Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Just let me have my game couch and I will be happy.

What do these games have in common?

Antike, Tempus, Kreta, Die Macher (English edition), A Storm of Swords, Age of Empires, Byzantium, War of the Ring Expansion, Nexus Ops, Ticket to Ride: Marklin, HamsterRolle, Canal Mania, Thurn and Taxis, and Blokus Trigon.

Answer: I don't own them.

And that is a situation that needs to be rectified.

Problem: I don't have room for the games I do own. The overflow games have found a spot on a mostly unused love seat which the kids and I have come to call "The Game Couch".

My wife calls it unacceptable. I offered to get a bigger couch (you know, one with enough room to stack games and sit) but that idea got vetoed.

The wife suggested selling some games. I vetoed that. My collection is barely at a respectable size.

A long time ago my dog claimed the space under our bed as his own. He is now getting too fat to crawl under the bed, so I thought about storing games under there. My wife pointed out that I am fatter than the dog. Of course I won't need to actually crawl under the bed, I have kids for that. I'm pretty sure her two cents were a veto simply masquerading as a smart-alek comment.

Looks like I'll be installing some shelving in my free time. Frankly I don't see a lot of difference between shelving and a game couch. The main difference is that shelving will never serve a purpose other than game storage. A game couch has many uses. Off the top of my head; a game couch can be used to store games, to set a chainsaw, or for a fat dog to sleep on.

The second difference is one of aesthetics, and that is the important difference for my wife. Functionality, you see, is rarely a concern for women. Aesthetics are much more important to the fairer sex. Don't believe me? I have two words for you: High Heels.

For example, the basket thingee hanging from the shower head is only for shampoo or conditioner. Never mind the fact that one bottle of ketchup and two cans of Nalley's Beef Stew fit perfectly. In fact they fit much better than either shampoo or conditioner. Do you think she will let me store beef stew and ketchup in the basket perfectly suited for such storage? Of course not. If it were up to me I would install a couple more of those baskets in the shower in order to store even more beef stew and ketchup.

For some reason women would be incredibly embarrassed if a guest saw a can of beef stew in the shower. Go figure. Personally, I would be embarrassed to have guests over and not have beef stew to serve, especially if that can in the back of the cupboard, the one that I thought was beef stew, turned out to be lima beans. I would die of shame.

Back to the situation at hand. Storing games in the shower basket is out of the question. Fortunately Dame Coldfoot and I are of one mind on that point. Storing games in the sewing room is also out of the question. Dame Coldfoot is of one mind on that point.

If I'm losing the game couch and the sewing room is off limits, I'll simply need more shelving. The wife is pulling for shelving fastened directly to the wall, I want to expand the current system:



Right now, I figure I am at that point where no matter what I do it will be wrong. I put up shelving here, she will want it there. I fasten shelving to that wall, she will want it in the other room.

Hmmmmmm. Maybe I'll just fasten the game couch to the wall. Aesthetics be damned, we're talking functionality here.

Yeeeeeeeeeeah. Ya' know what? That's not a bad compromise. Can't believe I didn't think of that sooner.

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If you missed it here is a link to a very useful geeklist: Availability status of the top 150 games. Thank you for the effort, mateybob.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

I have one of those shower caddies hanging in my broom closet. It holds various pet medicines, remedies, vacuum attachments and shoe polish.

Melissa said...

The problem is perhaps not so much storing the beef stew in the shower (although that could be off-putting for visiting vegetarians) as storing the shampoo and conditioner in the pantry.

Pawnstar said...

You're lucky to have a game couch; my collection was relegated to the loft a long time ago (the loft in most British homes is a small space between the roof and the upper storey ceiling, and not a studio flat).

Putting shelves up there was very difficult, and they're not exactly what I would want (especially as I have to clamber up there every time there's a session); but I am subject both to the whims of 'Er indoors' aesthetic tastes and the fact that British homes are predominantly small (unless you're a millionaire).

Coldfoot said...

Ryan: Shoe polish? How embarrassing.

DW: Those shelves are as solid as the different factions of the Democrat party.

Melissa: Visiting vegetarians?

Not here. Up here salad and fruit sells for its weight in oil, and most gardens are so spindly and sparse that they are only kept to attract fresh meat.

Fellon: Come to the States, I'll rent you my wife's sewing room. It'll be like Buckingham Palace.

Anonymous said...

I look at that setup and think to myself. Man, I bet those games smell like cigarettes. :P

Coldfoot said...

Cigarettes?

Dame Koldfoot said...

I've told Koldie a thousand times--that room is his to do with as he pleases. Really. Why do you think I stopped cleaning it???? Because I gave up the "game room," (and clean the rest of the house) I may now dictate how the other rooms should appear. That includes keeping games off the small couch in the living room. And the kitchen table. And the washing machine. And the chair in the entryway. And our bed. And the cars. Am I missing any place? By the way, darling husband, I noticed a copy of Thurn and Taxis on the "game couch." Couldn't you find it on the game couch buried under other games, kid's toys, soccer gear and a fat, shedding dog?
PS. Thanks for your support DW!

Fraser said...

By the way, darling husband, I noticed a copy of Thurn and Taxis on the "game couch."

LOL - Sprung :-)

Coldfoot said...

Fraser: I started this piece before I bought Thurn and Taxis. Talked to the guy at the local game store and picked up some other games that have been sitting in the store for over a year and haven't sold. Picked up Dos Rios, Amazonas, Bridges of Shangrila, and two other games that I can't remember for a great price.

I noted today that he had the new El Grande in stock. I will have to pick it up. It is different enough from my copy that it deserves my attention.

Now I really need to get busy and hang that game couch from the wall.

Anonymous said...

Games in the garage...hmmm. The TX summer heat started altering the color of plastic pieces in my Star Wars Queens Gambit.