AstroBoy Online Forums

Even, always!

What is the worst purchase you've ever made?

I guess I am the only one who ever made a bad purchase, then? I'm about to answer my own question and submit a new one! Will do tomorrow to keep the game going, if no one posts in the meantime.

Oh, I bought this Desert Storm 12" GI Joe commemorative "collectors' item" (from a mail order?), & a bunch of GI Joe stuff that came out after I was too old to play with such things (those bought from a used toy shop), & just ended-up selling them to the used toy store. I would like to have some of the things I did have as a kid, seeing that it is ok for an old man to relive his childhood.

There is just nothing else that comes to mind. Oops! I was into Marvel Comics for a few years, and realized I was addicted.


Now, for my question:

What is your most missed childhood toy? Something you no longer have.

Now, for my question:
What is your most missed childhood toy? Something you no longer have.

Probably my two erector sets.

Were you ever involved with model rocketry, or model railroading as a hobby?

I had a figure 8 HO train set mounted on a 4 by 8' plywood that folded against a frame on the wall above my bed. Never did much with it, though.



Where were you in '62?

I believe 1962 was the year my parents started dating.

What is the craziest thing one of your teachers has done?

my poly-sci prof. told us the story of the long pig, in order to convey the idea that not everybody has the same culture/diet.

How old were you when the training wheels came off?

Age 7 or 8? I remember a relative had bought me a bicycle that my parents thought I was not quite tall enough to ride. It was a beautiful bicycle, gold in color, with a 3 speed gear hub and the right handlebar handle rotated like a motocycle throttle to switch gears. We had to adjust the seat and handlebars as low as possible and put blocks on the peddles for me to ride it! I learned how to ride on two wheels on that bicycle, still have a scar on my left leg where I landed after a bad fall on the concrete. That bicycle got stolen out of the apartment buildings basement bicycle room, the thief cut though the chain or padlock with a hacksaw. I didn't even own it for more than a month or so! It's replacement was a POS girl's bike, with a top bar welded in so it looked like a boy's model. Makes me sick to think about it.

At what age did you learn to swim?

I was 40 something before I took a PE course at community college. They would not give me a break. The pool was the only thing I could imagine I might be able to do, so there! But, lacking control of left arm, all I could do was backstroke. I hate it! cannot see where I am going. But, I did get the credit! But I never got the AA degree! They changed the requirements, and I had already taken grammar, and just could not imagine myself taking speech. Standing in front of the class, with spasms, and feeling very much ill at ease, etc. all eyes on me! no thanks. So, I wasted my time on that 'swimming' class, for nothing!

Before that, I could hold my breath enough to go underwater from one end to the other, so, even as a kid, I was allowed adult privileges, except for the 15 minute 'break' during which only adults were allowed in the pool. Had to have a patch sewn on my trunks.

I would not bother with pools ever again.


are your parents living?

Only one half.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week (or in a recent past)?