I wish I had the means to buy a newer vehicle than my 1998 Exploder. Got the thing to the dealer for a look-see at that clunk that started on Friday, and it has something to do with an eyelet and a suspension spring. In that something broke off and the weight of the vehicle was keeping things in place.
Good thing - it can be fixed with parts from somewhere. The job is expected to take 4 or 5 hours.
Bad thing - they said these are usually done in pairs. And if they have to replace shocks or other parts that don't come off easily...
In short, this repair might run $1,600 to $1,700 but the main guy working on this will be looking for parts which he can get by tomorrow. Bolt sets for this repair aren't cheap. It's within the realm of possibility to do this repair as the frame is pretty much OK by their reasoning. It's a matter of what else will rust and break.
I can't trade in a broken vehicle, so I said go ahead, do the work, and hope he gets deals on the parts he needs. At least I have $55 in Owner Rewards... In the meantime, I got a Ford Escape as a loaner.
Social media doesn't work for me, otherwise I'd set up a Go Fund Me page and see if I can get donations to either offset the repair cost or whatever. I get SSDI and all I can do is toss this on a credit card which I pay more than the minimum each month and hope nothing else breaks. My computer services business hasn't yet gotten the impetus to do much on the cost of repairs like this.
In January i already had the ball joints worked on.. Sheesh. Not going to let this suck my money this close to going to WDW.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Friday, June 05, 2015
This is the other fallen shoe
Well, the other shoe has fallen, as the saying goes. I was waiting for
this, just didn't expect it so suddenly.
Not more than 2 days after seeing a medical doctor, Social Security sent me a Disability Update Report which I have to fill out and send back within 30 days and it's got my anxiety level maxed out and then some. I'm trying not to stress out over it but I am who I am, and my Asperger's doesn't help at all. I do have a counselor appointment this Tuesday and I'll need her help in filling out the answers. She's the one who told me that "One does not recover from having Autism."
And even though my business (aka "self employment") has been official since Jan 1 2015, I really don't have significant monthly income in spite of what my BVR people might have to say. That's one problem with this form. And my overall health has not gotten better since the time period specified on the form. In fact, it has gotten worse as I would not be able to perform any of the work I used to, even if I could get past an interview.
If I haven't gotten excited over an upcoming trip to WDW, this is the reason. I can't ever relax or get excited over future plans because this is what I worry about every week.
If for some reason they send me to another review for autism and / or my disability gets revoked, I have nothing.
Not more than 2 days after seeing a medical doctor, Social Security sent me a Disability Update Report which I have to fill out and send back within 30 days and it's got my anxiety level maxed out and then some. I'm trying not to stress out over it but I am who I am, and my Asperger's doesn't help at all. I do have a counselor appointment this Tuesday and I'll need her help in filling out the answers. She's the one who told me that "One does not recover from having Autism."
And even though my business (aka "self employment") has been official since Jan 1 2015, I really don't have significant monthly income in spite of what my BVR people might have to say. That's one problem with this form. And my overall health has not gotten better since the time period specified on the form. In fact, it has gotten worse as I would not be able to perform any of the work I used to, even if I could get past an interview.
If I haven't gotten excited over an upcoming trip to WDW, this is the reason. I can't ever relax or get excited over future plans because this is what I worry about every week.
If for some reason they send me to another review for autism and / or my disability gets revoked, I have nothing.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Sunday, March 29, 2015
The Sylvania branded MP3 player made by Curtis
Some years ago Big Lots was selling a number of USB Flash Drive MP3 players. I bought 2, though I meant to buy more but never quite got to doing it. I bought a nice COBY 1GB model that's been very robust and a really good performer. The other model I bought was a Sylvania branded 1GB model but made by Curtis. I still have my 256MB model also made by Curtis, and maybe I've mentioned the problems with several 512MB versions that have met their functional ends in various means.
The odd thing with the Sylvania player is that instead of the usual USB connector on one end was a small USB mini plug that you plug into it, and THEN the cable goes into a USB port. And then even after that, if you don't have the right way to use it, you end up being able to use it or not able to use it. I would imagine a lot of people who didn't have my set of computer skills returned these if they had a Windows XP system. Here's why.
Most MP3 USB devices have a FAT file system on the device and it's accessed like a regular flash drive. Drag and drop files, easy peasy. But no. The Sylvania with XP connects in some odd Media Transfer Protocol method. It's not simple Drag and Drop. You have to figure out how to "sync" it with Windows Media Player and all that jazz. Too many things to jump through. This might have put a lot of people off in that they were unable to use their devices. I wonder how many got returned to Big Lots.
However, I also happen to own a Windows 98SE system. I can plug the Sylvania player into it and access it like any other 1GB USB Flash Drive! It came with a USB driver CDrom for Win98, and that's how I ended up being able to use my Sylvania / Curtis MP3 player. And surprises of all surprises, it still works. Maybe Curtis finally got around to making it right?
I still haven't been able to figure out how to get it to connect to XP and get treated like a regular removable storage device in My Computer. It's probably something I'll try to figure out at some point.
The odd thing with the Sylvania player is that instead of the usual USB connector on one end was a small USB mini plug that you plug into it, and THEN the cable goes into a USB port. And then even after that, if you don't have the right way to use it, you end up being able to use it or not able to use it. I would imagine a lot of people who didn't have my set of computer skills returned these if they had a Windows XP system. Here's why.
Most MP3 USB devices have a FAT file system on the device and it's accessed like a regular flash drive. Drag and drop files, easy peasy. But no. The Sylvania with XP connects in some odd Media Transfer Protocol method. It's not simple Drag and Drop. You have to figure out how to "sync" it with Windows Media Player and all that jazz. Too many things to jump through. This might have put a lot of people off in that they were unable to use their devices. I wonder how many got returned to Big Lots.
However, I also happen to own a Windows 98SE system. I can plug the Sylvania player into it and access it like any other 1GB USB Flash Drive! It came with a USB driver CDrom for Win98, and that's how I ended up being able to use my Sylvania / Curtis MP3 player. And surprises of all surprises, it still works. Maybe Curtis finally got around to making it right?
I still haven't been able to figure out how to get it to connect to XP and get treated like a regular removable storage device in My Computer. It's probably something I'll try to figure out at some point.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Goddamn bloody abject COLD
Winter is not my favorite season. The fact that it gets cold, icy, snowy, and downright uncomfortable doesn't help its image. It's bad enough that the cold air comes down south out of Canada, but then when Canada has more than enough, it overflows from further north out of the Arctic, and it's not done even then! Oh hell no. Coldness then comes from Siberia. Really? Russia, we don't hate you anymore. Stop figuring out new ways to send your coldness to us, OK? Sure blows out the theories of Glowball Warming. But then they'll just tell you this is one of the numerous symptoms of it. More badass storms. Yeah, yeah, whatever. I think before we humans as a species consider sending some of our useless population to another world (as has been done before), we need to figure out how to control the weather.
At any rate, I managed to make it through last night's severe, over 10 below cold. It got as low as 65 F inside here, while upstairs in my room it was no lower than 75. If only I had more room upstairs for everything.
But anywho, let's try to get away from that for a moment. Let me stipulate a set of rules for subtitle scripts.
1. ARIAL with Bold by default. Color 001FFCFF. 2 pixel outline, 2 pixel drop shadow for main default dialogue.
2. Don't confuse WAS for WERE, or WERE when you mean HAD BEEN. WAS is past tense singular, WERE is past tense plural.
3. Learn how to use ONLY. And use JUST when ONLY really doesn't work.
4. SPELL CHECK.
5. AVOID APOSTROPHE S PLURALS - in general, learn how to use the Apostrophe correctly.
6. Don't use plural verbs with singular collective nouns.
7. Shorten "all of a sudden" to just the word "Suddenly."
8. Don't use spelled out numbers when the simpler actual numbers looks better.
9. In case of Japanese names, keep honorifics, and put names Japanese order meaning Japanese family name first, given name(s) last. That's how your ear will hear them.
10. Do Not Translate Nya as "meow" and don't make puns with it, nor use stupid squid puns.
At some point, I may include examples of usage for the ones that need it.
And oh yeah, Gan-chan was evicted a few weeks ago. Some halapeno-cheese flavored crunchy cheese curls were enough to lure him out again, presumably weakened by hunger, and got stuck to one of the glue traps in the drawer. So I sandwiched that little shit with another glue trap and flung it all outside and on the other side of the train tracks. I would imagine that since then with the cold and snow, he finally succumbed.
Negi tells me the recent crop of free-range mice taste well with a Catnip Port with its fruity undertones.
At any rate, I managed to make it through last night's severe, over 10 below cold. It got as low as 65 F inside here, while upstairs in my room it was no lower than 75. If only I had more room upstairs for everything.
But anywho, let's try to get away from that for a moment. Let me stipulate a set of rules for subtitle scripts.
1. ARIAL with Bold by default. Color 001FFCFF. 2 pixel outline, 2 pixel drop shadow for main default dialogue.
2. Don't confuse WAS for WERE, or WERE when you mean HAD BEEN. WAS is past tense singular, WERE is past tense plural.
3. Learn how to use ONLY. And use JUST when ONLY really doesn't work.
4. SPELL CHECK.
5. AVOID APOSTROPHE S PLURALS - in general, learn how to use the Apostrophe correctly.
6. Don't use plural verbs with singular collective nouns.
7. Shorten "all of a sudden" to just the word "Suddenly."
8. Don't use spelled out numbers when the simpler actual numbers looks better.
9. In case of Japanese names, keep honorifics, and put names Japanese order meaning Japanese family name first, given name(s) last. That's how your ear will hear them.
10. Do Not Translate Nya as "meow" and don't make puns with it, nor use stupid squid puns.
At some point, I may include examples of usage for the ones that need it.
And oh yeah, Gan-chan was evicted a few weeks ago. Some halapeno-cheese flavored crunchy cheese curls were enough to lure him out again, presumably weakened by hunger, and got stuck to one of the glue traps in the drawer. So I sandwiched that little shit with another glue trap and flung it all outside and on the other side of the train tracks. I would imagine that since then with the cold and snow, he finally succumbed.
Negi tells me the recent crop of free-range mice taste well with a Catnip Port with its fruity undertones.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Bill Havens, former Mr. Clean, motivational speaker
Back in 1985, when I first enrolled into DeVry Institute of Technology in Columbus, OH, one of the first things they provided to new students was an inspirational talk by a guy that for all intents and purposes I could remember only as being Mr. Clean for Procter & Gamble, and that his message was entitled "The Winner's Bounce." One thing that never stuck with me was his real name. He was known as Bill Havens, and this was his job. Thanks to a scan of one document dating from 1987 from North Canton, I finally found out his name.
He was based mainly in Central Ohio, but thank goodness he was hired to do a motivational speech in North Canton. Part of his talk involved 2 tennis balls, another point I remembered. He was good. I was motivated enough to finish my first term at DeVry with a 3.96. Various conditions contributed to my eventual failure in my 2nd term, and eventual withdrawal and a 2nd attempt at enrolling at another technical college in Columbus so I wouldn't have my student loans (meant for DeVry) come due right away. This wouldn't pan out as my room mates' plans also didn't come to fruition along with me, and since we ended up not being able to afford staying in Columbus (none of us had our own transportation), we moved home. I eventually enrolled in a local college and graduated with an Associate with Distinction (amazing difference of results due to a stable environment).
Thing is I never forgot his motivational speech. In fact, my experience with the world having been so limited at the time, I thought he was the only person doing motivational speeches. At any rate, time moved on from the mid 1980s. Mr. Havens went on to keep on doing his thing. Eventually in 2007 he even launched a website and a blog about his speeches. He posted a lot during 2007 and 2008, but oddly enough he doesn't have any posts after 2008. His main business website unfortunately is also gone, but still lingers in the Internet Archive. I wanted to find at least one video of this guy.
Unfortunately, I also found out he passed away October 12, 2014. I wonder what happened between then and his last blog post. Either 2014 or Oct 12 2008, the other date in time when October 12 was a Sunday, but info from a post on Facebook indicates 10/12/2014 was when he passed. He was only 79. You can find out about his other accomplishments, like being a football coach, but he did a great job as a motivational speaker. Well, at least his daughter continues his work.
He was based mainly in Central Ohio, but thank goodness he was hired to do a motivational speech in North Canton. Part of his talk involved 2 tennis balls, another point I remembered. He was good. I was motivated enough to finish my first term at DeVry with a 3.96. Various conditions contributed to my eventual failure in my 2nd term, and eventual withdrawal and a 2nd attempt at enrolling at another technical college in Columbus so I wouldn't have my student loans (meant for DeVry) come due right away. This wouldn't pan out as my room mates' plans also didn't come to fruition along with me, and since we ended up not being able to afford staying in Columbus (none of us had our own transportation), we moved home. I eventually enrolled in a local college and graduated with an Associate with Distinction (amazing difference of results due to a stable environment).
Thing is I never forgot his motivational speech. In fact, my experience with the world having been so limited at the time, I thought he was the only person doing motivational speeches. At any rate, time moved on from the mid 1980s. Mr. Havens went on to keep on doing his thing. Eventually in 2007 he even launched a website and a blog about his speeches. He posted a lot during 2007 and 2008, but oddly enough he doesn't have any posts after 2008. His main business website unfortunately is also gone, but still lingers in the Internet Archive. I wanted to find at least one video of this guy.
Unfortunately, I also found out he passed away October 12, 2014. I wonder what happened between then and his last blog post. Either 2014 or Oct 12 2008, the other date in time when October 12 was a Sunday, but info from a post on Facebook indicates 10/12/2014 was when he passed. He was only 79. You can find out about his other accomplishments, like being a football coach, but he did a great job as a motivational speaker. Well, at least his daughter continues his work.
Friday, January 16, 2015
First post of the new year, eh?
First post of the new year! So what's new? My computer services business is official. I have a vendor license and the name registered with the State of Ohio. So now I can charge sales tax. I have a page for my business on Facebook.
I found out I was a living heir to some gas and oil rights to a property in West Virginia via my mom's side of the family, extending past my grandfather to some "relatives" I had no idea I was related to. It's a part of the family that my grandfather never spoke about if he did know, but the lady from Chevron I spoke to said that he probably didn't know. I know quite a bit about my grandmother's family, my father's on his mom's side, and a little on my father's family on his father's side. So it may be no wonder that we knew nothing about my grandfather's family. I'm told that he was born in Southern Ohio which is very near this tract of land I located.
All I know is that if this was in Ohio, it would have been taxed on property taxes, seized for non-payment, and then sold at auction. I guess the laws in West Virginia are different in that you can sell the surface land but retain some of the oil and mineral rights in perpetuity. For once, a relative of mine managed to hold onto something and not lose it.
I also now own 24 Monster High dolls, with the Foreign Exchange Draculara in her Japan-inpsired Shi-Boo-Ya outfit.
The extreme cold these past 2 weeks was not conducive to working on computers. Some Sailor Moon Crystal chips I bought got a 2nd box sent that I was not charged for when I got on the online retailer's website to ask them to "make me feel like I got a good deal" when I commented on how much I felt cheated when I found out how much they sold in Japan vs the markup on their site. I am truly humbled in that they'd send me another box like that. They are the 2nd retailer for Things Otaku or Japan related that has earned my business. They do listen. I will shop carefully to make sure the price they're asking for is reasonable, and sometimes it is.
The spindle motor in mom's Zenith DVC2200 DVD player went bust, so I ordered an exact model replacement online. Hopefully it will survive the trip here and work. I think the coldness that invaded the house these past 2 weeks may have contributed. It was made in May 2000, so getting 14 years out of it was pretty good, but still... The Toshiba DVD player I got says it was made in 2007.
I also have a mouse in my kitchen gadgets drawer (currently empty) that I'm going to name Gan-chan, based on the rat / mouse from the Oh My Goddess Small Things are Handy TV anime. The reason for that is I was going to see if I could discourage Gan-chan from getting into my drawer by putting a few Wasabi Peas into the drawer and see what happens. I put 3 in the drawer and in the morning I found they were gone.
I found out I was a living heir to some gas and oil rights to a property in West Virginia via my mom's side of the family, extending past my grandfather to some "relatives" I had no idea I was related to. It's a part of the family that my grandfather never spoke about if he did know, but the lady from Chevron I spoke to said that he probably didn't know. I know quite a bit about my grandmother's family, my father's on his mom's side, and a little on my father's family on his father's side. So it may be no wonder that we knew nothing about my grandfather's family. I'm told that he was born in Southern Ohio which is very near this tract of land I located.
All I know is that if this was in Ohio, it would have been taxed on property taxes, seized for non-payment, and then sold at auction. I guess the laws in West Virginia are different in that you can sell the surface land but retain some of the oil and mineral rights in perpetuity. For once, a relative of mine managed to hold onto something and not lose it.
I also now own 24 Monster High dolls, with the Foreign Exchange Draculara in her Japan-inpsired Shi-Boo-Ya outfit.
The extreme cold these past 2 weeks was not conducive to working on computers. Some Sailor Moon Crystal chips I bought got a 2nd box sent that I was not charged for when I got on the online retailer's website to ask them to "make me feel like I got a good deal" when I commented on how much I felt cheated when I found out how much they sold in Japan vs the markup on their site. I am truly humbled in that they'd send me another box like that. They are the 2nd retailer for Things Otaku or Japan related that has earned my business. They do listen. I will shop carefully to make sure the price they're asking for is reasonable, and sometimes it is.
The spindle motor in mom's Zenith DVC2200 DVD player went bust, so I ordered an exact model replacement online. Hopefully it will survive the trip here and work. I think the coldness that invaded the house these past 2 weeks may have contributed. It was made in May 2000, so getting 14 years out of it was pretty good, but still... The Toshiba DVD player I got says it was made in 2007.
I also have a mouse in my kitchen gadgets drawer (currently empty) that I'm going to name Gan-chan, based on the rat / mouse from the Oh My Goddess Small Things are Handy TV anime. The reason for that is I was going to see if I could discourage Gan-chan from getting into my drawer by putting a few Wasabi Peas into the drawer and see what happens. I put 3 in the drawer and in the morning I found they were gone.
Wow. So I tried again with 5 Wasabi Peas but I sprinkled some Morton
Hot Salt around them this morning. A few hours later THEY were gone,
too! So Gan-chan loves Wasabi Peas, eh? So I put 2 more, but still in
the area of the Hot Salt to see if it was coming back. I'm sure by this
time Gan-chan has some of the cayenne pepper dusting that's in Hot Salt all over his body and right now is having an unpleasant experience licking that off
itself.
So if these recent 2 peas also disappear, I'm going to make him take on the Cinnamon Challenge, and dust the entire bottom of the drawer and see what happens.
So if these recent 2 peas also disappear, I'm going to make him take on the Cinnamon Challenge, and dust the entire bottom of the drawer and see what happens.
Saturday, December 06, 2014
I own 23 Monster High Dolls by accident
It's not as if I wanted to own 23 Monster High dolls for any particular reason, but after the first few, you start collecting them. It started innocently enough with a Draculara I got at Aldi's for about $8. Maybe it was $9. I had no idea what was about at the time. Just that the dolls were cute, different, certainly not common Barbie fodder. Then there was the Skulltimate Roller Maze Frankie Stein. Then perhaps I understood better when they showed some of the animated specials on Nickelodeon.
The gist behind Monster High is that all of the teen student body at the school are modern-day children of classic horror film monsters. And an underlying theme is that we should accept each other and ourselves, flaws and all. Sort of an anti-bullying idea there.
Then I saw the cat-girls, I mean Were Cats. I'll stick with "cat girls." And there's plenty of them. Somehow I managed to get Persephone and Meowlody (twins) at We B Toys when they still had them, but getting the 3 pack Fearleading set would prove impossible, as I refuse to pay extortion for them.
Next was a Venus McFlytrap in a swimsuit from an early set of those, hers being the best of the ones I saw. Only later I find out there's 2 versions of her according to the eyeshadow. One is pink, the other is green - being more desirable for collectors as it matches the on-box illustration. How do people find things like this out? (The McFly part of her name is a nod to the Back to the Future films.)
Out of the sets produced so far, I have 3 from the Scaris collection, with Clawdeen, Catrine DeMew (A Walmart exclusive and yes, a cat-girl), and Jinafire Long, daughter of the Chinese Dragon.
There's been some from other releases I kinda wanted, but I waited for sales and then they ended up selling out. Oh well.
The Wolf family has the most representation among the dolls produced, with 3 sisters and 1 brother, and mind you the boy dolls from Monster High are super hard to find most of the time. Of those I have Dance Class Howleen (younger sister), and Clawdia, the older sister. She wears glasses! I've been thinking of getting another Howleen at some point.
I have 2 Catty Noirs, one in her singing idol outfit and one in her Scaremester outfit. For that matter I have Jinafire in a Scaremester variety, too. I feel the creators of the CG animated specials missed out on a great opportunity to tell Catty Noir's story and show her in concert. Maybe I'm used to idol anime to think that. Oh well.
I have 3 Toralei dolls. Those include Field Trip, Coffin Bean, and Ghoul Sports (she plays soccer). Toralei was one of the earliest dolls produced, so Toralei in the original outfit fetches high prices anymore. There's also fashion packs for the dolls but I've not seen one lately. There's a fashion pack for her appearance in Scaris, which has yet to be released on DVD along with its 15 minute short feature. I had tried to get the Power Ghoul version of her at Target, but due to how Target stocks the shelves (or so I've read) she was always sold out. And if you went online, you'd see them there at rip-off prices. But the ones I have now, I have a short hair, pony tail, and long hair Toralei.
For Freaky Fusion, I have the Cleolei variant. There's one other of Toralei and Scara Screams but I prefer the one I have.
Elissabat is from the same set as Clawdia, the "Frights Camera Action!" special. She was another Aldi's markdown.
There's the Kmart exclusive 2 set, Rochelle Goyle and Catrine DeMew.
There's the Sweet Screams Frankie, the only Target Exclusive I managed to get on sale. She was the cutest of the bunch, so I'm glad with that.
And finally, a rarity I found at Big Lots - Draculara in what looks like a 60s inspired fashion for "Aren't these shoes just a Scream?" Cleo de Nile completes the pair, but to find either one at this point is kinda special.
So why did I collect these? Well, if Sailor Moon items or other anime figures were decently priced like they used to be, I'd have more of that instead. It's just that these dolls are freaky and cool at the same time. Sometimes you can't explain why you like something. And if you want to make fun of an adult toy collector, well then you have problems. My bills are paid and screw you for hating for no reason other than you're trying to make yourself feel superior when you're actually just jealous of other people being happy. Find the thing you like and collect it, just leave me alone. It's not like it's hurting you any.
The gist behind Monster High is that all of the teen student body at the school are modern-day children of classic horror film monsters. And an underlying theme is that we should accept each other and ourselves, flaws and all. Sort of an anti-bullying idea there.
Then I saw the cat-girls, I mean Were Cats. I'll stick with "cat girls." And there's plenty of them. Somehow I managed to get Persephone and Meowlody (twins) at We B Toys when they still had them, but getting the 3 pack Fearleading set would prove impossible, as I refuse to pay extortion for them.
Next was a Venus McFlytrap in a swimsuit from an early set of those, hers being the best of the ones I saw. Only later I find out there's 2 versions of her according to the eyeshadow. One is pink, the other is green - being more desirable for collectors as it matches the on-box illustration. How do people find things like this out? (The McFly part of her name is a nod to the Back to the Future films.)
Out of the sets produced so far, I have 3 from the Scaris collection, with Clawdeen, Catrine DeMew (A Walmart exclusive and yes, a cat-girl), and Jinafire Long, daughter of the Chinese Dragon.
There's been some from other releases I kinda wanted, but I waited for sales and then they ended up selling out. Oh well.
The Wolf family has the most representation among the dolls produced, with 3 sisters and 1 brother, and mind you the boy dolls from Monster High are super hard to find most of the time. Of those I have Dance Class Howleen (younger sister), and Clawdia, the older sister. She wears glasses! I've been thinking of getting another Howleen at some point.
I have 2 Catty Noirs, one in her singing idol outfit and one in her Scaremester outfit. For that matter I have Jinafire in a Scaremester variety, too. I feel the creators of the CG animated specials missed out on a great opportunity to tell Catty Noir's story and show her in concert. Maybe I'm used to idol anime to think that. Oh well.
I have 3 Toralei dolls. Those include Field Trip, Coffin Bean, and Ghoul Sports (she plays soccer). Toralei was one of the earliest dolls produced, so Toralei in the original outfit fetches high prices anymore. There's also fashion packs for the dolls but I've not seen one lately. There's a fashion pack for her appearance in Scaris, which has yet to be released on DVD along with its 15 minute short feature. I had tried to get the Power Ghoul version of her at Target, but due to how Target stocks the shelves (or so I've read) she was always sold out. And if you went online, you'd see them there at rip-off prices. But the ones I have now, I have a short hair, pony tail, and long hair Toralei.
For Freaky Fusion, I have the Cleolei variant. There's one other of Toralei and Scara Screams but I prefer the one I have.
Elissabat is from the same set as Clawdia, the "Frights Camera Action!" special. She was another Aldi's markdown.
There's the Kmart exclusive 2 set, Rochelle Goyle and Catrine DeMew.
There's the Sweet Screams Frankie, the only Target Exclusive I managed to get on sale. She was the cutest of the bunch, so I'm glad with that.
And finally, a rarity I found at Big Lots - Draculara in what looks like a 60s inspired fashion for "Aren't these shoes just a Scream?" Cleo de Nile completes the pair, but to find either one at this point is kinda special.
So why did I collect these? Well, if Sailor Moon items or other anime figures were decently priced like they used to be, I'd have more of that instead. It's just that these dolls are freaky and cool at the same time. Sometimes you can't explain why you like something. And if you want to make fun of an adult toy collector, well then you have problems. My bills are paid and screw you for hating for no reason other than you're trying to make yourself feel superior when you're actually just jealous of other people being happy. Find the thing you like and collect it, just leave me alone. It's not like it's hurting you any.
