What made you happy today?

[IndigoErth]

NICE!

I kinda did that just recently with the 2012 TMNT Roddy Piper Mikey figure via eBay when I finally found a decently priced loose one that still came with the accessories.

[Leo656]

Today is our One-Month Zoe-versary!

First, this happened:





She really loves him SO much (even though she beat him up the one time). He still gets really nervous around her a lot of the time, but we're getting there. Whenever she sees him she gets all crazy excited and just has to go wherever she sees him going. I can tell he gets overwhelmed by it all but he's getting more and more tolerant of her, and once in a while a precious moment like that one comes up. Thankfully I had my phone in my pocket this time.

Meanwhile, Zoe seems to be pretty excited for Christmas...

[IndigoErth]

Just went to throw some bread (and the sadly kinda dried out Swiss that ruined my sandwich ) out for the birds and whoever...and it was perfect timing to wave to Santa, Mrs. Claus, etc on the firetruck and the other vehicles with it.

Had been hearing sirens off and on for a bit and was wondering what was going on out there today. Never even crossed my mind it was Santa, even though I only wondered just a day or two ago if they'd do it again. Last year was the first, so I kinda thought it might have just been a special one time thing for 2020.

So... even if my family members are at Disney without me, at least I can brag to them that they missed it.

[IndigoErth]

Got our newest exclusive employee ornament today. I knew the box seemed heavier than the other three I have, but the ornament is pretty big this year!

I ALMOST totally lost it though when it fell into a space, between the two sides of fixtures, inside where I hide my personal belongings while working. Thank goodness it was wide enough for my hand and was able to reach it and get hold of it. >.<



12/22 -- Had planned to run to Aldi after work to look for those awesome cheese balls they have only around the holidays. (A fave because the texture and flavor are the closest I've found to my once beloved Wispride that I haven't seen in years.) But I'm super late looking and knew they're probably gone. I missed out last year because I was likewise too late on it. I figured, at best...I can at least get some of those awesome crackers (that they have year round) and look for other spread cheese in the regular grocery store.

Wouldn't you know it... they had the cheese balls (got 3 so to save a couple for later), it was the crackers that were wiped out! ??? That was unexpected, they usually have quite a lot and have never seen them just gone. But that's easy to substitute or wait for restock so no complaints here.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Finally able to take off the boot and walk around normally! Still not 100% back to full use of the foot without pain (tried dancing, still hurts a little for some moves) but I won't have to try to drag that d@mn boot around anymore! Lidocaine and ibuprofen have really helped. And the Epsom salts in my bath.

[Leo656]

They let me win for a change. Yaaaaaay.

You're not supposed to care, but it's always nice anyway.

[IndigoErth]

Now I'm coming up with so many ideas of who "they" refers to... Humans, dogs, cranky appliances, untamed gray hairs...



Part-way there happy maker...

I've wanted some kind if fun TMNT ring or something for a while. Just something that is more-so "adulting" right, just a fun, fairly subtle nod to them that isn't kiddieish, tacky, or just "eh..." I'm sure anyone who has bothered to even search up jewelry has noticed there just isn't much out there, all while some other franchises have some really cool pieces, no fair.

So, anyway... was asking questions of an Etsy seller the other day (one who does laser engraving and sells a blue band) to see if what I wanted was doable, since I wasn't sure if the outer text would be too much to fit nicely...

Don't have it yet (seller sent these images for approval), but happy to say this is in the mail:

Spoiler:

[Leo656]

"They" in this case would refer to my wrestling promoter. Sorry, I sometimes assume things are more clear than they probably are.

I work for lots of different promoters but historically I don't get to win much, since I'm not very tall or wide and I can't do crazy flippy moves like an acrobat. It's not the biggest deal, it can just be annoying at times. I've had a few hundred matches in a dozen years and I think I might've won, like, ten of 'em.

Which does not suggest I am bad at wrestling, rather the opposite. What happens often to me is, I get stuck with the "The guy's a helluva hand" label. In essence, "So today, we've got you with this other guy we have big plans for down the line, but he needs a little help. We need you to go make him look good, really shine him up so we can make money on him down the road." So then my job becomes making that guy look like a star, for the good of the company, since he's probably gonna be Champion in six months because he's taller, more muscular, and has 100 people he went to high school with in the crowd.

It is what it is, everybody knows wrestling is predetermined and that you mostly only win because of your look or being the boss's friend. I get paid the same either way, and losing never cuts into my T-shirt money at all, since everyone knows it's not real. What gets frustrating is, you on some level always want to be the guy they give the ball to, even when you know for a fact that's not your role to play in the grand scheme of things.

Like, sometimes it can be annoying. "Why don't I get to win more? Why exactly CAN'T I be the Champion? None of this is real. I know I'm good at wrestling. That should be enough."

But then I just kinda look around the locker room, and stuff starts to sink in. This other guy's 6'10. This other other guy has abs like God. Another other guy can do three backflips in a row before he lands on a guy. This one played high school football with a guy who's in the NFL now. Another one was on a reality show and still has some TV clout. This guy's the owner's roommate. And so on and so forth. And it's like, "Okay, yeah, ALL of those guys are actually way ahead of me in line and there's a million of those guys." And then, in-context, it all makes sense, and you either take a deep breath and let it go OR you just plain don't wrestle anymore.

I pretty much know, every time I pull up to the venue, my job for the evening is gonna be to make someone look good, even if I'm better than they are objectively. That's just the nature of the business, and you either accept it or don't be in it. No room for ego. Especially not when you're my height. You're there to give the fans a show they'll remember, not try and be a big shot. It can be humbling, but it's good to be humble, anyway. It pays to remember, "I might be better at it than the other guy, but we're all just clowns in the same circus, at the end of the day". It's not a meritocracy.

But all that said, it's still nice to get a win once in a while. There really is no feeling in the world like hitting your Finisher on someone, hearing the crowd go "OOOHHHHHH!", and then they play your music while everyone cheers for you. You're not supposed to care about winning, since it's not up to you anyway... but to a man, everyone will tell you that chasing that moment is ultimately what keeps them showing up to work. Can't lie, feels great!

[MsMarvelDuckie]

First day back to work without the dreaded boot. Not completely 100%, but was able to make the walk in with no issues, and still going pretty strong almost 4 hrs into my shift, so I'm optimistic. Not too bad, for a Monday!

[IndigoErth]

Happy makers...

Got my ring this morning. Here's some blurry pics of my own.




Bonus happy maker points...

Figured out the phone situation and found an awesome deal.

And because of a lot of sold out product in one of my stores finally showed up, having to put in more time (and therefore more pay!) in than I'm actually allotted for this week and FYIing my supervisor of the fact...because either they want it out and selling or they don't, right? Not my fault some of it has been hard to get and then they finally send a lot of it in one mass shipping.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Leo656

"They" in this case would refer to my wrestling promoter. Sorry, I sometimes assume things are more clear than they probably are.

I work for lots of different promoters but historically I don't get to win much, since I'm not very tall or wide and I can't do crazy flippy moves like an acrobat. It's not the biggest deal, it can just be annoying at times. I've had a few hundred matches in a dozen years and I think I might've won, like, ten of 'em.

Which does not suggest I am bad at wrestling, rather the opposite. What happens often to me is, I get stuck with the "The guy's a helluva hand" label. In essence, "So today, we've got you with this other guy we have big plans for down the line, but he needs a little help. We need you to go make him look good, really shine him up so we can make money on him down the road." So then my job becomes making that guy look like a star, for the good of the company, since he's probably gonna be Champion in six months because he's taller, more muscular, and has 100 people he went to high school with in the crowd.

It is what it is, everybody knows wrestling is predetermined and that you mostly only win because of your look or being the boss's friend. I get paid the same either way, and losing never cuts into my T-shirt money at all, since everyone knows it's not real. What gets frustrating is, you on some level always want to be the guy they give the ball to, even when you know for a fact that's not your role to play in the grand scheme of things.

Like, sometimes it can be annoying. "Why don't I get to win more? Why exactly CAN'T I be the Champion? None of this is real. I know I'm good at wrestling. That should be enough."

But then I just kinda look around the locker room, and stuff starts to sink in. This other guy's 6'10. This other other guy has abs like God. Another other guy can do three backflips in a row before he lands on a guy. This one played high school football with a guy who's in the NFL now. Another one was on a reality show and still has some TV clout. This guy's the owner's roommate. And so on and so forth. And it's like, "Okay, yeah, ALL of those guys are actually way ahead of me in line and there's a million of those guys." And then, in-context, it all makes sense, and you either take a deep breath and let it go OR you just plain don't wrestle anymore.

I pretty much know, every time I pull up to the venue, my job for the evening is gonna be to make someone look good, even if I'm better than they are objectively. That's just the nature of the business, and you either accept it or don't be in it. No room for ego. Especially not when you're my height. You're there to give the fans a show they'll remember, not try and be a big shot. It can be humbling, but it's good to be humble, anyway. It pays to remember, "I might be better at it than the other guy, but we're all just clowns in the same circus, at the end of the day". It's not a meritocracy.

But all that said, it's still nice to get a win once in a while. There really is no feeling in the world like hitting your Finisher on someone, hearing the crowd go "OOOHHHHHH!", and then they play your music while everyone cheers for you. You're not supposed to care about winning, since it's not up to you anyway... but to a man, everyone will tell you that chasing that moment is ultimately what keeps them showing up to work. Can't lie, feels great!

It is cool to see you win once in a while. After all, you HAVE to win a few matches sometimes so the guy you're giving the rub to looks even better cause it's like 'DID YOU SEE HOW HE TOOK RIKKI ROXX DOWN? DAYUM, I DON'T WANNA MESS WITH THAT GUY'.

I mean not just anyone can beat the Bloodsport Death Match Hardcore Champion.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

The Duckman walks again!! Yes, he finally got his new leg today, and is now standing on his own "two feet" again (with some help from the walker until he gets used to balancing on the prosthetic). So, so, SO happy today!

[Autbot_Benz]

My Thor #20 2nd Printing shipped from Ebay. Thor has been kind of a pain to collect as of late and I have been stockpiling issues cause I didn't have Issue 20 . I can't wait to finally catch up on Thor.

[ProphetofGanja]

The weather was beautiful today

[IndigoErth]

This made me smile...

Most people look so miserable in early photographs, so I love the rare smiles. I always feel like it breaks the distance in time (and even culture in this case) and people just feel like people and mostly unchanged no matter the time or place they were from. Looking past their clothes, these two just look like that nice couple you know from down the road.

Couldn't locate another source (that wasn't social media) to verify the info of this particular photo, but these are the names given:

Monsheeda (aka Dust Maker, aka Peter C. Mitchell) with his wife, Mehunga (aka Cora Standing Buffalo), in Oklahoma - Ponca - circa 1900.

[IndigoErth]

Very happy today to see signs of life in a little sapling I overwintered outside in a pot. Sooo risky to do that here and worried about it all winter long, but looks like my idea of putting it (still in its pot) in a larger fabric planter then filling the space between with wood chips to protect it worked.

It's the last known child, or maybe more likely grandchild, of a beloved old tree of mine, and a previous little one did not make it through winter a few years ago while planted in the ground, so was afraid of losing this one, too, and very grateful that it's a tough one. It's a wonky shaped little thing that may have lost the original top early in life, but that only says to me that it's a fighter, and means a lot to me, so a good sigh of relief and hoping it continues to do well. Just not sure if I aught to put it in the ground this year or not...



On a similar note, also happy that a dwarf banana has made it through a second winter indoors. So much of the time the dry air destroys them and have had to start over from whatever remaining new offshoot might survive. Took me long enough to figure out how to keep it alive indoors...but at least they're forgiving and put up new plants to start over.

Maybe someday I'll actually get one big enough that it might put on fruit. For now... I noticed some weeks ago that it, along with smaller offshoots, is warping its plastic pot that is now...er, oval shaped? Guessing it might need a new one before the roots go and break it open.

[Roseangelo]

So, the last year has kinda been the best year of my life. I can't give specifics, but I'm pretty damn happy. And today was just more reinforcement of that.

Oh, and found a cute Mikey for $1 at a flea market.

IMG_5665.jpg

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

So, the last year has kinda been the best year of my life. I can't give specifics, but I'm pretty damn happy. And today was just more reinforcement of that.

Oh, and found a cute Mikey for $1 at a flea market.

Attachment 13297

Glad to hear it!

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

So, the last year has kinda been the best year of my life. I can't give specifics, but I'm pretty damn happy. And today was just more reinforcement of that.

Is it what I think it is? Is it time to celebrate?

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Is it what I think it is? Is it time to celebrate?

LOL. Yes first part. No second part.