Thank you, Johnson, whoever you are.

I received what I presume is a birthday gift hand-labeled from someone named "Johnson" in Jacksonville, Alabama, postmarked Anniston, Alabama on May 22nd. This means it's someone who knows me well enough to anticipate my birthday and know my home address. But I don't know anybody named Johnson (unless it's that creep stalking Lenore) and I don't know anybody at all in Alabama. Maybe Johnson is merely the eBay seller or Amazon Z-Shop owner fulfilling someone else's order?

Inside the package was a Spider-Man-themed Xbox controller, new in its packaging, with no note. It has already brought me fun trying to guess who sent it before I've even opened it and used it, so thank you, whoever you are.


Five Replies to Mystery Gift

Scott Hardie | May 28, 2007
Extra hint: When they wrote my address, they included the ZIP+4. I only mention the basic 5-digit zip code when I give mine out, so this person had to have gotten my address processed through some kind of site like Amazon that filled in the four extra digits.

Lori Lancaster | May 28, 2007
[hidden by author request]

Erik Bates | May 29, 2007
[hidden by author request]

Scott Hardie | May 29, 2007
Good input. The mystery has been solved via email with the giver – it was an Amazon z-Shop, in other words some person somewhere selling on Amazon's site. My gratitude to the giver.

Jackie Mason | May 29, 2007
[hidden by author request]


Logical Operator

The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »

I Want to Play Sega with Harrison Ford

Behold the bizarre, pop-culture-inspired visions of Brandon Bird: (link) Thanks, Maggie. Go »

Grousing About the Mouse

Kelly and I still have our annual passes to Disney World, but we've had more trouble going recently because of disabilities that slow us down. A friend suggested joining a busy Facebook group for Disney World fans like us who struggle with disabilities and share advice with each other. I clicked the button to join, and up popped a 4-question form asking questions that are required for membership. Go »

Falling Snow

It was twenty years ago today that my father passed away. I almost didn't write something today, because I don't feel particularly creative enough at the moment to do his memory justice. But a plain remembrance is better than none at all, and besides, he's been on my mind a lot this week. Go »

Operation Git-R-Done

This past weekend, I explored my inner redneck in a NASCAR-centered visit to Charlotte with Steve Dunn and my family. Here are the highlights, good and bad. Thursday: Very little sleep before the trip: The Jeep parked outside my window sounded off its car alarm every five minutes (I timed it) from 10pm to 10am. Go »

Irresistible

When I saw this poster at the movie theater, I wondered: Is that a coming attraction, or did I step into a mirror universe where that poster has nothing to do with a movie? Go »

Breaking Monopoly

My latest pastime has been seeing if I can rig a video game of Monopoly to give me infinite money. It turns out that I can, but it's incredibly tedious, far more so than I thought. I like to play with the NES version, because it's just colorful and fun enough without being too sophisticated in its AI. Go »