We continue our “guest” Minions from the Joelanta 2006 GI Joe collector’s convention. Unfortunately, I don’t know who is responsible for this amazing 1/6th scale tank. It’s really nice though.

Now, why I’m not at Joelanta this year. I’ve never been to any of the national 1/6th action figure events, either Joelanta or the convention put on by the official GI Joe Collector’s Club (which looks to be on its last year), but I’ve always wanted to go. My wonderful wife, Mrs. Minion Master, Chris, knows this, and this year she, with no prompting from me, was fully on board with my going to Joelanta. (Have I mentioned what a wonderful wife I have? Well, I am now. I have assured her that, in this case, the thought really DOES count!) My family is all in the south (a couple hundred miles from Atlanta, but close enough to combine a trip, or at least have my brother Tim come up and go with me, so it it’s not a complete indulgence to fly cross-country for it.

But unfortunately this has been a bad winter for storms here on the Oregon coast, and in December the roof of the old sun-porch on the back of our house started peeling off, in turn diverting water into the shoddy little lean-too garage/shop added to our 1946 house sometime back in the 1970’s. That structure in turn was full of a bunch of tools and stored collectables, many of which got water damaged, and all of which now needed to be moved, sorted, packed up (or thrown away if water damaged or moldy), and ultimately sent off to storage (something I’m still working on between hurricane force storms). The garage and sun porch had been badly built anyway, and were dubious candidates for major repair, But then I moved boxes and discovered major insect damage and mold in a corner, and that sealed the deal. It all had to come down and replace with — something.

So we’ve been scrambling to line up a contractor and make a plan to tear down the old structure and build a new shop/garage/studio to replace it. As such, we’re going to be out-of-pocket a bunch of cash, and the schedule for how the demolition, building, and planning were (and are, though we’re making significant progress) up in the air. I didn’t want to leave town for a week or two and leave Chris figuring this out without me, and I didn’t feel good about spending the money for the trip when there were other priorities.

So I, all on my own, made the proper, rational, adult decision not to go.

WAAAAAAAAH!