Gallery - You Asked, Mysteries, And Temp Galleries
Page 9 -Patch Mystery Solved

It took me...what... 7 years, give or take. But I finally, finally figured it out.
Now, there are two parts to this story: The interesting/funny part. And the aggravating part. Please feel free to skip over either part that does not interest you.

The Interesting/Funny Part
Have you ever wanted to "live" a movie scene? Seriously. A scene that, for whatever reason you thought, "Wow, I would love for that to happen to me!" Most times of course the scene involves either a stack of money/gold/wealth or a sexy [insert appropriate gender here]. Right? <laughing> {:-D

But for me - I've always wanted to solve a mystery. And even more - solving it with (and this is the tricky part) solving it with a soundtrack playing in the background.

Unbelievable as it sounds - that's exactly what happened to me when I solved this patch mystery.

How's this for a convergence of unlikely events:

One quiet night while my wife and I were finally unwinding after yet another harrowing week running a small business, we were too tired to even put in a DVD, choosing instead on channel surfing and vegging out. And as it happened - a newly favorite film of ours was playing on one of the Turner channels. A movie about a treasure hunt. It's a film I've seen so many times that I started to split my attention and multi-task surfing the web; only intermittently watching & listening to the film. It was going to be a quiet night for a change and we were going to enjoy it.

Now, you know how when you're fixated on a problem with no simple solution, if you relax, the answer just pops into your head? Often it's when you're sleeping that the puzzle you've been desperate to solve - solves itself. Your unconscious and relaxed mind puts together all the pieces that your conscious self couldn't grasp and suddenly you sit up and realize you have The Solution.

So. There I am half-watching/listening to 'National Treasure' with Nicolas Cage and the scene where he and his cohorts are chasing down history in Philadelphia. The music is a pounding beat of immediacy. Danger all around. Chased by the bad guys. Chased by the authorities. The tempo is driving toward a massive crescendo. And suddenly, and without any warning, my mind started to click - going into directions I hadn't considered before. And now I'm typing like a madman = my hands are literally shaking. The music score is blasting away as I fumble to type in 'Google.com', then entering 'All-Star Philadelphia Patch, click, click, click, mutter a profanity, backspace, delete, click, click, click. Image search. Click, click, Scroll. Scroll. Bingo found one. Music rising as Cage & Company reach Independence Hall. Click open image. And just as he reaches into the hidden brick - I see the image (or at least that particular part of it) that has been my mental block for the last 7 years.

The soundtrack music drifts back into my awareness and I realize that I'm screaming at the top of lungs! "Oh My God - I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT! The 2001 Fleer Final Cut Patch Card is from the 1996 Philly All-Star Game!"

My wife and my cat were not amused at my exhortations. ;-D

The Aggravating Part
Why 'aggravating'? Well, besides the obvious, of course. Because about a year ago a good friend asked me to help identify part of a patch seen in a Big Hurt insert. It took me roughly one minute to recognize that it came from THE 1996 ALL-STAR GAME HELD IN PHILADELPHIA HOSTED BY THE PHILLIES!
ONE MINUTE!!! }:-O

But it took me SEVEN FREAKIN' YEARS TO FIGURE OUT THIS 01 FLEER CARD CAME FROM THE SAME FREAKIN' PATCH!!!!!

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! }:-0

<ROFL!> X-D

So. That's it. Mystery solved. ;-D

Postscript...
I slept better that night than I had slept in a long time. Solving that patch mystery lifted a literal weight off my shoulders. And while it was only a brief respite from my ever-hanging chains of responsibility - it was a joyous night indeed.

« Back to Gallery YAMTG Page 8 | Go to Gallery YAMTG Page 10 »

« Back to Site Updates | « Back to Cards Gallery 1, Page 8

« 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 »