30 / NOV / 07 - 2041 CST : Cover and shuffle...

Hey folks.

Just dropping by to let y'all know that the next strip will be up Saturday.  Well actually it's more of a cover page than it is an actual strip.  It's a little something I like to do each year before the last major story each year.

And while we're talking about this year's final arc, there's a few things I'd like to mention.  First off, I'm calling it "The Noname Clause".  Secondly, it should tie up a lot off loose ends, and bring an end to some of the major plot lines that have been going on for the past couple years.  And last but not least, this is not a Christmas story.

Let me repeat that...This is NOT a Christmas story!

There are a couple reasons I'm making a point of saying that.  The main one being that after two years of doing "Christmas" based tales that I haven't been able to wrap up till Easter, I figured that maybe I shouldn't get too holiday specific with my storytelling this year. 

The other reason I didn't want this to be a Christmas story is that I actually intend to take that week off from working on the strip.  Granted I will be posting a GT Christmas card type thing on the 25th, but other than that, I won't be updating at all between 24th and 30th.  

Do the GT shuffle...

The last thing I wanted to address before I log and off and get back to the strip is something I've received a few comments about over the past few weeks.  Some of you have dropped me a line saying how given the fact that the "Friday" strips don't usually get posted till Saturday, and the next strip that goes up is just a couple days later on Monday or Tuesday, there is too long of a gap between full strip updates.  And after giving it some thought, I have to say that I agree with them.

So in the new year I'll see what I can do about shuffling things around and working out a more balanced update schedule.  A schedule that I'll try my very best to stick with so y'all can come to rely on exactly when the new strips will be posted.  However, please keep in mind that I do have a full time job, and a whole host of other obligations outside of the site.  So there's still no guarantee that I'll be able to follow through on this despite my best intentions.

Alrighty!  I think that's enough of the blah, blah, blahing for today.  Have yourselves a great weekend folks!

Later,

-Ed

******

29 / NOV / 07 - 1539 CST : Coming attractions...

Hey folks.

As you can see, I decided to use today's GTē to help let y'all know about a side project I'll be working on with none other than A Girl and Her Fed's Brooke "Otter" Spangler.  Now originally I was just going to be posting that bit of artwork here instead, but given the fact that not everyone who comes to the site to check out the strips bothers to read the news section, I figured using 'the square' was a much better idea promotion wise.

We're still working out all the details, but here's what I can tell so far.  The project in question is a 15 page (or so) full colour mini comic that, among other things, details the first meeting between Speedy and a much younger Fed (in fact, by the time the book comes out, he'll be looking a bit younger than I've drawn him up above).  

Brooke is the mastermind behind the project, and is responsible for coming up with the story's concept and writing the script, while I'll be providing the artwork.  And even though we don't have a release date set in stone yet, we are about 99.9% sure it'll done next year, and will be available for purchase in both print and digital form.

Now, I'd love to tell you more about it, but I...uh...kinda forgot to check with Brooke about exactly how much info I can give out at this point.  So instead of overstepping my bounds here, I figure it's best to err on the side of caution. 

However, I will say this.  As far as the artwork goes I intend to make it more than just "AGAHF drawn like Geek Tragedy".  I really want to try and stretch my artistic muscles with this project, and do something a bit less cartoony with it, while still staying true to own style.  Granted I'm not exactly sure how I'll be accomplishing that, but I'm give it my best shot.

Okay folks, I'll be sure to tell ya more and more about this project as time goes on, but for now it's time for me to get back to working on Geek Tragedy.

Later,

-Ed

******

25 / NOV  / 07 - 1307 CST : At least opening a can of whoop-ass doesn't make everyone gag...

Hey folks.

My head is kinda pounding right now, but I still wanted to pass on a brief recap of what happened to me last night.  So here goes...

A few of my friends all have birthdays this month, so for the past few years we've gotten into the habit of having one big party type event to cover all of them at once, instead of trying to get three different parties organized.  Well this year we decided to get about twenty of us all together and rent a party bus (something we've done a few times in the past and always had a blast with).

Now if you've never been on one of these things, here's the basic idea.  A school bus painted up to look like the Partridge bus, or a prison bus, or something along those lines, picks the group up, takes them to several bars in the city throughout the night, and then drop everyone off at their home when the night is over. 

Plus, the bus itself acts as kind of a party on wheels as there is music blasting, and coolers full of whatever tasty beverage you may want to drink while you're going from stop to stop.  Which is a good thing really, 'cause the bus ended up breaking down about ten seconds after it left the first bar, so we had kind of a prolonged delay between destinations as we waited for a replacement bus to show up. 

Anyway, eventually things got back on track and we all started having a great time...until we hit the third bar of the night, where apparently some moron thought it would be a really funny idea to open up a full can of mace / pepper spray on the dance floor!

Now lucky for me, I don't dance.  Granted my reasons for not doing so have more to do with a fear of looking like an idiot rather than getting a face full of tear gas, but what's important is I wasn't anywhere close to dance floor when this went down.  Unfortunately though this became a moot point, as in under a minute the tangy zip of what was released started to fill the whole club anyway.

Soon the deafening music in the bar went mute, and was quickly replaced with the annoying sound of what I think was the fire alarm (unless of course bars are equipped with chemical weapon detectors nowadays).  People started to fly past me toward the exit as they covered their faces with their shirts, coats and hands.  I on the other hand headed in the opposite direction and made my way to the woman's washroom, where I stood outside (doing my best not to breath) and waited for my girlfriend to come out.

The second Grace appeared, I handed her my coat, and told her to hold it over her face and breath through it as I began to lead her out of the bar.  We got about half way to the front before I realized that the doorway was jammed up with people trying to leave, so I stopped for a second thinking maybe it would be better if we left through the emergency exit in the back.

It was at this point that Grace removed the coat from her face, said "What's going..." and proceeded to take a nice big breath of mace and then gag.

And so to the emergency exit we went.

Shortly after that we decided that maybe it was a good idea to call it a night and just take a cab home from there.  Of course we had been debating back and forth earlier if we should wait till we got to the next bar and then cab it home, but in the end this event kind of made the decision for us.

So there you have it folks.  And while I can't say this night was the most fun I've ever had, it will definitely go down as one of the most...eventful ones.

Alrighty guys, I'm going to go lay down for a bit.  Sorry for falling short on the stripage this past week.  Granted it's been a very productive week for me as far as house work and other personal stuff goes, but in regards to artwork... sadly not so much.  On the plus side though, I think I managed to get a lot of material for future GTēs this weekend!

Take care everyone, and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Later,

-Ed

PS: Mom, in my defense, I told you I wouldn't be going to any bars where people were trying to shoot each other.  I never said anything about spraying.

******

23 / NOV / 07 - 1354 CST : Clean sweep...

Hey folks.

I spent most of the night and part of the morning cleaning as much of my house as I could, and I think I did a pretty damn good job of it.  In fact, now that I can actually both see and reach it, I'm really looking forward to sleeping my bed tonight for the first time in months. 

Anyway, aside from the cleaning, I really wasn't able to get much in the way of artwork done, but there will be new GTē up later tonight, and then this week's second full strip will be posted up over the weekend.  I know the actual days of the updates have been a bit off this week, but I'm still trying my best to assure that there are still four of them in total, which in my mind at least is the important part.

Okay folks.  Time for me to put the broom away and pick up a pencil.

Later,

-Ed

******

21 / NOV / 07 - 1142 CST : Better late than never...

Hey folks.

It seems I'm still running a day behind schedule here, but a new GTē will be up later tonight (right after I take a nap).  In the mean time here's a little snip-it of the art from it.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the delays everyone, and I'll do my best to get caught up over the next few days.  Still, if looks like I'll be short on one update this week, I'll make sure it's the second GT squared I cut and not the newest full colour strip.  After all, you've been doing with out many of those for far too long already.

Later,

-Ed

******

19 / NOV / 07 - 2225 CST : One more thing...

Home town boy Chris Jericho is back!

That's right, Winnipeg's own, Y2J, has returned to RAW!

That's all I have to say.

-Ed

2057 CST : I'll have more later...

Hey folks.

Just a quick note.  If I can't get the next strip done before I pack it in for the night, I'll be sure to have a decent update for y'all here tomorrow.  

Later,

-Ed

******

15 / NOV / 07 - 1414 CST : Frank's "I haven't gotten you hot yet?!" sauce...

Hey folks.

Today's GTē is based on a comment I heard a while ago from a friend of mine that I've been trying to work into one of the regular strips for a while now.  Ironically though, I've found it rather hard to squeeze a lubricant joke in there so far.  Which is exactly where the squared strips come into play, as they've pretty much become a shelter for homeless Geek Tragedy jokes at this point.

Well, that's all for me.  I'll see y'all tomorrow night with the first full sized / colour strips in a good long while.

Later,

-Ed

******

13 / NOV / 07 - 0845 CST : Because I actually thought the article itself was a joke when I first heard about it...

Here's the link to the story today's GTē is based on.

That's all for me for now folks, as I need to get back to cleaning / rearranging my office now.  'Cause when I finally replace all my stuff, I though it would be nice to be able to use it as an office for a change instead of just an oversized storage closet.

Later,

-Ed

******

12 / NOV / 07 - 0927 CST : Man, I wish I hadn't used "Who ya gonna call?" as the last news headline...

Hey folks.

Well, we've reached the final guest strip.  Today's strip was donated by Ben "Duke" Kahan, who does the sprite comic, Ansem Retort.  

I met Ben back during Connecticon where we shared a table together.  I'd never had to share a table with someone at a con before, and truth be told I wasn't really looking forward to the prospect of it either, but it tuned out to be a blast.  Ben is a really great guy who cracked me up throughout the the weekend, so I'm happy we've been able to stay in touch since then. 

Now generally I don't read sprite comics (in fact Ben's is the only one I do read), but I got a huge kick out of seeing Frank and Casey done up in that style.  On top of which Ben has told me that if he has the time he's going to eventually make sprites of the rest of the geeks as well.

So if you get a chance, please check out Ansem Retort, as Ben does some really funny stuff over there.  Plus, there's a rumor floating around that 'sprite' Casey may be making an appearance over in those parts sometime in the near future. 

So thanks a bunch, Ben, for taking the time to help me out today!  You are now officially on the (ever growing) list of folks I seriously need to pay back one day!

And thanks again to Lar and Brooke for the past guest strips as well.  And keep in mind folks, all of these guest strips can be found via the Archives page, or in the Alt-Strips sections of the site.

Oh, and I'd also like to thank Corey from over at Meet the Geeks for being to kind as to take it upon himself to put out the cry for guest strips so that I could take the time needed to deal with all the crap that went along with my recent misfortune.  Corey really wanted to do up a strip himself, but unfortunately due to family matters, that proved impossible (something I totally can sympathize with).  Still, it means a lot to me that your heart was in the right place.  Thanks for everything man!

Back on the horse (before someone steals it out from under me...

Alrighty! Now that I've pretty much gotten all my shit together, this week will see two new GTē strips, followed by the far too long delayed next full strip on Saturday.  Thanks for all your patience the past week or so folks, and I hope y'all enjoy the upcoming story arc, as it should do a good job of tying up a lot of loose ends within the GT universe.

One last thing before I go though.  I'd like to thank everyone who dropped me a line / e-mail regarding the break in.  It means a lot to me to know that so many of you were sending positive thoughts my way, or knew what it's like to have that happen.  And while I'm currently waaaaay behind on my e-mails at the moment, I promise I will do my best to get back to everyone who took the time to say hi over the past week or so (however, if I do somehow miss someone, I'd just like you to know that I'm really sorry, and that it wasn't intentional!).

Okay folks, that's it for me.  See ya tomorrow with a new GTē!

Later,

-Ed

******

09 / NOV / 07 - 0845 CST : Who ya gonna call?

Hey folks.

Today's guest offering was graciously donated by the man, the myth, the legendary artistic Yoda of yours truly, Lar deSouza!  

As you know doubt already know, Lar is the artistic force behind both Least I Could Do, and Looking for Group.  He's also been a good friend for the past few years, and has contributed almost as much art to this site as I have.  And let's not forget the fact that he's an award winning caricature artist as well.  In fact, at this point, if it has to do with art, I'm pretty sure Lar's done it.

However, the one thing I've yet to see from him (with the exception of my allowing my likeness to have a brief cameo in LICD) is a caricature of yours truly...until today that is.  And while I always love it when he puts his own unique spin on my characters, I get a whole new level of amusement from seeing him turn his digital pen on me.

So, Lar, thank you so much for (once again) raising the caliber of this site by gracing it with your artwork!  You sir, rock like no other!

Oh, and just so y'all know, there will be one more guest strip up come Monday, and then after that it's back GT universe I go. 

Okay, I'm off to finish up what I hope is the last of post-break-in wackiness.  Have a great weekend everyone, and remember to leave a light on (and perhaps a death trap or to) if you're leaving the house for the weekend!  Or just hire some ornery sheep armed with butcher knives and shotguns to watch over the place.  That should work out just fine too. 

Later,

-Ed

PS:  Lar, just so you know, I love the caricature! And you did a wonderful job of capturing the cartoony essence of moi, but I do have one small complaint. The ears...mine are MUCH bigger than that. :P

******

07 / NOV / 07 - 0924 CST : When the banging stops...

Hey folks.

As I type this, there is a guy banging the living hell out the wall about four feet from me, trying to install my new front door.  So at the moment it's a little hard to concentrate on writing.  

However, once it's all said and done, I fully intend to come back so that I may tell y'all just how wonderful today's guest artist, Brooke Spangler, of A Girl and Her Fed fame is.  As well as let you guys know just how much I appreciate her taking the time out of her busy life to help fill the artistic void that would have been left due to my current inability to put the proper time needed into site.

Oh, and I'll also be coming back later to say how jealous I am that Brooke came up with the idea of "ghost porn" before me, and that I think her definition of it is totally brilliant.

So, yeah.  I'll be back later to say...all...

Well, I guess I won't have to come back here later after all, will I?

Anyway, thank you so very much for the strip Brooke!  It means a lot to me, and I hope I'll be able to pay you back for your kindness one day.

Alrighty, the walls are starting to shake now, which is causing my fillings to rattle along with them, so I think it's time for me to retreat to the basement!  

Later,

-Ed

******

05 / NOV / 07 - 0847 CST : Because I'm sick of bitching...

Hey folks.

Here's a little something I'd like to share with you that can be filed in the "brighter side of Ed's life" category.  I was finally able to get my hands on issue #23 of ImagineFX magazine.  That's the one which has the little "Last year I went to..." review I wrote about 2006's Manitoba comic con.  

Now this has been out for about a month already across the pond, but the one store that carries it here in Winnipeg ends up getting them about a month behind, so I had to wait a while longer than I'd hoped I would.  And truth be told, I only picked it up so that I could have my ego stroked in the way that only seeing you're name, pic, and website address in print can do.  However, now that I've had a chance to look through the entire magazine, I've gotta tell ya, even if I wasn't mentioned in it (on page #31 for those of you who'd like to check it out and see what my head would look like if I were two inches tall, flipped horizontally, and coloured in black and white) I'd still be kicking myself if I didn't buy a copy.

ImagineFX is an amazing resource for anyone who does digital artwork, or just loves looking at it for that matter.  The articles in just this single issue have given me a ton of information and tips that will go a long way to improving my abilities (once I get the time to put them into use that is).  Hell, just the three-quarter page article on how to paint hair made this issue worth buying for me!

Plus, on top of all the information found inside the magazine, there's a DVD that comes with it with even more content.  There are tutorials, wallpapers, brushes, textures, fonts (which is great for a budding font junkie like me), demos and a shit load of other stuff.

Now I haven't bought a subscription to a magazine in years, but I've gotta tell ya, if I can't convince someone to buy one for me for my birthday or Christmas, this is the first thing I'm treating myself to in the New Year.

Seriously folks, if you're into digital art, at the very least pick up one issue to check it out.  Granted it's a bit pricey to buy it off the stand here (cost me $20 Canadian), but I'm guessing it might be found for a lot cheaper in your area.  Besides, even at that price I still think it was well worth it.

Alrighty, I think I've gone all infomercial on ass long enough for one day, so that's all for me for now.

Later,

-Ed

PS:  In case you were wondering, I didn't get paid for what I wrote up above.  In fact, if you ever hear me go off about something the way I did just now, you can pretty much bank on the fact that I've only done it because I really dig something and just want to share that fact with y'all.

PPS:  However I don't want any potential sugar daddies / mommies out there who have a product to shill and a lot of cash to throw at me to think that means I'm above taking bribes.  I mean sure, I have integrity and all, but it's not like I can't send that on vacation every once and a while for the right price.

******

03 / NOV / 07 - 2019 CST : At this moment, I am the happiest person who was ever robbed!!!

Hey folks!

Today was a shitty day...right up until 30 minutes ago.

You see, after two days of my brain and body working non-stop to try and get everything done that needed to be done after the having my house robbed, this morning it was time for me to slow down and start itemizing everything that I lost.  

It started with me finishing off a written list, and then proceeded with me going through all my files looking for any receipts, manuals, packaging, pictures or whatever else I could find to show what items I lost.  As this went on I started to get more and more depressed.  Especially once I found the receipt for my backup hard drive and saw just how little something that meant the world to me was worth to the rest of the planet.  

At that point I just about shut down, as it was that moment, even more so then when I first walked into my house the morning of the robbery, that everything really hit home and I just wanted to stop.  But after a few hours of just sitting on the couch feeling sorry for myself, I realized that sooner or later I'll need to get this shit done, so I got back to work.

After finding all the receipts there were to be found, I started hunting for other stuff that the insurance agency told me would help with the claim.  Like packaging, and manuals and such.  One of the last things I went hunting for was the manual for my stereo.

Now I've only used that thing three of four times since I moved in three years ago.  Pretty much just whenever I had parties.  In fact I didn't even realize it was gone till I saw the remote for it sitting on the bar downstairs while I was trying to figure out what might have been stolen from there.  Hell, I never even bothered to buy a stand for it or anything.  I just had it sitting on the box it came in, in the corner of my basement.  And since I couldn't find the receipt for it, I went on down to see if the manual was still in the box, or if I was going to have to take the box itself to the insurance office. 

It was then that I had just about the happiest moment of my life.  Because sitting there on the floor, in farthest corner of my basement was...my backup fucking hard drive!

I swear to God, I've never yelled so loud in my entire life!!  I had such a rush, that about ten seconds later when I grabbed the phone and called my girlfriend I honestly thought I was going to pass out!

So there you go folks.  The one damn thing I wanted back more than life itself, the thing that was worth more to me than anything else in that house, and I got it's sitting right here beside me at this very moment.  I'm telling you, someone up there must be looking out for me.

Of course if that's the case, it would've been kinda nice if they hadn't blinked earlier in the night when someone was kicking in my fucking door, but at this point I'm willing to overlook that.

Okay folks.  Time for me to get nice and drunk!

Later,

-Ed

******

02 / NOV / 07 - 1531 CST : I should've called in sick again...

Okay, right off the bat, for those of you who don't read very far into these news posts, my house got broken into the night before last while I was at work.  Now, with that said, allow me to bitch it about in much greater detail...

Hindsight is fucking useless...

The night before the break-in I called in sick and stayed home from work due to a flu I picked up at the MB comic con.  I then spent the next twenty-four hours debating if I should call in sick one more night, or suck it up and head into work.  I decided to suck it up.

It would appear I made the wrong choice.

Getting kicked in the balls only seems bad, until someone comes along a few minutes later and rips them right off...

When I got out of work that morning, I did what I do every morning.  I threw my backpack / laptop case in the back of the car, got in the driver's seat, cracked open my morning can of caffeine filled pop, and started up the car.  What I don't normally do though, is notice a big fucking crack in my windshield, and then say to myself, "Funny, I don't remember a big fucking crack being there when I got to work."  But that morning was proving to be far from normal.

Anyway, I got my ass out of the car and decided to take another look at it from the outside, hoping against hope that it would somehow magically not be there when I looked at from that angle.  But no, the crack (which I might have mentioned before was both "big" and "fucking") was still there.  Along with an equally big fucking rock laying beside my car.

Now, upon seeing this, I was understandably pissed.  Sadly though, this would honest to god prove to be the highlight of my morning.  

If at first you don't succeed, apparently you just kick down the fucking door...

When I first moved into my house I had recurring nightmares about people trying to break in.  After a while though, these "irrational" subconscious thoughts went away.  Now, one week shy of living here for three years, I've come to realize that maybe those thoughts weren't so irrational after all.  They were just ahead of their time.

Once I got home from work I decided to park around the back.  Not sure why exactly, as a lot of times I park in front, but...whatever, I'm babbling now.  Anyway, when I turned the key to unlock the back door, I couldn't help but notice that it sure didn't feel like the tumbler clicked.  Y'know, as if it wasn't locked to begin with.  Now my mind has played this trick on me before, so I just shrugged it off, and went ahead and unlocked the deadbolt.

Only thing is, the dead bolt didn't feel all that locked either.  Which struck me as odd, because I knew damn well I had locked that one before I left.  Still, I just pass it off as me just being paranoid...right up until the door proceeded to swing all the way open.

Now let me explain something here.  

Everyday for the past six months there has been a broom leaning in the corner behind the backdoor of my house.  And so for the past six months whenever I'd try to open that door more than half way, it would bang into the broom. Which means that for the past six months I proceed to curse that broom, and tell myself "I really need to find a new place that broom", only to forget about it five seconds later.  

Well this morning, like I said before, the door swung open all the way for the first time in months.  And I'll be damned if the first thing I saw as I walked in wasn't that fuckin' broom leaning up against a wall in my kitchen. And while no one else in the world would've even batted an eye at this, for me, it was like coming home to find Freddy Kruger standing in my kitchen cooking eggs.

(Though on a brief side note, I do have to admit that was a much better place to keep the broom.)

Anyway, it took me all of half a second to bolt through the kitchen, and run to the front of the house (which really isn't so much of an adrenaline fueled feat of speed, as it is a benefit of having a smaller house), where I discovered that my front door had been kicked in, the outside door was propped wide open with a brick, and my TV stand  (sans the TV that once rested on it of course) was sitting in the hallway right by the door.  The also smashed a window in the door, but seeing as how my deadbolt locks from the inside with a key, I guess they then had to switch to that whole "kicking the door down" thing.

Now I'd love to say that I stood there calmly for a second, took off my sunglasses, crouched down, squinted off into the distance and said in my best David Caruso voice, "Well either someone forgot their keys, or we've got ourselves a robbery."  But in actuality I think I just slammed my fist against the wall and shouted something along the lines of, "MOTHERFUCKER!"

Plus, I didn't have any sunglasses on, so...

You don't know what you got till someone busts in and takes all your shit...

So of course the first thing I did was grab the phone in the hallway and start making a bunch of calls.  Or at least it would've been, had it not been for the fact that they stole my fucking phone!  Lucky for me though I still had my cell (which makes this only the second time in my life I've ever been happy I had a cell phone), plus the phone in the basement.  

Okay, so generally I'm not a big "phone person", but today proved to be kind of an exception, because in the span of an hour or two I ended up talking to the police, my mother, my insurance company, the bank, my girlfriend, my buddy Travis, my sister, my boss at work, and some dude I got via dialing a wrong number.  Then, once all that was done, it was time for me to start making a list of what was missing. 

Now I'm not going to go through everything they took here, but I will mention a few things.  First and foremost, they stole my backup hard drive.  I mention this first not because it was the most expensive item they took, in fact it was among the very least, but because it had the most personal value to me.  I bought this thing about a month ago to back up all the art files on my desktop computer and my laptop that I had created over the past three years in case one of them crashed.  And while I still have everything that was on my laptop, the lions share of these files were on my desktop computer.  Which of course, they took.

now there are two things that really piss me off about this.  First, they didn't take any of the cables, power cords, or software for it.  So what they have now is essentially useless to them.  Which basically means three years of work will most likely end up in a dumpster somewhere.  

The other thing that I've been torturing myself about is that right up until I went to work that night, I had been carrying it around with me in my backpack.  The only reason I took it out that night was because I was rooting around in my bag, and pulled it out while I was looking for something.  And while normally when I do leave it at home, I have somewhere safe, that night I was in too much of a rush to even think twice about it.

Coming to a pawn shop near you...

Okay, before I mention my thoughts on a few of the other items they stole, I have to let you know about something they actually left behind.  Sitting in the middle of what was left of my living room was a baby's jumper.  Y'know, like some PJ's for a one year old or something.  Now I'm not exactly well versed in the practices of the criminal underworld, so I honestly don't have a clue how this particular item would come in handy during a robbery, but it just struck me as odd.

I don't know, maybe they didn't know that "bring your kid to work day" was next Wednesday.

I was also kinda surprised at how selective, and yet at the same time totally random they were with their thieving.  They took the TV, and DVD player, but not the VCR.  Which is perfectly understandable, except for the fact that the only remote they took was for the VCR!

They also stole pretty much all of the alcohol I had in the house, including a bottle of Absolut vodka, yet left behind the bottle of Sky vodka.  Now I can be pretty picky about the booze I drink, but how bad does someone have find one particular brand of vodka that they wouldn't even steal it (the bottle of watermelon vodka I had was left too, but it looks like they at least emptied it first...I guess robbery is thirsty work).  They did however take a bottle of root beer schnapps that only had an inch left in it.  Which I'm kinda hoping they drank already, as it had been left open for several months and was going to be thrown out anyway.

Hmm...this might be a good time to mention that I'm actually not an alcoholic, huh?  Anyway...

The last thing I wanted to mention about their item selections was regarding the DVDs they stole.  They took my entire rack of DVDs (along with the rack itself and a couple box sets), with one notable exception.  They left behind my copy of Four Weddings and a Funeral.  

I just don't get it.  I'd say that it's because they don't care for romantic comedies, but they had no problem taking my copy of Notting Hill (and for all of you reading this, lets not start judging me for my choice in movies, okay?  I've suffered enough here).  

So to you thieves out there, all I can say is you may want to change your mind about this movie.  Just don't bother coming back to the house to get it.  After all, IT'S IN THE FUCKING DVD PLAYER YOU TOOK!

Always look on the bright side of B&E...

Now despite all the shittiness of what happened, it could've been much worse.  I mean, someone could've been home at the time (I don't even want to think about that really), I could've had a pet that might have gotten hurt, or they could've trashed the place.  Granted though, I'm not the best house keeper to being with, so I guess I've done a good enough job doing that last one on my own.  Actually I wouldn't really be surprised if their first thought once they got in was "Sonofabitch!  Did someone already sack this place?!"

You think I'm joking, and maybe I am a bit, but I'm not lying here when I say that I honestly couldn't tell ya if they'd ransacked my bedroom or not.

Also, there has been one sort of good thing that has come of all this.  It's given me kind of a wake-up call.  And what I mean by that is, there are a lot of simple things I could've done to (most likely) prevent this, but due to my "it'll never happen to me" mentality, I never bothered.  I tell ya though, I've sure learned my lesson now!  And by next weekend, I'll have done everything possible to prevent this from happening again (knock on cyber-wood).

And now some thanks and one last plea...

I'd like to thank:

The folks at Optimum Insurance (especially Dale) for everything they've done so far.

The guys at Detail Home Installations who showed up at my door (or what was left of it anyway) within an hour to fix it all up and change all my locks. You guys rock!

My mom, for among other things, asking the question of if they took my spare set of car keys / remote (which btw, they did, and it's costing me between $700 - $1100 to have my car recoded).

Travis, and Mary for offering to help any way they could.

My sister for posting on the forum for me while I was waiting to have a new modem delivered. 

All of you who posted on the forum to wish me well and send some positive thoughts my way (as well as the ones who offered to for an angry mob should the need arise)!

My boss at work (and whoever ended up being stuck with my shift) for giving me the next night off.

The Winnipeg Police department for doing everything they could.  Especially the CSI (I know that's not what they call y'all here, but I can't remember your actual title at the moment) officer who actually managed to find a few prints (and who fingerprinted me as well, which is kinda cool to go through when you know it's not going to be quickly followed up with prison rape).

And last but certainly not least, the lovely Grace!  For lending me her support and more importantly, bringing over pizza and beer for me last night!

And now before I post this and log off I wanted to beg anyone who happens to find a hard drive with a bunch of files that have in turn led you to this site, to please e-mail me at ed (at) geektragedy (dot) com.  Seriously, all I want is that backup hard drive back or the hard drives from the computer.  Well okay, I'd actually like everything back, but I'll settle for just the drives.

Okay folks, that's it for me.  I'll try to get the next GTē up later tonight (I actually had 90% of it done before this whole mess started), but if not, it will definitely be up tomorrow.  Sadly though, I very much doubt I'll be posting a new full strip till next week.  Sorry about that, but for the first time in a long time, the strip isn't my top priority right now.

Later,

-Ed

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