Well, there's been a lot of tension lately on the 
forum and I hope this will ease some of that so 
take this post in the vein that it's intended to 
be.

I've just started collecting earlier this year 
and have learned an expensive and humbling 
lesson. I've viewed this as a hobby and that's 
wrong. It's not a hobby, it's SHOPPING! Yes, 
shopping. And who's better at shopping or even 
like shopping? Women, of course.

Think about it. Dealer updates are like stores 
that open at 7 am for their annual 
Spring/Winter/Close-out sale. Women are usually 
the ones that show up hours before the stores 
open and then come home to tell their 
husbands/boyfriends/parents that they've just 
saved hundreds/thousands of dollars. Ouch.

What about auctions? If I was a professional 
baseball player, I'll be battling around .190, 
but still be making millions a year. As it is, 
I'm just battling .190. Bidding against one of 
these gals is like trying to snatch a sale item 
out of their hands, and boy, not sure that my 
insurance covers that kind of liability.

As I see it, we men only have a few options. Stop 
indulging in this hobby. Find a gal and let her 
spend our money and enjoy whatever cels that she 
gets and hope that she will buy cels from shows 
other than "shoujo" (sp?) shows or just give them 
the damn checkbook and hope that there's enough 
to pay the cable bill this month.

BTW, for those interested. You can buy mineral 
oil from your pharmacy. I was surprised when I 
was directed to the Antacid isle. Well, it's not 
paint thinner since it's intended to be taken 
internally. Since this is a family forum, I won't 
say what it's for, but let's just say that it's 
recommended for when you're feeling *ahem* backed 
up.