Back in the day when Chicago didn't resemble the arctic tundra, unitdaisy and I were so inspired by drunkgamers.com's garagesaling adventures that we went out about Chicago, scrounging for games. Often we returned home empty handed to post our experiences in the Drunkgamer's Message Forum. However, there were a few times we were lazy and never quite got around to posting them.

Oh, and for those unfamiliar with the term garagesaling it's simple: you wake up far too early in the morning on the weekend and go out to garage sales looking for something (preferably videogame related) while wishing you were still in bed. You can picture for yourself what drunksaling is. Or just see below.

The following events occurred on June 7th, 2003.

peccaui: This week is a bit different from most - for the second week in a row we have a car. Meet the car!

unitdaisy: Hi, Car!

peccaui: The owner (well, technically the renter) of this car is Dave. Meet Dave!

unitdaisy: Hi, Dave!

peccaui: Dave used to go from thrift store to thrift store looking for game consoles and video games - as a result, he has the most impressive console collection I have ever heard of (and someday, you will see it. Oh yes you will.) He was happy to return to his roots and help us out this week. Couple that with an obscene amount of sales in a concentrated area and this week feels a bit more like real garage saling.

peccaui: Dave also dragged Tom from the fantabulous Colorado band Devotchka along for the tailend of the adventures! We all saw them rock the burlesque house last night and ... well, you know - one thing leads to another.

unitdaisy: I second the notion of Devotchka's greatness! And I have no idea what leading things peccaui speaks of...

peccaui: First up, an insane community sale. Well, community is probably the wrong word for it - it was literally about five blocks smattered with garage sales. By the looks of the majority of sales, it looks like it was an enforced sale - if you don't sell, you pack up and move. What a waste of time.

unitdaisy: Honestly the neighborhood published thier own little map with all the sales listed - would have saved me a lot of work if they has let shoppers know in advance - damn you mapping community of northern Chicago!

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peccaui: At first I thought this was paint - nothing could prepare me for the horrible truth. Click on the high-resolution pic to find out just how desparate people can get.

unitdaisy: That pictures still makes me shudder.

peccaui: Do you pine for a time when life was simpler? When child-oriented books covered topics like atomic energy in a clear, concise, mascot-guided manner? Let this book take you back ...

unitdaisy: Back to the day when children skipped through the fields hand in hand with their friend atomic enegry.

peccaui: Dave finds out just what women want. Granted, that advice will only work on 85 year old women - but hey, it's better than nothing.

unitdaisy: Arg! I don't know what to do! If only I had bought that book!

peccaui: Finally - a magazine article that speaks to me. Life Through the Eyes of a Drunk. Informative and entertaining!

peccaui: Unitdaisy wanted to get this shirt because she thought it showcased her Space Invaders fangirl tendencies. I disagreed and demonstrated that the dress would go up in flames if it came near any significant heat source. I think we're all better because of my actions.

unitdaisy: You never had an eye for fashion.

peccaui: Heyheyhey - some PSOne games that don't suck! The last used copy I saw of Vagrant Story demanded $20 for it. Yoink!

peccaui: And look! Some books that aren't pulp romances! But they're missing heaving chests and locks of hair that rhythmically wave in the wind.

unitdaisy: Too bad we already owned all the good ones.

peccaui: I don't know about this guy, but I would be leary of purchasing Viagra at a garage sale.

unitdaisy: More discreet than a plain brown wrapper!

peccaui: These people have a bit to learn about advertising garage sales. Yes, that's their idea of a 'roadside sign.'

unitdaisy: It looks more like they are about to build a hobbit village.

peccaui: With our new found wheels, we managed to make it up to an entirely new thrift store!

unitdaisy: Well new location of an old favorite. Time travel is amazing.

peccaui: With entirely new gaming artifacts in various states of disrepair!

unitdaisy: Damn you, missing knob!

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peccaui: GAMES! Dave slurped up Super Mario World at a low low price, which I fondled StarFox and A Link to the Past. *insert fond memories of times gone past* (note - do not actually insert your memories here.)

unitdaisy: I remember... {snip} ...and then... {snip} ...ah those were good times.

peccaui: You know, a lot of people are unaware that I had a chance to tour with Information Society. Unfortunately, what they meant by touring was test driving their patched-up car. I passed. PEACE AND LOVE INC. YO!!

unitdaisy: Well I once snuck backstage at an Information Society concert, and then... and then... I snuck back out again...

peccaui: So, Dave showed us a Salvation Army where he previously scored some nice finds. Looks like times have changed a bit - they appear to love hiding all their 'choice games' under multitudes of obsolete cell phone cords and miscellaneous crap.

unitdaisy: Peccaui is deceiving you - there were no choice games there - just a mirage.

peccaui: *Sniff* Just seeing the Dreamcast keyboard makes me yearn for the heydays of Typing of the Dead.

unitdaisy: Too bad my hunting and pecking limits my zombie-killing abilities.

peccaui: Winding things up, we drifted over to another thrift store and hit an expensive motherload. This boxed Genesis was going for $45?

unitdaisy: Nice if you want to give it as a present; Christmas 1989 all over again!

peccaui: Damn, I've seen better packages at EB.

peccaui: I may be a desperate retro gamer, but $35 for a beat up 2600 and three games? Even I know a bad deal when I see it.

peccaui: And we top things off with a whopping $65 for what you see here. Someone at this store needs a little "education."

unitdaisy: What on earth is coming out of that television?

Find of the Week: Well, despite the fact that we did happen on a lot of gaming stuff, most we didn't purchase because of the price or because of the condition. So, Starfox & A Link to the Past win. Go them.