As we come to the end of this God Forsaken year it's time for me to think back and seen what the hell we did.
This year may have been one of the best years of CD bargain hunting that I have encountered. Four things stood out.
1. The closing of the FYE store in Coral Ridge and prices slashed 50 to 60 percent off enabled me to return there three times this year ending in February.
2. Real Records 50 percent off used CDs in August turned out to be a bonanza since Craig put out a lotta of his out of print inventory and I managed to find Dee Dee King's Standing In The Spotlight for four bucks as well as Leon Russell's Stop All That Jazz.
3. Hastings Music big Sony Music Sale during our Arizona Farewell trip.
But perhaps the last and best find was the October dollar cd sale at Pawn America in Madison which I ended up buying over 35 CDs in a two day binge. Of course finding a mint cd of Led Zeppelin 4 is always great, especially when I beat some dude that had 2 big shopping bags of stuff that he was picking up left and right. So convinced that I could find more that the next month I return to Mad City I did....and found nothing. But Frugal Muse more than made that up by having John Hartford's Aero Plain for 2 bucks. Which is selling for 50 bucks on Amazon.
The life of a bargain hunter is always hit and miss. And there were times that I'd go to either Waterloo or Ames/Des Moines and that turned out to be a wasted road trip. So I went to the places that still had CDs for sale, which was in Dubuque or Madison or Davenport. I made two big road trips: to Ann Arbor with my trusty GF driving the way to Encore Recordings and the other was the Arizona Farewell To The Music Stores Trip. The Michigan trip was the first time I have been up there in 35 years. And basically was a trip to meet her family and get acquainted with them. However she did humor the old dude by taking me to a couple FYEs and Encore but outside of that I didn't bother her with going to any in Detroit. But also knowing that there's nothing in Hale outside of a noisy air conditioner that put me to sleep. But also going outdoors and getting eaten up by those damn mosquitoes. I'm sure it won't be another 35 years going back up there, the GF won't allow that.
The Arizona Farewell Trip was planned on the same day as Michigan trip but with cheap airfares at that time, I thought it would be nice to return to the desert one more time. But it was bittersweet since everytime I went into a Zia's I would be bombarded with sales associates asking if I was all right or needing music help. Four times at the Thunderbird Zia's of pesky help and high used cd prices convinced me that I have doing the right thing by never going back there again. At least the folks at Hastings left me to my own devices. But I think the highlight was finally hooking up with Dennis Lancaster on the Sunday night I got there and we walked downtown Tempe and hung at the bar and drinking those iced smooties and getting a bellyache afterward. But it was fun talking about the old days and wondering where the hell they went and hearing Dennis moaning of the fact that the cute chick sitting next to him wasn't even born when I was living down there in 86.
It wasn't all cd bargain hunts in Arizona. I drove down Arizona 66, stopped at Crookton Pass and watched a couple trains go by and then it was off to Seligman to say hi to the kind folks at Angel's Gift And Barber Shoppe just before closing time. Didn't see Angel there, but got to talk to his daughter for a few. She's always been sweet and kind to me in the 20 years of stopping there while passing through. And off to Kingman to spend a night and the afternoon counting trains going through town and having supper at Cracker Barrel and having chicken and dumplings platter. And down the road to Bullhead City, Needles, through Lake Havasu City and Parker to Tucson to meet up with Barbara for a couple hours. And for the first time, only went through one monsoon storm between Tucson and Casa Grande, every day was sunny and clear. Sky blue skies. The way I want to remember Arizona.
This year has been the story of more places closing up shop. Marco's Pizza, my favorite place for the pizza buffet closed when I was up in Michigan and never reopened. FYE in Coral Ridge closed. Best Buy continues to shrink their CD inventory. The help continues to annoy me. The Plattville Record Store closed up so for the most part. But I did go to Madison four times and struck it big the last two. But on a picture taking trip on State Street encountered some old homeless hag worried that I was going to steal her cigarettes, didn't think much about it till the old hag told her buddies to "watch out for that guy". To which it was certain and the reason why I couldn't never live in Madison on a regular basis; if I stay there more than two days, the morons would come out and piss me off to the point that the trip wasn't fun. So, I went back up there a month later, on a Football Saturday and found out that it was best time to go there. Hardly anybody to bother me at the music stores.
I don't wasted any trips to Davenport or Dubuque or Madison, in Davenport I went there to stop at Big Lots and pick up some reduced prices on food. We used to have Big Lots in town, till they closed them up except the ones at Davenport or Hannibal or where my GF lives at.
The weather here was like the year before, snowy winters, and hot and humid summers with monsoon storms at night. No big floods here but Lake Delhi had 10 inches of rain one night and the dam failed and the Lake emptied down river to Monticello. The Wapsi flooded from rains up north but The Cedar in town didn't flood. And the fall was beautiful, got up to 80 degrees when I was in Madison that October day.
For sports it was pure disappointment. The Chicago Cubs tripped from the word go and Lou Pinella retired but they save their best baseball in September after he left. The San Diego Chargers couldn't beat The Oakland Raiders and stayed home for the playoffs. But the Iowa Hawkeyes, my beloved team had no defense and had it wasn't for a Micah Hyde pick six against Missouri in the Insight Bowl, this season would have been a disaster.
So we come to the end of the year and the only constant from last year is that my GF is spending another Christmas and New Year's with me. And the wondering of where I'll be at for next year and my plans are. I'm done with the Arizona trips, done with the Zia's and the pushy record clerks knowing nothing of what I like. I promised I would retire from this when I turn 50 but we all know that won't happen. As long there's a Half Priced Bookstore within driving distance and in town, I'll still be a fixture there, just like Jimmy Kibler and the old dude with the glasses. I'm sure there'll be a Madison trip or a Dubuque trip when the snow melts or when the car is working or as long as I have my job.
I'm sure there will be new stores a coming or favorite hangouts or eateries closing up just like this year and the year before and so on. I'm sure I will return next year with more observations and top ten mania that is the basis for this blogsite. It's a hard habit to break. If I don't there's a backlog of archives worth discovering. Thanks to all who follow, who supported and made comments of noteworthiness.
Till the next time.
