Last year I wrote about how Marvel’s Civil War cross-over event was sucking me back into reading comics. And it totally worked. I’m on a first name basis with the guys at the local comic shop, I have two long boxes that are nearly full of comics, and I’m subscribed to the following titles:
And that’s just the stuff that I get every time it comes out - there are other things that I pick up on an irregular basis. Not to mention the collections of back issues (trade paperbacks - TPBs) that I get in order to get caught up on all of the things I’ve missed. Luckily, some of those are limited runs, and many come out bi-monthly. But it’s still a lot.
The sad thing is that there are a lot of great comics I’m missing out on. I should really be reading Punisher now that I know that it’s being written by Garth Ennis. I missed out on Punisher: Barracuda Max, and now I have to wait for the TBP.
There are even things on the list that I don’t even like: Justice League is really well written, but I just don’t know enough about the DC universe to understand what’s going on. All-Star Superman is great, but it’s not so much a continuing series as a bunch of stories that I appreciate without enjoying. I keep hoping that I’ll start to like it, but at three bucks an issue, I don’t think I can wait around much longer.
So what terrible wallet-emptying addictions do you have?
This past weekend I got a runny nose. I mean, constantly runny – as in my face became a faucet. As an allergy-sufferer, I’m used to this sort of thing and have strategically placed Kleenex boxes by my tv-watching chair, next to my computer, in my office and in my car. Before going into a store, I usually stuff a wad of tissues into my jacket pocket just in case.
So when my nose started acting up Saturday morning, I just took some Claritin and went on with my day. Right? Wrong.
After two hours I found myself in Target and running out of tissues. I went to the pharmacy area and grabbed a plen-t-pak of Dayquil and Nyquil, a bottle of Coke (caffeine seems to help my allergies), and a three-pak of Kleenex. At the register, the cashier wanted my birthdate. This confused him more than it confused me – he actually asked me why they would want to know how old I was.
I explained to him that Nyquil has chemicals in it that people use to make crystal meth, and that apparently Target wanted to make sure that I was old enough to handle my high. Or something. At this point, my head felt all cloudy and all I could do was head outside and pop some pills.
Two hours later, I’m still a mess. My nose is rapidly reddening to match my cheeks, my head feels like I’m storing cheese where my brain is supposed to be, and I’m running out of tissues again. I head home and grab some Benadryl. In my house, we consider Benadryl to be the nuclear option: you annihilate your nasal problems, but it takes out your brain at the same time. I headed back out to the mall.
After an hour of leading two small children through Xmas mall traffic with my head still throbbing and pulsing, I give up and head home. I’ve thrown everything I can at this nose problem and all I have to show for it is a waist-deep pile of used tissues and a 10-point drop in my IQ.
And now, four days later, I find out that Vicks has changed the formula for Nyquil and Dayquil so that it no longer contains pseudoephedrine. Great. Just great. I guess this means that in order to stop my next cold, I’ll have to smoke crystal meth.
Thanks a lot, Vicks. I’m adding you to the list along with Wyeth, the makers of Robitussin. I don’t care if kids are running around with green teeth blowing up their houses: I want cold medicine that works.