I collected at Clems

An article by Don Quixote

So at long last, I broke down and took a trip to Lansing to see Tom Flammer and Nathan Prong. Ironically we didn’t do anything more than pass through Lansing on our way to Grand Ledge, but it was the same general idea.

Originally a month or so ago when Nathan and I came up with the idea of seeing Tom, we had the idea of playing a little disc golf, having lunch, seeing a movie, seeing Tom’s store and playing some board games. Tom heard playing board games at my store.

So in true Tom flashion (yes, that’s fashion with an ‘l’) it became the all day board gaming extravaganza. Tom invited his soon to be former roommate Rob, and a few other folks to stop by and play some board games.

We broke out TurfMaster, which was a huge hit, but Tom was disappointed to find out that the game is in limited distribution and costs about $80 retail. I tried to explain that considering this is an 8 player game, that’s about right for the cost break down, but it puts a wonderful game out of the reach of his consumers (though he thought he still might get it for himself). Rob brought along some of the guys he hangs with for Youth for Christ: Ben and Drew. It was a great time. Ben who had the yellow horse came in dead last every race until the last one where we added the steeples. Something about that brought out the beast in Ben and one the last race handily. Jason Orton stopped by to drop off some stuff for me on his way to Ohio, it was great to see him.

Heather (Vance) Bunce stopped by with her little girl (she’s one, but her names slipped my mind at the moment). It was great to see her. I told her I hadn’t seen her since she was a Vance. She was even kind enough to invite us all over for dinner (with the normal woman caveat that her house was messy). Sadly we had to decline.

We took a brief break while Rob & the guys went and got some food. During that time, Tom left and put me in charge of his store (actually I believe he phrased it: “If I run down to the bank, can I trust you not to steal something and burn the place down?”) Jeepers Tom, you really should have asked Nathan that question.

While everyone was gone, Nathan and I broke out The Duell so that was fun, we all ate a little food and then drove into Killer Bunnies with the addition of a kid named Patrick who was a little over the top for my taste, but we survived). We also played a little Loco (which is a great little game).

Ben Brown showed up after that. It was great to see him. We talked a little work, computers, Catholic Church and some anime. Then Ben decided to join us for a game of BANG!

Then as quickly as we had started it was time for Nathan and I to take off (but not before I dropped over a $100 on crap from Tom’s store � doing what I can to support the cause). In an odd twist of fate, Fred Lab stopped in, so it was quite the day of seeing old faces.

Nathan and I took off, ended up going to Blimpies and getting some subs. It was a good time � next time though Tom, you’ll have to come to my place.

The drive home was horrid. I spent 30+ minutes parked on the highway outside of Coldwater due to an accident. Then just outside of Fort Wayne, the weather broke loose and turned the rush over drive into a crawl. Man, it was good to be home.

In other semi-exciting news:

We continue to feed the dog, and we’ve been able to touch him a bit more. Michelle talked to the neighbor next door where he seems to sleep next to her dog (they have a fence though) – she seems interested in taking the dog in, but wants to get it into the vet to clean it up (that was kinda sad, since I wanted to adopt him, but in the end, whatever is best for the dog…), however according to her, the other neighbor (aka the drug house), said they saw someone in a white car drop the dog off. But I’ll keep you posted.

Michelle and I also started watching the Last Exile (another anime series). WOW! The artwork is fantastic. It’s kind of this futuristic 30′s. On top of that the story is great. Ben, you’re going to have to check it out.