Author: elvisgumby

Art’s Toybox – The Dark Shadows Board Game

Post author By elvisgumby
Post date June 13, 2020
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The television series Dark Shadows started in 1966 but really became popular in 1967. In 1968, a board game company named Whitman came out with a Dark Shadows board game. It was a typical 1960’s game that wasn’t that outstanding. In 1969, game company Milton Bradley came out with another game called the Barnabas Collins Dark Shadows Game. Its name came from the popular vampire character of the show. The commercials for the game showed that it had several glow-in-the-dark pieces. Seems like glow-in-the-dark could sell anything at that time and it made this game a must have for kids my age.

Art's Toybox

Art’s Toybox – Hide The Cow

Post author By elvisgumby
Post date June 6, 2020
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I received a Marx farm playset for Christmas on the very first year I have memories of a Christmas. I remember that year as much as I do because we have home movies of me getting presents from under the Christmas tree. The farm set had a metal barn and silo. It also had plastic farm figures like pieces of fence, a farmer, his wife and a variety of farm animals. The barn and silo didn’t last too long, but the plastic figures ended up in a wicker basket where my mom stored any toys like this. There were also figures of football players, cowboys and Indians and tons of little green army men. The figures from the farm set didn’t get played with that much. Except for the cows. The cows were probably played with more than anything else in the basket.

True Stories

Time for a Break

I walked into the breakroom to get some hot chocolate. I hadn’t been at work that long, so it was to early for anyone to be taking a break. The only other person in the breakroom was the temporary employee. She spent half of her day cleaning parts and the other half cleaning the breakroom and office area of the plant. When I walked into the breakroom, we didn’t speak because she was immersed in her work. I was at the vending machine with my back to her. I had no idea what she was doing.

Kids

Corduroy Goes to the Doctor

Post author By elvisgumby
Post date May 9, 2020
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My wife and I always read to our kids. There are a handful of books that I remember reading to them that stand out. When I read to them from an illustrated children’s Bible, my oldest daughter would always ask for the story of the wedding in Cana and my son enjoyed the story of David and Goliath. They also enjoyed the Dr. Seuss books. One book that I occasionally read was called Corduroy Goes to the Doctor.

True Stories

Dating Disaster

I was going on a first date with a girl I barely knew. This was the first time I had ever been to her house. When I pulled up in her driveway, I saw concrete steps leading up to the stoop in front of the door. There was a screen door in addition to the wood door. I climbed the steps and knocked on the front door. Since I didn’t know her that well, I knew nothing about her family. I had no idea who would answer the door. I was trying to prepare myself mentally for any possible scenario. Would it be a sweet mother or a suspicious dad? Maybe it would just be her. Because I didn’t know if she had any brothers or sisters, I didn’t even consider that possibility.

Restaurants Travel

House Hunting Trip

I changed jobs in 1996 and moved to middle Tennessee. The town where we were moving was about 4 hours from our home in West Tennessee. We only had two children at the time, but our daughter was only 2 and our son wasn’t even a year old. We were going to spend a weekend in our new hometown looking for a house. We planned a stop for a nice celebration meal in Jackson, Tennessee which was only minutes away from our house and on the way. Our plans were disrupted when the kids immediately fell sound asleep as well before we got to Jackson. Most of the time, you are better off continuing to drive while the kids are asleep. We changed our plans and decided that the Burger King drive-thru would be a better option that night.

Restaurants

Meeting the Captain

I think it’s great that fast food restaurants hire people with special needs. One of the places I go to regularly has a girl that washes the same place on a counter every time I’m in their store. She never speaks but always smiles. I’m all for programs that find places for people with limited capabilities to still contribute. But sometimes this can create odd situations.

Birthday

Birthday 2020

This is the 5th March that my wife has given me a birthday gift every day of my birthday month. The main difference in this year’s celebration from previous ones was the COVID-19 pandemic coming into full swing in the middle of the month. Plans for spring break travel and a party with lots of friends gave way to smaller celebrations, staying at home and tightening the circle of people I regularly see. The daily gift gave some consistency to a year where everything is changing every day.

I would like to use this post as an opportunity to say thanks to my wife and document this year’s gifts.

Restaurants

$5 Buck Box

In 2010, Taco Bell came out with a new promotion called the $5 Buck Box. They promoted it as part of a tie-in with the NBA with commercials featuring Charles Barkley. In the ads, Charles would say things like “There’s lots and lots in a five-buck box.” The Five Buck Box was a good value with a catchy phrase and as of this writing, they still have it around. Soon after they started the promotion, I went to Taco Bell to get one. I was standing in line behind and older man. When he was placing his order, he told the employee, “Give me one of those five-dollar buck boxes”. I thought it was funny because I had never heard anyone say it that way. Charles Barkley called it a “five-buck box” and so did I. Everyone I had ever heard say it, said it like Charles Barkley. But then I looked at the sign and saw the dollar sign in front of the number 5. This old man in front of me was saying it right. From that point on, I have called it the “five-dollar buck box”. Other fast food places have also created $5 Buck Boxes and they also call them the “five-buck box”. But they are wrong, aren’t they? I think you will start calling it a “five-dollar buck box” too.

True Stories

Social Distancing at Walgreens

Post author By elvisgumby
Post date March 21, 2020
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As I write this story, we are in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many businesses and institutions are closing, modifying their hours or limiting access to parts of their building. Social distancing is a behavior to help reduce the risk of exposure for people when they need to go into stores, to work or other venues were people gather. The picture above was shared by a friend on social media. It shows the floor of a local Walgreens pharmacy where they have taped it off to indicate where you need to stand to be the proper 6 feet apart for good social distancing.

My friend posted the picture with the following text:

“Walgreens is enforcing the social distance. Please stand on the blue line to check out.”

One of her friends replied, “Why not just go through the drive through?”

She answered, “Can’t get toilet paper in the tube thing at the drive through”.