Hospital, Games, TMNT and Dinner

So 2 days ago I went to the hospital for my regular check up, while I was there they told me that I would need to replace the battery in my defibrillator. So I had to schedule surgery, I knew the battery was going so it wasn't really a surprise or anything. I got the surgery scheduled, October 20th, one thing that sucks is that in Japan they make you stay in the hospital for at least 5 days and up to 7 days. That is going to suck big time last time I had the surgery I wanted to leave after the 1st day but because I was in a children's hospital I was suppose to stay 3 days. My mom ended up bitching the doctor out and I was able to leave after 2 days, good job mom :-). The other thing that sucks is that if I don't pay for a private room I can't use a computer while I'm there as the typing noise would be disturbing to the other patient, using a phone for music, internet, chat is okay just not talking on it. There will also be an issue with the food not only is it hospital food but its mostly fish and Japanese traditional stuff which I'm not really a big fan of.

Finally we get to the big problem, the surgery costs about $30,000 of which I might have to pay 30% which would be $9,000! I will likely be covered though and not have to pay anything (which would be nice) but I need to go to the insurance office next week to find out for sure. Im not really sure what I'm going to do if I have to pay the 30% cuz thats a lot of money. If I am covered (fingers crossed) then I may get the private room at the hospital, it costs like $70 a day but using a computer may make it worth it.

So after I got all that news I thought I would be heading home but it turned out that they wanted to do blood work first. Im not the biggest fan of blood work and needles but have not really had too much trouble in the past. However I had not eaten anything all day and was a little worried about that. So I went in to the office to get it over with and the tech looked at both my arms and said the left one should be fine. I sat in front of a table with my arm stretched out over it. She tried twice but couldn't get it, gahh come on! So she decided to do the other arm, she got it on the first try and as she was doing it she was asking if I was okay and I was. Then I started to feel different all over then I got a sweaty all over (which is a major sign that my body is freaking out and I don't know, but I do know). At that point I had no energy and put my head down, she quickly finished and was asking if I was okay and if I could move to a bed behind me. All I could say was "uhh" and I wanted to sleep. She called in some other nurses and they tried to move me to the bed, it took about 3 of these small Japanese girls to get me over there. I never fully passed out but I was pretty useless. After a few minutes I was fine and said that I just liked all the attention and I figured that would be the best way to all those girls around my bedside fussing over me.

Yesterday I went into Tenjin to have dinner with some friends with my wife. I got there early and did some game shopping. First went to Mandarake and picked up Puyo Puyo 2 ($1) for the Mega Drive, I already had the first game so I figured I could sell them together. Then I found Ninja Gaiden III for the Famicom ($6) again I had the second game now I just need the first to sell it as a set. I came across Shell Shock ($1) on the Saturn and finally for the Neo-Geo CD I found Metal Slug 2 ($45) it was a little expensive but I should be able to get around $100-$150 for it.

Then I made my way over to Super Book Off, I wasn't really finding much but then as I was looking though the Famicom game carts I came across a copy of Metal Gear that was only $2.80. That was odd because in the past that game was around $20 from this shop. Taking a closer look I noticed that it wasn't a Famicom cart it was a MSX cart. Now, I had heard "MSX" in the past but didnt really know anything about it other than the name, I did some quick research and learned that it was a standardized computer system developed by Microsoft in Japan sometime in the 1980s. I wasn't sure if the games were worth anything so again I did some quick research and found that Metal Gear was going for around $100 loose and $300 if it had the box etc. This was loose but for $3 I was excited.

I started looking to see if there were other MSX games and I found a bunch, Door Door, Mr. Do's Wild Ride, Knightmare, Nemesis 2, Project A2, The Goonies, Comet Tail, Crazy Bullet, Exchanger, SASA, Star Ship Simulator and the Bee Pack.  All the games were marked at $2.80 and most would sell for around $20 with about half of them fetching prices around $50-$100. So I could tell that they got the games in, didnt know what they were or what to charge and just put them all at the same low price and said lets see what happens. So what happened? Well I happened.

I also found another copy of Fire Pro Wrestling X Premium ($2.50) for the Super Famicom and another copy of Valkyrie Profile ($2.50) for the Playstation 1. I had just sent out a copy of Valkyrie Profile that morning that I sold for $25 and it was the second copy I had sold for that price so I figured I would try again.

So that was a pretty good haul but I still had some time to kill before meeting everyone so I headed to a regular Book Off. There was nothing really worth getting at least nothing priced good enough to get but I did find a Super Famicom Guide book for Mario Kart ($1.50) theres only one copy on eBay right now and the seller wants $60 I figure I should be able to get at least $20.

After I left I still had some time so I went to a regular electronics store just to look around. The games here are really expensive and it doesn't matter if the game is old or new. When I say old I mean new old, they don't have retro games. But their games are on the same floor as toys and while I was making my way to the games by chance I went down a random aisle and saw this:

They had a little screen showing different ads.

I had to get one. Quick history I used to have tons, around 500 or so sealed TMNT toys from the 2003 and 1988 line that I had sold due to space requirements and urgings from my parents and wife to get rid of them. So I kind of felt like an alcoholic or something you know "Ill just have one... that should be fine". So I picked up one and thought well what one should I get.... hmm maybe I should get all 4 turtles, well if I do that I should get Splinter, if I have them maybe I should get Shredder and a foot soldier well you can't just have one foot soldier, hmm maybe I should just get all of series one. Ooo and look they have the location and vehicle sets as well. No, no, no, no, stop! Get a hold of yourself man! Okay, okay so just one. I picked Mike and left still feeling the itch but trying to keep it together. One thing that is really nice is the packaging is set up so you can open it without destroying the plastic or cardboard, bonus!.

ACTION SHOTS!

Wow this is getting long.

After I made my way over to where my wife works and headed over to a restaurant with her friends. It was a Hawaiian place called Eggs 'n Things which was a breakfast place, breakfast for dinner not my favorite but whatever. I got a omelet with spinach bacon and pepper jack cheese and 3 pancakes, it was pretty good but at $16 I was hopping for more. Still we had a good time hanging out and who wouldn't being the only guy at a table of girls.