Slip

Well, I had another setback in my VHS backlog-reducing campaign. I had been doing very well, and had gotten down to 44 from above 70. This was having even acquired a number of tapes along the way. I would have been under 40 in a day or so, but I had to go back to Amoeba Records and browse around. I knew that I shouldn't do it, but I also knew how much I wanted to do it, and how much I would enjoy it.

It was in a way a stress-relieving thing. "Retail therapy" is what I think I've heard it called. I'd been to drop off some props for the sketch I'd co-written. I was feeling insecure about how some of those people saw me, because I had rather awkwardly hung around hoping to find out from the director whether what I'd brought was any good. I knew that going and buying some tapes would help take my mind off that, and off of the show to come that night.

It worked. I spent a good while perusing records and finding nothing, then looking over the VHS tapes and finding too much. There were about fifteen tapes I wanted, but that would have meant spending something like a hundred dollars. That obviously wasn't feasible. I instantly passed up the most expensive tapes, which reached 20 dollars or more apiece. If I had a limitless budget, then it would have been another story.

I then proceeded to painfully eliminate another four or so less obvious candidates. There were tapes I feared would be of low technical quality (on account of probably being recorded at EP speed), and other ones that I guessed wouldn't be good enough to justify the expense. For two dollars I can excuse a lot. For three dollars I can excuse a little less, and for for or five, it had better look pretty reliable. For more than that, it had better be amazing.

I then came away with six tapes that were cheap and good-looking enough. There was some action in there, and some horror. They all interest me enough that they need not linger except that they might serve well for VHS Night, but then I can't have too many for that purpose. It comes too seldom, so maybe I'll watch them sooner, but I do have all those tapes that have been waiting their turn. Maybe these have to pay their dues. We all must, mustn't we?