The End is Near!!

The signs have been there for some time.  All you have to do is look at the numbers.  I'm not even sad about it.

That's right, it's the end of 2014.

What, you thought I was closing down the blog?  Ha, you wish!  Sure my posting has been sporadic at best and this month, damn near non-existent.  That doesn't mean I've lost the desire to keep posting.  It's just a fact of life with this new schedule.  I do have a plan in place to bump up the posting again and I'm actually resolving to post at least 20 times per month starting on January 1st. That seems like a fairly modest number, but considering I haven't hit 20 posts in a month since March, I think it's a good goal to set.

I thought about doing one of those "Year in Review" posts, but this wasn't my best year blogging.  I only have (counting this one) 172 posts this year.  That's the lowest since I started in 2009 and that was only three months!  I did manage to pick up all of Nolan Ryan's early cards, including his Rookie Card, at amazing prices.  I also hit 2000 posts and got Topps to donate a box of cards to giveaway! That was, without a doubt, my best giveaway ever.

Speaking of giveaways, I finally won something on Twitter.  @BB_Essential offered up a great prize and I was fortunate enough to win!

This is what showed up in the mail  I had no idea @BB_Essential cared so much.  *Blushing*

The prize was something I'll always display proudly!  It is an official ball autographed by Will Clark. As most of you know, and Night Owl despises, Will Clark is my favorite player.

I was shocked that I won, but so happy to win something I'll actually enjoy.  Many thanks to @BB_Essential for the ball.

Most of all, thanks to all of you that are still writing blogs, still reading blogs, and still sending me packages!  Resolution #2 is to get all caught up on mailing cards!

Happy New Year everyone!

Get some Crack (no, not that kind!)

Collector's Crack aka Cynical Buddha is having is annual Super Bowl contest.

Go get your guess in before it's too late.  Here.  Or here.

Oh yea, I might even have a regular post for you before the end of the year.

For the Birds

One month ago I officially lost my status as a night owl.  After 8 years of working 11pm to 7am, I'm now working a good old 8-5 day job.  Same company, just in a supervisory role now.

I love my job.  It keeps me very busy and the days fly by, but I'm exhausted when I get home. Combine that with a near non-existent budget and you get a blogging drought.  That doesn't mean I'm not still here.  I'm just struggling to find a balance that many of you have had from day one.  I still read your blogs every day and I apologize for not commenting more.  I will try to do better in that department.

A few weeks ago I happened to read that Ryan over at "O" No, Another Orioles Blog was trying to divest himself of some cards.  The stack of 2006 Allen and Ginter caught my eye and that's what Ryan was kind enough to send over.  I have the perfect thing to send in return, when I get a moment to hit up the post office.

I'd love to show a scan of every card because in their simplicity, the 2006 Allen and Ginter set is magnificent.  I wasn't quite back to the hobby in 2006 and so I missed out on this gem.  I'm always thankful to pick up a few when I can and I hope to have the full set eventually.  In lieu of showing off all the cards, I just took one simple pic with my phone.

I pulled out my three favorites from the stack Ryan sent over.  The Kevin Mench because he's a Ranger.  The Brandi Chastain because I've become somewhat obsessed with Team USA (my 2nd Twitter account proves that).  Last, but certainly not least, is Pope Leo XIII.

By the way, if you're following my Twitter account @bsnider_22 and you don't like the Team USA tweets, switch over to the more baseball card centric @patpdude.

Thanks for the cards Ryan and continued and unending thanks to all of you in the blogosphere for doing what you're doing!

A little pub for Caitlin

Caitlin over at Yankees and Jays is putting together a 2014 Topps Chrome Football Break and I told him I'd give a little PUB.

Here it is.  Go check out the break.

You know what I'm going to say

From one veteran to all the rest.

Thank you.

Words could never express the love and respect and I have for all of you so I'll just say that.

Thank you.

You can enter, but I'm gonna win

Many will enter, but I will win.

Robert over at $30 a week is having a contest and the prize is amazing.

Check it out here.

I wish some of you were right

Thanks to everyone who participated in the November contest.  I think any Hall of Fame autograph is cool, but I'd sure like to have some of the names you guys mentioned.

Thirty-five of you offered up two names as the Hall of Fame autos I picked up from my LCS friend.

Let's see who you picked.

Ferguson Jenkins - 5
Frank Thomas - 4
Carlton Fisk - 3
Tom Glavine - 3
Ernie Banks - 2
Johnny Bench - 2
Rod Carew - 2
Andre Dawson - 2
Dennis Eckersley - 2
Whitey Ford - 2
Tony Gwynn - 2
Rickey Henderson - 2
Harmon Killebrew - 2
Paul Molitor - 2
Ozzie Smith - 2
Willie Stargell - 2
Roberto Alomar - 1
Luis Aparicio - 1
Bert Blyleven - 1
Wade Boggs -1
Lou Brock - 1
Bob Feller - 1
Rollie Fingers - 1
Lou Gehrig - 1
Bob Gibson - 1
Goose Gossage - 1
Whitey Herzog - 1
Al Kaline - 1
Greg Maddux - 1
Mickey Mantle - 1
Willie McCovey - 1
Stan Musial - 1
Phil Niekro - 1
Jim Palmer - 1
Tony Perez - 1
O'Neill - 1 (Not sure who this is)
Jim Rice - 1
Cal Ripken Jr. - 1
Brooks Robinson - 1
Nolan Ryan - 1
Tom Seaver - 1
Warren Spahn - 1
Joe Torre - 1
Hoyt Wilhelm - 1
Dave Winfield - 1
Carl Yastrzemski - 1
Robin Yount - 1

That's a lot of guesses and again, I thank you for taking the time to play along.  Here are the two Hall of Fame autos I bought from my LCS friend.

The first Hall of Famer auto is Jim Palmer on a 1997 Donruss Signature Series Significant Signatures.  This is numbered 1962/2000 on the back.  Palmer was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.  The Angels in Order were the only team to choose Jim Palmer.

The second Hall of Famer auto belongs to Bob Feller on a 1999 Fleer Greats of the Game card.  Zach over at Autographed Cards (how's that for good luck) was the only person to pick Bob Feller.

In my contest post I said I bought three autos.  The third one, while not a Hall of Famer, is still nice. It's a 2001 Topps Archives Reserve auto of Herb Score.  I picked up a few relic cards as well, but I'll save them for another post.

Tom and Zach, instead of randomizing, I'm going to let you both choose.  You can have the auto you guessed or some other stuff.  Just let me know and I'll get your prizes out to you!

How about a contest?

I know it's been a while since I had a contest.  It's been a little crazy around here.  Let's fix that right now.

I recently bought three autos from my LCS friend.  They were such a good deal, I couldn't pass them up.  Two of them were HOFers.

All you have to do is correctly name one of the two HOF autos.  Sounds easy right?  In the comments, put two players you think might answer the question.  You can also guess ONE team name.  I don't think it's going to happen, but if no one guesses one of the autos, I'll do a random drawing from the people who correctly guess one of the players' teams.

If more than one person guesses one of the players, I'll random their names and they can pick from one of two prizes:  one of the HOF autos OR a package containing their favorite team/players (whatever I can put together.)

Clear as mud?  Good.  Get started and good luck!

The other half

Happy Halloween.  That's a weird thing to say isn't it?  Happy scary day...strange.  Of course, it's the middle of the night and I'm in a half-coma, so what do I know.

I posted the other day about a few cards I got for 50 cents from my LCS friend.  I thought I'd show the other half of the cards and let you tell me again if I got a good deal.

2004 Heritage is one of my favorite Heritage sets.  I found this Todd Helton chrome version in one of the boxes I searched through and threw it in the pile.

At one time, these 1998 Flair Showcase Wave of the Future cards were popping up across the blogosphere.  I think the fact that they have actual water in them makes them a unique and weird collectible.   This is Paul Konerko with the Dodgers.  That sounds weird.

I found the Konerko and this Brad Fullmer in another box and decided I needed a couple of these right away.  They are perfect for the Doomsday Prepper who collect cards.  You can always use them as a source of drinking water.  (I would NOT drink that water...just sayin').

This 2002 Topps 206 Greg Maddux wasn't in the dollar group. It actually didn't cost me a thing as he gave to to me free just 'cause he's a nice guy.

The last card in the "buck" lot was this old thing.  It's not really vintage in my book, but I'm not turning down any early Cal Ripken Jr.  Even if he isn't going by Jr.

The other cards I bought will be revealed as a part of my November contest.  It starts tomorrow so I hope to see you back!

Be safe out there tonight and send me all your Reese's Peanut Butter cups.  You don't want those things anyway.

You remember him, right?

I know I haven't been blogging much lately, but I feel certain that you'll remember my LCS buddy. The guy I bought all the great vintage cards from, the guy I bought the Nolan Ryan rookie from, the guy I bought all the 5000 count boxes from?  Yea, that guy.

I haven't been over to see him since school let out for summer.  I'm aware that we are now about 9 weeks into this school year, so it's been a while since I visited him.  I called him up the other day and stopped by for a quick visit.  He hasn't purchased any big deals since I was there last, but he is looking for a deal and told me he would call me first when he finds one.

He still had a few binders of cards leftover from before, but most of them are stuff I'm not interested in buying.  There are a couple of binders with HOFer autos and some relic cards.  I picked through the relics and got a few to trade and bought three autos, two of which are HOFers.

I'm going to use the HOF autos for a November contest (yes I do remember those too).  I picked out a few cards to show off here and these cost me a 50 cents.  I spent a buck on loose cards, but I'm also saving the other half for another day.

Let me know if you think I got a good deal for my half dollar.

This is a 1998 Topps Stars N Steel Tony Gwynn.  This card should be a registered weapon because it could cut you.  

Here we have a trio of Hall of Famers from 1998 Topps.  These Lords of the Diamond are quite pointy.  We have Tony Gwynn, Frank Thomas and Greg Maddux.  Not a bad threesome.

Last, but most certainly not least, we have some sweet catcher prospects from 2003 Topps Chrome. Oh sure, I see Brandon Phillips and Justin Morneau, but we all know I'm more interested in Victor Martinez and Joe Mauer.  I'm especially pleased to have that Mauer card.  I have a lot of Mauer stuff, but not a lot of early Mauer stuff.

I don't know about you, but those 6 cards for 50 cents is a deal I can live with (and use more of when the opportunity arises).

More to come...

I need some addresses

If you recall the four 5000 count boxes I got from my LCS buddy, you'll also recall a bunch of people asked for cards.  I've mailed out some of them, but I need a few addresses to mail some of the others.

I need addresses for:

Cautlin Yankees
Chuck Bartz - upper deck
Captain Kirk
Tony L - Brewers
Big Bern
Brady Umfleet

Send those addresses.  I'll be hitting up the post office on Wednesday.

I know I owe a few other people packages and I'll be working on those soon.

If your blog has a birthday and you don't notice, did it happen?

October 1st was my blog's 5th birthday and I've been so wrapped up in work that I didn't even remember it.

Seeing as how the actual blogging around here has come to a virtual standstill, I don't know if I can even claim to still be blogger.  I'll keep on claiming the title for the time being and let you know I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

One of my main problems has been my work schedule.  I've been working three nights and two days each week and to say that's been wreaking havoc on my sleep is an understatement.  I'm trying to adjust, but the good news is that it should only last about two more weeks and then I'll be on days full time.

I've been waiting for 8 years to get back on days and I couldn't be happier.

So, I hope the next year is better than the last few months, but a birthday is a birthday and I'm glad to still be hanging around.

Even if it is by the skin of my teeth.

Five is a fine birthday, maybe even the Finest and with that brief segue, I'll show you the Finest cards Fuji sent me.

Here are a few base cards.  Prince Fielder who made no impact on the Rangers in 2014.  Michael Choice who may or may not make an impact in 2015 and Shin Soo Choo who NEEDS to make an impact in 2015.

Fuji also sent over the Choo Xfractor and a gold refractor of Luis Sardinas.

Fuji, thanks so much for the cards.  I appreciate them and hope to have something to send back to you soon.

Thanks to everyone for 5 fun years and I look forward to the next one (if not more!)

Not all shiny is created equally

My love for Topps Chrome is fairly well documented around these parts.  I generally can't get enough of it.  I'm still working on an insane rainbow attempt for 2013 Chrome Rangers.

My love for shiny doesn't extend as much to Topps Finest.  It's not as much that I don't like it as it is I can't afford it.

One of the last purchases I made on Ebay before the great depression set in around my house was a two card Finest Sampler plate.

You can't get much shinier than that.  I like these just fine, but my ability to buy cards right now is almost non-existent.  The ratio of player to card does seem a bit off.

I bought a Mike Piazza from the same seller because he combined shipping.  I'm not married to this one so I may slip it into a Dodgers package sometime.

I'm open to trading for any Rangers Finest cards you may not want.  Have a great Tuesday.

Rockets, Trains and Cats

I spent last week in Atlanta on a business trip.  It was my first time in Atlanta, but with the Braves not playing, the best I could do baseball wise was the cab ride past Turner Field.  After resting up from the trip, my family and I headed out to the State Fair of Texas after church on Sunday.

The Texas Sports Hall of Fame has a great display set up in the Hall of Texas at the Fairgrounds. They have game used uniforms from Roger Staubach, Bob Lilly, Nolan Ryan and a host of other Texas greats.  The memorabilia in the displays ranges from boxing to Olympics to basketball and everywhere in between.  One of the coolest items was Doak Walker's 1950 college football All-Star game uniform.  Of course, I didn't get a picture of that.

I did get a couple of baseball related pictures.

This display had college and Major league memorabilia from Roger Clemens and the amazing Astros jersey of one Mr. Nolan Ryan.  You can just see an old Rangers uniform in the background alongside a Fort Worth Cats jersey.

The ladies were well represented as well, with a nice game used jersey and glove from Cat Osterman. You can see a boxing glove as well, but did you see that I mentioned Cat Osterman.  Yea, that Cat Osterman.  Mmm, hmm.

If any of you have the chance to go to the State Fair, I recommend it.  You can eat all those amazingly disgusting fair foods of course, but you can also see some great sports memorabilia.

The playoff blues

The Rangers spoiled me.  World Series visits in 2010 AND 2011 can do that to a guy.  Still being very good in 2012 and 2013 can do that to a guy.

Totally sucking in 2014...well, that's a whole new (old) ballgame.  It kind of reminds me of the majority of my years as a Rangers fan with the exception that I didn't go into most of those early seasons with any realistic hope of a World Series appearance.

You may be thinking to yourself, "This Play at the Plate blog hit my blogroll and it sounds familiar, but I'm not quite sure."  Well, it's me.  I haven't posted since September 17th.  It's the same old excuse.  My new job.  It's taken over my life in a good way and included 4 days in Atlanta last week for a conference.  I'm going to try to regroup over the weekend and get some packages ready to mail next week.  My hope is to start posting on a regular (read daily) basis next Monday.

For now, I'll leave you with my hope for the Rangers' 2015 season.

That's a 2014 Bowman Derek Holland printing plate.  I think they call it magenta.

Derek came back at the end of the season and pitched like a man possessed...by Clayton Kershaw.  I hope that means good things are on the horizon for next year.

As for this year's playoffs...I say go Royals and Dodgers.  I'll choose between them if they both make it.

One of a Kind

Derek Holland takes the mound for his fourth start of the season tonight.  He'll be looking to add to the stink that is the A's last 50 games and hopefully spoil their wildcard hopes.

Derek is 1-0, but should be 3-0.  He has 21 IP and has 17 strikeouts and zero walks.  His ERA is 0.86 and his WHIP is 0.95.  Sure, it's a small sample size, but I think Derek was ticked about the Rangers poor season and the fact that he missed out on most of it.

Here's to Derek adding to his impressive totals tonight and giving the Rangers their 5th straight win.

And here's another Derek 1/1 to go with it.

I think that's the White Ice version from 2014 Bowman.

I KNOW it's a one of a kind.

Go Rangers!

Sad

My days as a night shift worker are rapidly coming to a close.  I've been working in my new position for a while now, but until all the other job openings get filled, I've been splitting time between days and nights.

One bad thing about working days is the traffic.  Another bad thing is the fact that I can't do anything with my cards.  I know, I know.  You're all feeling soooooooooooooooo sorry for me.  Poor little PATP can't do the collecting/trading thing at WORK!

You should feel sorry for me, but not just me.  My ability to write the blog has suffered as has my time to mail out packages.  That's a really sad thing for you and your mailbox.

 

This is my locker at work.  It used to be stuffed with cards.  I've been in the process of taking them all home.  Most of what is left in here is part of the stuff to be mailed out.  Some of it is Rangers stuff and some it is just a hodge podge of stuff that needs to be sorted.

I hope to get the writing and trading back on track once the transition is complete.  In the meantime...check me out on Twitter @patpdude.  I might even Tweet something.  

How do I put these in order?

As a rule, baseball cards are easy to put in order.  Card companies put a number on the back and you put them order.  Maybe you have the whole set, maybe it's a team set.  Either way, you just put them in number order and you're done.

Sometimes, you get a few crazy cards just like these.

Sure, they look like normal Ginter minis.  They are not.  They are hiding a dirty little secret.

You see, these minis don't have numbers.  So sad, I just don't know how I'll put these in order without numbers.

Derek Holland doesn't have a number either.

Prince Fielder didn't have a good start with the Rangers and his mini doesn't have a number.

I guess I'll just have to live with these pesky no number minis.  At least I know there are only 49 others out there in baseball card land.

This Joe Mauer mini has a number.  Unfortunately I might add.  I just showed it to complete the package I received from an Ebay seller who had all the no number Rangers.  Joe's happy.  I'm happy.
Everybody's happy.

Laughing all the way to the bank

I think a lot of non-Dodgers fans were blown away by the 7 year, $180 million deal the Dodgers signed with Clayton Kershaw before the season.

After posting (so far) an 18-3 record with and ERA of 1.67, 210 K's to go along with only 27 walks, it's clear the Dodgers are laughing all the way to the bank.  Clayton Kershaw is head and shoulders above the rest of the league.  You can throw out all the names you want, Hernadez, Cueto, Scherzer...list them all and none of them can carry Kershaw's jock.  Not that they'd want to because that's just gross.

As long as Kershaw keeps pitching like this, the Dodgers are getting a bargain.

Speaking of getting a bargain, I got a few from the same seller on Ebay the other day and Kershaw was one of them.

I was buying a couple of cheap Rangers Bowman Platinum parallels when I checked the sellers other items.  I got this 2014 Bowman Platinum Clayton Kershaw gold parallel for a whole quarter.

I got a little carried away and accidentally bought a Cub prospect while I was at it, but I also ended up with a purple Rougned Odor and a purple Jorge Alfaro.  A quarter each so not to bad.

I have hopes of putting together the ugly 1970 Topps set someday because that's my birth year.  I bought a little well-loved star power towards that goal.  These 6 gems set me back a whole 99 cents.

I was just about finished shopping when I spotted this 1963 Post Don Drysdale.  I thought it was fitting to start and finish with a great Dodgers pitcher so this was perfect.  The cost?  If you guessed a quarter, you were correct.  That's a grand total of $2.24 for a great little lot of cards.

Like the Dodgers, I got a good value.  Unlike the Dodgers, my team won't be in the playoffs.

Signs of the apocalypse

A card section with three 2014 Topps Blaster and two types of Panini crap.

They are on the bottom right, third row from the bottom. The rest is at stocked to to hilt with untouched gaming and Pokemon drivel.

Yuck.

Hi Yo Silver...

I recently joined in one of the case breaks over at Layton Sports Cards before the National.  One of the reasons I did so was to get some of the silver Panini packs that Rich was giving away in conjunction with the breaks.

That’s right.  I just used the word conjunction.

After the National, I think Rich got overwhelmed with all the stuff he had to mail out and my one little silver pack slipped through the cracks.  I notified him via Twitter (yes, I’m on Twitter @patpdude) and he responded almost immediately.  I have to say his customer service is top notch.  This morning, I found a package from Rich in my in-box.

I know you can count and that’s more than one silver pack.  Rich sent me five silver packs and I truly appreciate it.

 

As you might recall, the National was in Cleveland so the silver packs are loaded with Cleveland Browns. 

You can’t complain when you pull a Jim Brown card.  How about Johnny Manziel?  I’m not interested, but maybe someone else is. Five packs equals ten cards.  With four Browns, that leaves 6 other cards.  

Unfortunately no baseball players showed up. 

I got one numbered card.  I’ve never heard of Joel Embiid of the 76ers, but I’ve got card #406/499.  The other basketball players were John Wall and The Admiral, David Robinson. 

I also pulled three non-Cleveland football players.  Jeremy Hill, Logan Thomas and Mike Evans.  

I’m not collecting any of these so feel free to let me know if you’re interested in any of these.  I think Logan Thomas may be headed to Wes over at Jaybarkerfan. 

Many thanks to Rich Layton for the packs.  

Now We're Cookin'

The Rangers are 53-84.  They have 25 games left and need to go 10-15 to avoid the dreaded 100 loss season.  I know there is only a one game difference between 99 losses and 100 losses, but that's BIG game. No one wants to look back on their career or their favorite teams history and see triple digits in the loss column.

Hopefully the Rangers will get at least 10 more wins and spoil some other teams' seasons in the process.

The good news is that the one and only Dutch Oven, Derek Holland, will be making his first start of the season tonight.  I know, I know, it's very late in the season, but better late than never.  Unlike Yu Darvish wrapping it up for the year (which I am completely on board with), Derek has something to prove to himself.

He must be like a racehorse in the starting gate, barely containing the energy and excitement of finally getting back on the hill.  No matter how the game goes tonight, it will be a win for the Rangers just knowing that Derek Holland is back.

I wish Derek all the best in his 2014 Debut.  Seeing as how his appearance will set a new Major League record of 60 players used in a season, I think a nice 1/1 Derek Holland card will be a nice way to show my favorite Rangers player.  

A shiny recap

I recently posted the good (to me) news about finding some 2014 Topps Chrome.  Oh sure, I lamented the fact that I had planned on saving my money, but who was I kidding?  Topps Chrome is probably my favorite set after Ginter.  In fact, I like shiny so much, I'd forego Flagship before I'd give up Chrome.

Wait, don't unsubscribe just because I'm addicted to shiny stuff.   We all have our weaknesses.

I'll show you the Value Pack and the Blaster and you can tell me which was the better "Value".

I showed off the "Bonus" Pack of Orange refractors from the Value Pack, but considering I got Masahiro Tanaka and Mike Trout, I thought I'd show them again.

The Value Packs come with three regular packs as usual.  Pack 1 was National-centric with a Carlos Gonazlez Chrome Connectors Die-Cut insert, which come 1:12 packs.  With only 4 cards, any insert has to be considered a win.

Pack two was all A.L.  No Rangers of course and all kinds of Sox.

Pack three gave up another Red Sox player, this time a David Ortiz X-Fractor.  You might get a refractor, you might get an X-fractor, but don't count on getting any color in retail.  Here are the odds for the various refractors:

Refractor--1:3 packs
X-fractor--1:6 packs
Blue (#/199)--1:40 packs
Black (#100)--1:80 packs
Sepia (#/75)--1:105 packs
Gold (#/50)--1:160 packs
Red (#/25)--1:320

If you like color like I do...good luck!  I know it  can be pulled because I've seen it.

This is the back of the David Ortiz X-fractor.  It doesn't say X-fractor on the back, but it does say "REFRACTOR".  Do you see it?

Maybe this will help.

That's it for the Value Pack.  One Chrome Connections insert, one X-fractor and no Rangers.  Oh yea, the Orange Tanaka and Trout are nice.

Let's move on to the Blaster.  

Pack 1 already wins with a Ranger, even if it is Alex Rios.  Nothing personal, but I don't know if he'll be here next season.  I also got my first regular refractor, Wilmer Flores.

Pack 2 gives up a Chrome Connections Die-Cut of former Ranger, Chris Davis.  I get a pair of catchers from New York too.

Hey now, another catcher it's 1st baseman Joe Mauer. And three other base cards.  Yes, yes, I know it's Oscar Taveras.  ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

How about another regular refractor?  It's a Pirate this time so like the first one, it's not getting me too excited.  Hey look I got a er...arru...Dodger shortstop too!

Man, that is a lot of black and orange.  A pair of Joneseseseseses...and Hunter.  At least I got an X-fractor too.  I'm sure there must be an O's fan out there somewhere who could appreciate this one.

PUIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!  It doesn't have the same ring as it did last year.

Pack 7 yields another refractor, this time from the Evil Empire.  Double meh.

Can you say "Bonus pack"!?  Can you use lot's of exclamation points when you do!?!!!!!!?!!!!!!?  My bonus pack had a Fowler chasing an Oriole and a Medical Homer.  I know that's a stretch, but it's 5 in the morning and I'm tired.

I didn't get any hard to get shiny colored refractors, but I still like Chrome.

Sue me*.

*No don't.  It's just an expression.