Some cards in the midst of chaos

 For a month or two, it’s just been feeling hectic and chaotic in my life. Kind of like I have a ton of things I want to do but not enough time to do them, even when I have a day off. I think some of this is due to the fact of me trying to input cards into TCDB and getting a list of all of my Topps needs, and I think I’m ok with that. All of the NL teams are finished as far as Topps entering. I still need to put in the Topps cards I have for all of the AL teams, and favorite player, Rays, Tigers, rookies, etc, but the project is basically almost halfway done. When that’s finished I’ll have to basically start over from scratch, this time imputing all of the non-Topps cards in. Maybe I’ll be finished by this time next year. 

I have a few people I’m kind of actively working trades with, and I feel like I need to put that near the top of my list on my days off, and I have made some progress going through binders looking for stuff, mainly some 1997 Collectors Choice needs for a Tigers fan that emailed me, and some ‘97 Collectors Choice team set and 1997 Fleer Ultra cards for reader Poison 75 who has commented on many bloggers posts. I also have someone on FB looking through their stuff and getting me some Rays and Tigers. Good thing about that is I will just input those after the AL is done, so no need to add another thing to my plate. Really, anything after 2019 is fine to add to my collection, as I have complete Topps sets from 2019-2022, so any stuff I add will be non-Topps or just inserts or non-flagship and can be entered at the end of this whole TCDB project. 

I feel like work is stressing me more lately. I bake mostly at work. We bake donuts, breakfast pastries, more cookies than you can shake a stick at, pies, regular pastries, rolls, and about 20 different varieties of breads. On a Saturday (our busiest day) before the pandemic, I would bake 18-20 packs of regular 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies. Post pandemic, more like 23-24. We had some apartments go up by the store, and now a Friday it wants like 25-30. ITS LIKE THAT WITH EVERYTHING!!!  The store is making record profits!  A wise person once told me profits are just unpaid labor. I could really use a baking assistant just to help set things up for me while I throw stuff in an oven and take it out. I go in at 4:30, take an hour lunch, and most days get out between 1:30 and 2. I feel stressed because I have to pick up Kyler from school at 2:30, and I have about a 15 minute drive and on bad weeks where cookies or some other time consuming product is on sale, I barely make it. I’m getting to bed at 10, 10:30, and I just don’t have enough time to cook dinner, make my lunch, do dishes, to a little light housework, shower every once in a while, and have time for myself. Karen gets home between 5-6, and on days when she is actually feeling well (not many lately), there’s not much she can get done in the few hours before bed. Wish I could get to bed a little earlier, but it’s just not in the cards most days. 

There is a little light in the tunnel as we’ve been planning a vacation, and I’m going to opening day. It comes with a little extra work as I’m trying to get cards out of all the Rays and Tigers to try to get signed, and there is the packing and planning involved with the vacation. 

We decided to tentatively hit up Niagara Falls and Washington DC (are you close to Niagara Falls, Night Owl?  Maybe a blogger meetup?). We are planning sometime in June, and although the Nats don’t have a game on my 40th birthday (June 14), they are in town later in the week, so we might have to plan the trip to fit a Nats game in as well. Not sure where else we will go, other than probably the historic stuff in DC and see some people my wife knows from when she lived there in high school. Maybe hit up North Carolina and see some relatives on the way down. 

The trip was kind of in jeopardy as of yesterday. As if we didn’t have enough going on, we got up on Sunday to go to church, go outside, and Karens van isn’t there. We got ahold of the cops after going to church in my car and then coming back home. Both of us have Kia’s, and hers has the push button start. Apparently idiots can break into a Kia, pop something open in the front, use an app on their phone and a usb cord to turn the car on and just drive off with it. It’s a Tik Toc trend and everything. How these apps aren’t banned and videos shut down is beyond me. Should Kia be held liable for a design flaw?  Perhaps. We are fortunate (I think), and the cops called this afternoon and said that the car popped up in Apopka, about an hour and 15 minutes away. The touch screen monitor was smashed in, but other than that, they said it looks normal. Tomorrow we will figure out towing it, getting it evaluated, and hopefully be able to fix anything thats messed up. If you own a Kia, lock it up, maybe get some extra security feature, because these crooks are getting high tech. 

Enough of my whining. You read this blog for cards and I won’t disappoint. I got a hanging box of ‘23 Topps and hanging packs of Prism and Mosaic this afternoon, and here is what I got (minus some stuff I’ll probably send out to some bloggers when I can catch my breath). 

Just your NL base cards. Too many Padre$, but what can you do?

2 too many Yankee$, but that’s not bad with the amount of cards I got. I may be unpopular for it, but those Stars of MLB inserts are beautiful. Even the regular Topps ones just look elegant with the Diamond/jewel and rainbow foil board. Have you pulled a Chrome one yet?  If you think it doesn’t get better, it does. 

I finally pulled a Jonathan Aranda card, and it will be going to the Rays game with me. I’m surprised that’s my first card of him when Im basically known as the ‘Rays guy’. I pulled 2 nice looking Akil Baddoo Prizm cards, got some rookies I never heard of, some snazzy Prizm cards, and a Rainbow of a checklist. Thanks, Topps!  I’ve also been pulling multiplayer cards and putting them in a box, and once I update my Topps lists (and perhaps stop by John’s house again, I’ll put those cards in the binders I want them in and put all of my loose cards (almost 3 4,000 ct boxes full now) in binders. 

Most of the stuff in the pictures is up for trade, so if something looks good, hit me up. 

Hopefully I’ll get a few days off with nothing to do in the future, and I can get my cards input to the database, and the car/insurance stuff gets straightened out pretty quick. The plate will eventually get less full, I’ll see the Rays Opening Day game, get through the next 2-3 months, and be on another fun road trip while on vacation, and get to see some beautiful scenery, get some good food, and make some good memories. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy