The following tale is true. Only the names and places have been altered or omitted to… basically just not to piss off any algorithms. The events you’re about to read relate directly to my recent inability to keep this place updated in a timely manner. In fact; the finishing touches of this post mark the first time I’ve been able to sit down and write in weeks. For roughly three months now I’ve been back in the working world at a game store learning the ins and outs of inputting stock, running events, managing orders, daily sales, cleaning, and helping to set up the new secondary location. See my boss managed to nab himself a unit in a still lively mall and so I occasionally spent an extra day of work helping him get that location into fighting shape. The first of such days involved a furniture hunt in the strangest of places.
During the past couple decades a number of mall anchor store chains have gone belly-up. You know the sort of place I’m talking about. High-priced department stores with perfume counters and the worst hits of Celene Dion playing over the radio. When those places close down there’s usually group that works on selling off the remaining display racks, tables, even some of the electronics. In this case the group that had done the final sell-off never finished and are apparently never coming back. The mall in question wants this unit as empty as possible for future development so new stores are encouraged to scavenge whatever they want so long as they do most of it during off hours. Thus a few weeks ago I along with several others set off into the dark, dank recesses of forgotten capitalism.
If you’ve never been inside a mall before it opens I highly recommend the experience. There’s a weird sense of comfort from strolling the vast halls before they fill with people and noise. It’s almost like a little world made just for you. Plus, unlike early morning walks outside, there’s a low chance of encountering wildlife. Of course that’s the properly lit main section I’m talking about. The empty anchor store was another matter entirely. Imagine a vast cold space that manages to have infinite dark corners and mysteries to send the mind into overdrive. Oh and poop… yea, we found some poop in the break room. Easily the most unsettling aspect of the store was the freight elevator. Ya know the kind where you hear things moving and shaking just by taking one step inside? Suffice to say after our first ride we switched to send the furniture down and then using the stairs. Of course said stairs only had lights at the top which meant each trip involved a descent into a black abyss with the only source of color being a wall filled with farewell messages from the former store staff.
 |
| By all means, please go first. |
If there’s one sensation from this outing that will stick with me it’s the odd mix of empowerment/semi-embarrassment felt when rolling a several a hundred pound display shelf from one end of the mall to the other while people shoot confused looks, though this did provide ample opportunity to swing by the fine ladies at the pretzel hut. Still; if you’re the sort that hates being the center of attention I can imagine this being a form of corporal punishment.
By this point you’re likely wondering if there’s any sort of point to my ramblings and here it comes. Remember how eager the mall was to empty out the anchor store? Well that meant it was totally feasible to take out stuff that wasn’t necessarily meant for the store. While we hoisted and rolled out different displays I kept my peepers open for something that would come in handy at home, pending it could actually make the journey. For the most part this side-mission felt doomed. Turns out store furniture is heavy as all hell with some pieces having crazy measurements to boot. There were also a few items where I couldn’t fathom how it could ever be useful. Near the end of our quest I’d almost given up on lofty dreams of super furniture… but then I saw it. A light shone down from the heavens upon a lonely item, the last of its kind, a triple-layered Levi’s display table.
I can hear you shrugging across time and space. Surely you must be wondering what is so damn special about branded jeans display table. Well here’s your answer. As a gamer I’ve struggled with a two-front problem. One is board game storage, with the other being a proper play space. I made progress on the storage front a few years back via a sturdy shelf but in this display I could see both needs met at once. At least that’s how it seemed since I lacked a direct way to fully plan out how it might work. Given that this was a now or never sort of situation I dragged this monster back to the store where it sat for a few weeks before I could return to disassemble and move it back home.
Bringing the table home commenced weeks of a different tasks piling up. Everything from ikea runs, slatboard installation at the store (which occurred after hours providing a totally different mall experience), sorting, cleaning, working, bookkeeping, getting a new dog, birthdays, helping people move, on and on. Now it’s finally starting to level off and I have time to live again. What this means is that this is but part one of our tale as the table’s arrival set-off the long overdue clean-up of our basement. As it stands I’ve pieced together eleven pieces of furniture in just over a week with one more to go and others potentially on the way. Yes this is sorta losing the point, it’s hard to elaborate on the feeling of abandoned mall scouring a month after the fact, but know that I’m back, I’m free, and I now have the greatest gaming accessory known to man. Behold!
Clocking in at the weight of a small moon, this triple tiered terror houses a massive selection of gaming goodness with plenty of play space. The huge boards of Formula D barely make a dent on this 3 by 5 behemoth while leaving room for a printer and photo-scanner. Plus cats love the damn thing. They climb behind the games or hop up top to cool their bellies on the smooth top. We couldn’t resist taking one of the old dvd shelves from another project and using it as a side area for cards and small games. Sure I’ve been half-crippled from project like this but the results are just sheer beauty.
As I’ve noted this is just the start of our tale. All this home improvement is the perfect excuse for some posts about books, games (both video and tabletop), along with a small sojourn that resulted in the first Halloween decorations for the year, oh and German food. Basically after a month that almost felt like a year I’m back and there’s plenty to talk about. And yes, if you couldn’t tell, this post itself has mutated multiple times since I started writing it. Still; it feels outstanding to be back and I hope you’ll stick around as I whip the site back into shape while we slowly ease outta summer and into the best months of the year. For now just watch this space for either a snack report, event report, or aimless ramblings about book collecting. See you all soon.
