Yay for the internet as I had to look up pictures of the figures to match weapons. I had all of the weapons in 1 baggie. Still have a few blasters. That’s like having extra screws after building something. Grrr. But extra is better than not enough! Right? :)

I used this Power of the Force 92-back as my display guide.

POTF92

It’s also why I got the yellow background case. It’s set up *basically* in this order but I changed a few around due to not having the figures, wanting a few together (big head and little head Han with Chewie, mail-in Emperor (still in sealer plastic) with his Imperial Guards, Amanaman having his own little space (one of my rarest!), etc. Plus there a few that were after that card/time period but still very display worthy – Han in Stormtrooper mail away, Spirit of Obi-Wan, Cantina Band members.

I shall now write a list of the figures that I don’t have and be on the look out for them. Perhaps at SDCC, maybe eBay for non-rare ones (sadly the Chinese have figured out how to counterfeit them although they tend to stick to mostly carded figures.)

I have wanted a nice way to display my non-carded figures forEVER. This makes me happy :)

Looking at the pictures of devastation in Oklahoma is just plain awful. The scarier thing is that all that destruction took only minutes. Nature does not mess around.

Years ago while in Florida for work, the day started out sunny and blue sky. It’s Florida. Weather forecast was the same as it always was, sunny with a chance for rain in the afternoon. This is the daily forecast from March to November. Literally. Every day. Unless there is a hurricane warning.

Sometime in the middle of the afternoon the sky turned green. Wizard of Oz scary green. The winds were picking up. A lot. Our office was on the 3rd floor of a small bank building. Huge windows around the whole thing. The winds started getting heavier and heavier and it started to rain. We saw a newspaper dispenser machine rolling down the sidewalk. Then the bank sign from the top of the building went flying by and landed in the parking lot. We all got away from the windows and the power went out. The building was literally shaking. Florida, not California – no earthquake. Just from the wind.

I called my Mom at work and she was fine. Called my brother’s school and there was no answer. My boss said we could all leave, no power anyway. I drove to my brother’s school and there were huge trees, oaks or some such not palm, all ripped up and seemingly thrown everywhere. In the street, etc. A huge one was across the entrance of my brother’s school but luckily everyone was safe and they were getting the kids out of there.

I got him and we went and got my mom from her job and went home. It took a while as power was out everywhere so no traffic lights and branches and trees were laying everywhere. No damage at my parent’s house luckily but no power or phones. We found a Denny’s several miles away that was running on their own generator and, along with I think every other person in town, got some dinner after a 3 hour wait (truly was THE only place with power.)

Our power came back on the next day. Of the surprise storm, the news said it was a freak storm (how can you NOT see that on your gajillion dollar radar storm tracking radar?!?!) that sprouted numerous tornadoes. They showed my office building on the news and they mentioned that corner as a spot one twister touched down. Wonderful.

Obviously it was NOWHERE near the strength and destructive power of the Oklahoma storms. But that scared me. You have no warning or prep. I have gone through 2 Cat 5 hurricanes, one in Mexico where I do not recommend being in a big storm, plus the big 1989 SF earthquake (I was at the World Series game for it…fun times.) None of those things freaked me out like that Florida storm. Tornadoes can just come out of nowhere and strike. Blow apart 1 house and leave the neighbor. Or wipe out neighborhoods. Sure you don’t get warnings with earthquakes either but there is also no such thing as earthquake season every year.

I was born in New York, lived in Illinois, and moved to Florida before moving out to California. Even though I was one, I say now you East Coasters and Mid Westerners are nuts. I’ll take the risk of an occasional earthquake any day.

Today is my brother’s birthday. He would have been 30. Wow. He would have been old. I still think of him as the 6 or 8 yr old I took to Disney World on numerous trips.

I would have made so much fun of him today. Crusty. Krusty the Clown (he loved the Simpsons.) Would have been relentless. He did to me so it’s only fair. But I didn’t get the chance. I lost him in November of 2010. I loved that kid like he was my own and always will.

Happy Birthday Jonathan.

According to Wookieepedia…

“The phrase dates back to at least 1979, on the day Margaret Thatcher was elected Britain’s first woman prime minister. Her party took out a newspaper ad in the London Evening News that said “May the Fourth be with you, Maggie. Congratulations.” ”

Iron Lady for the win! :)

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/May_4

I was driving on Highway 80 from Tahoe down to the bay area last night. It was still light out but it was fading. But enough light so that I could see out of the corner of my eye the GIANT spider walking across my visor. ARGH!!!!!

It took ALL of my inner strength to not scream and veer my car off the road. OK…I did scream actually. More like a loud EEK! I was in the area on 80 that has no exits or turn offs. There is a shoulder but since it was getting dark I really didn’t want to pull off on the shoulder and get out of my car and jump around screaming…and then get hit my a passing truck and that’s how Darwin Award emails get started…..

So I just kept my eye on the spider and kept looking for the next exit. I got over into the slow lane and as the spider started crawling off my visor and onto my driver’s side window, therefore getting closer to my head, I seriously wanted to just cry. I HATE bugs. HATE. I understand their place in the ecosystem and I don’t go out of my way to kill them, and always remove them from the house alive. All I ask of them is that they stay outside. OUTside from wherever I am. I guess this guy did not get that memo.

Finally I see the exit sign. Then I lose sight of the spider. NOOOOOOOO! I pull off and there is a turnout right at the bottom of the exit – YES! I pulled off and start looking for him. Then I see him. I slowly open my door so he doesn’t just blow or fall off onto me after all this. Then I get a napkin and SWOOSH! OK, he’s off my door. But wait – where is he? Is he on the napkin?! ARGH! I drop it and I see him run off the napkin and run (crawl? scamper?) off. Whew. I’m safe.

I close my car door and look over to my right. I see 2 guys filming ( I guess the sunset) and looking at me. They wave and smile. Yeah, thanks guys. You saw a lady in distress and didn’t come save me. Whatever. Didn’t need you. I drove off much more relaxed.

This morning I was on the living room floor skooshing Storm on his bed. I see a giant spider run across the floor. Looking like the exact. same. spider. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

This is why I like the winter/snow. No bugs.

Tim Tebow was released by the New York Jets today. I say good riddance. But I don’t mean to Tim being let go. I mean to the NY Jets being out of Tim’s life. That team and its fans deserve each other. Scrolling through some of the headlines and stories on it this morning had me shaking my head at the vitriol and immaturity of the sports media (who I had liked more than standard media but that is waning fast.)

So let’s see…Tim Tebow has NOT:

. Raped anyone or been accused of rape…multiple times
. Run a vicious dog fighting business, murdered (yes, murdered) many dogs and lied straight-faced to the Feds when asked.
. Help a friend cover up a murder (at BEST just helped cover up but probably just a weeeeee bit more)
. Take drugs and get arrested…multiple times
. Drive drunk and get arrested…multiple times
. Hangout with known gang members and get involved in their shoot outs.
. Carry a non-licensed gun (What?! Criminals can get those?!?!) and shoot someone or better yet, yourself
. Killed someone while driving under the influence

Those are just a few little indiscretions made by current (or recently retired) NFL players.

But he DOES/HAS:

. Spends his off time helping sick children in the Philippines
. Started a foundation that helps children with cancer – and actually spends time on it, not just his face or cash like MANY other celebs.
. Doesn’t seem to drink, or smoke, or do drugs, or end up at the police station or in his lawyer’s office. Or even on TMZ.
. Broke *numerous* college football records (including QB records) while still maintaining a 3.77 GPA
. Won the Heisman Trophy
. Oh yeah…took the Denver Broncos from a 1 and 4 start (when he was brought in to replace Kyle Orton) to the AFC Play Offs in his first year in the NFL. You can argue it wasn’t just him and it was a team effort. Of course. But where was that team in the first 5 games? Napping in Loserville. Takes something special to rally a team. And Tim did that. Also…beat the NYJ…

I am 100% convinced the media that hates Tim hates him because he is very outspoken in his Christianness (is that a word?) They can’t stand that someone who is so religious could also be a nice guy, not a pedophile. And be a successful, happy guy. *Obviously* something has to be wrong with him.

The New York Jets are an awful team. Maybe not always, but they are now. Mark Sanchez is pathetic. And NO team leader. That’s a laughable thought actually. But the coaching and frankly, the fans, are way worse. Watching the “fans” react to the NYJ draft picks was telling. I’d hate to be drafted to that team. They are tied with OAK for my least favorite sports teams ever. I think it’s blessing (and I’m not religious at all) for Tim to be let go from that hell hole of a team.

But I think it’s far more telling of people that rail so much on the kid. Sure you can argue you are some football purist and he has no business playing. But…well…he did far more for the Gators and for the Broncos than most. And I love (love) Peyton Manning, but not once person can say with a straight face that he would have even considered joining that team if they had continued down the 1-4 road they were on in 2011. Not. One. Chance. The last time they were in the play-offs was in 2005. And he really did only take them 1 game further than Tim did.

No..I am not comparing Tim to Peyton on a football level. Peyton IS a football genius. But also another example of a team leader that leads his team through more than just his playing. Are there better QBs in the NFL. Yes. But are there QBs (or any position) who have been maligned as much as Tim? Not that I can recall. Certainly not recently. You can point to the fact that he has more of a celebrity factor than a lot of other players. True. But that’s the media, not him. The media likes to build up so they can tear down.

But for all the hate spewed forth and pointing and laughing by the media or people about Tim, you are simply showing what a pathetic human being you really are. So go back to worshiping the scumbags of the NFL.

Stormin!

Today is Storm’s birthday!!! He is 11!

When he was 8, he was diagnosed with Cushings Disease and a lot of the info you find online about the illness says they survive 1-2 years at most.

And then when he was 9, he had 2 tumors removed (several months apart.) 1st one was determined to be benign but then the 2nd cancerous. People said don’t do the 2nd surgery, it’s just prolonging his illness, he won’t make it, the cancer will just come right back, blah blah. But that was by people that don’t know the guy well enough. Who had no faith in his awesomeness. His doctors and I knew better.

He is getting older and not as active or crazy as he used to be. But he still enjoys watching and sniffing for critters (just not trying to catch them and tear out their squeakers anymore), resting in a pile of snow and ahrooing for his breakfast :)

He is a superduper Hoth Stormtrooper (as confirmed by the AKC!) And he says “never count me out!”

Happy Birthday little buddy :)

Debating taking his birthday breakfast outside on the deck…

Monster in cute puppy clothing…the day Angelus picked him :)

Mmmmm…..Hawaii….

Mmmmmm….Don…..

Mmmm…….Hawaii….

Gah. Betty. How do they make her look that fat and frumpy? Also…describing how your husband should molest your 15 yr old houseguest? Eww.

Mmmm…..Don……

Roger cracks me up.

Why does Peggy dress like that? The 60s had *really* cute clothes.

Sally is the reason people don’t want teenage girls.

Mmmmm……Don….

Why do we barely get any Joan? And how can her chest be THAT big and not fall over?!?!?!

I totally get Don’s vibe with that Hawaiian ad idea. Pretty simple actually. Morons.

I think the NYC hippies might be even dirtier than the SF ones. Good grief you losers. If I was Betty I would have smacked that kid in the head.

Mmmmm…..Don…..(minus any funeral vomiting that is….)

Betty…with dark hair? Huh? Also…nice son.

Awww. Cute Don has a male friend who he seems to like and can talk to. Good for him.

What the? DON!? Oh man….Don….what the frack?

Sill though….mmmmmmm……Don….

The End.

As a Star Wars collector, I like to display my collectibles. Having them stored away in crates in the closet is silly.

Now, I have too much to be able to display everything. And some items are not as “displayable” (MIB original toys, etc.) But keeping my action figures stored away in a crate on the closet seemed very wrong.

Unlike a lot of kids who trashed their toys, I kept my original Star Wars action figures in great condition. After I “grew up” I kept them in my Darth Vader case and then individual plastic baggies stored away in a waterproof crate. I have some MOC figures too which are in protective cases (purchased as an adult) but, as a kid, I opened up my action figures and had them set up in my room by “setting” (Hoth, Cantina, Ewok village, etc.) So they were all opened, but kept in great condition.

Sadly, my original TESB open belly taun-taun has a broken harness due to the kid of my Dad’s business partners. He came over with his Dad and found his way into my room. When I went in my room and saw him there playing with my stuff, and he showed me the broken harness, I threatened to end his life if he ever went near my stuff again. He left and told his dad. My dad laughed. Might sound harsh but the kid was a horrible little racist brat who was on the path to becoming a serial killer so some fear did him good.

But these original action figures are actually a great part of my collection. I love them! I have searched and searched for a cool way to display them. But most cases are just simple acrylic or glass cases that comic book stores use and I didn’t really like that aesthetic. Plus it was a point of contention between my husband and I about displaying my Star Wars items.

Then I found it. A site that sold action figure cases for display that were cool (IMO anyway.) The owner allowed me to design the case as I wanted as he made them to order. He had some options on his website but then you could make whatever changes you wanted to it. And he said he will use my case as a sample on his site! YAY!

He just sent me the photo of the finished product this morning!!!

I’ve got the wall space waiting! And am SO excited to put all my action figures in!!! So it was worth the wait to find the right case :)

If you need a case, go here! http://www.figuredisplay.com/

This story is sickening. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-05/obama-budget-calls-for-cap-on-romney-sized-iras.html

“Under current rules, some wealthy individuals are able to accumulate many millions of dollars in these accounts, substantially more than is needed to fund reasonable levels of retirement saving,” the statement said.

Who exactly are YOU to say what is a reasonable level of retirement savings for me? You don’t know my life, my responsibilities and IT’S MY MONEY. That I worked for and saved and invested smartly, not spending it, so that I have it for me and mine later.

I am the one working my butt off for years to make sure I have enough because unlike government stooges, I don’t have a tax-payer funded pension plan and health benefits to live off of for the rest of my days.

For every “Romney-sized” retirement account, there are tons more of “regular” people who socked money away for years and watched it grow. Doing nothing wrong. Doing the right thing which is saving for their retirement so they are NOT dependent on the government or anyone else.

And since there is *NO* way Social Security, that I pay into all my life (and might as well burn the money in the driveway for all the good it will do me), will be around to help me, shouldn’t I be doing everything I can to make sure I (and my family) will be OK?

I think the thing that makes me sick the most is this class warfare rhetoric is used over and over by a government that spends so much more than it can take in and sees nothing wrong with it. Just tax people more. And more. And more. Take. Take. Take. All the while these same guys are SO corrupt.

And people who have no intention on saving since they know the government “safety nets” will take care of them, and have no drive to change their situation (in no way can you argue that everyone wants to work as hard. No. Way.) are the ones who vote these idiots in. Repeatedly. Because why wouldn’t you?

The government continues to take steps that make being successful a bad thing. To strive to be successful is becoming more of a detriment since you can just live off your fellow citizen’s hard work while working much less.

This is not the American Way.