Top Ten Plus Six Equals Top Sixteen Moments Never On A Top Ten Before

These sixteen moments were small life values. These sixteen moments were small memories. These sixteen moments are examples of the little things in life. I share two examples. The first example is purchasing a Mickey Mouse baseball cap in Spring Semester 1996 while I attended San Jose State University. The pics are below.

The second example is reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman in 2009. I watched the movie on Mar 14, 2009. Why do I remember the exact date? The reasons are there was a cosplay gathering at a local Japanese garden, a friend organized a 3.14 pie day dinner gathering, and the three of us watched the last evening showing. I gave the book for a birthday gift to a friend out of the Bay Area.

My long-term memory is above average. My confidence is high these moments never appeared before. I provide the moment date if I remember. Here are the top ten plus six equals top sixteen moments never on a top ten before:

16. Country Time Lemonade (early 1980s). The first time I drank Country Time Lemonade I was at a zoo. I don't remember if it was a field trip for preschool or kindergarten. My mom was a chaperone. Maybe, it was a gathering with other friends. Or maybe it was a social gathering with other families.

I remember getting lost. I might have found another parent who found my mom. I also remember opening a gate separating two sections of the zoo.

15. Blue Angels Air Show (Aug 1992). My former neighbors the late The Shermans took my family to an air show to watch airplanes and the Blue Angels performed at the Moffett Field airfield and airport located in Mountain View, CA.

14. Pier 39 Arcade Video Games (1987). I used video game tokens from a mom and pop arcade Galaktican. Galaktican is number seven explaining the better deal on tokens. The Pier 39 arcade was the standard four tokens for $1 and 20 tokens for $5. The Aquarium Of The Bay replaces the arcade.

13. Mopped The Floors (Apr 2013). I cleaned the household floors using a mop for the first time. My parents never cleaned the floors using a mop. I don't know why.

12. Drive-in Movies (1986). My family and one of my cousin's family watched Top Gun and The Karate Kid II movies at a drive-in movie theater.

11. Gilroy Outlet Mall (Dec 1994). I finished a terrible Fall Semester. The shopping day was relaxing.

10. Attended Two Jazz Festivals (Aug-Sep 2009). I became interested in jazz music in Nov 2008. I attended the San Jose Jazz Festival in Aug 2009 and the Monterey Jazz Festival in Sep 2009. I was lucky the late Allen Toussaint appeared as the headliner for the San Jose Jazz Festival.

9. Touched Snow (Nov 1986). I experienced snow for the first time in South Lake Tahoe. The second time was Nov 1987. The last time was Nov 2008 in the state of Washington.

8. Mystery Mansion Board Game (Unknown Dates). My brother, cousin, and I played Mystery Mansion when my cousin stayed over during the summers. We followed most of the rules. Some games were finished the next morning.

7. Galaktican Arcade (1986-1991, 1996). My brother and I were addicted to playing video games in the arcade. Those were the times when parents allowed their children to wonder unsupervised. Players received six tokens for $1 and 36 tokens for $5. Galaktican reduced the $5 bonus because business was too good. Unfortunately, Galaktican went out of business due to the video game consoles. I remember the final years players receive bonus tokens when they exchanged $10.

My final visit was Fall 1996. I rollerbladed to and from my house. I played Area 51 with another player who memorized all the enemies. We unlocked a bonus scene in the mountain cave for the first time.

6. Quell App Games (2012, 2014). I played three of the four Quell games from Fallen Tree Games. I finished Quell in Apr 2012, Quell: Reflect in Oct 2012, and Quell: Memento in Jul 2014 all at 100% unlocked and 100% perfect. I needed help once in Quell, once in Reflect, and none in Memento.

5. Nintendo GameCube (Jul 2004). I purchased the console, four game controllers, backpack, two memory cards, and five video games all used for $217.00 on eBay. The video games included Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers.

4. Professor Blackerby (Jan-May 1995, Aug-Dec 1997). My favorite economics instructor was Professor Blackerby. He taught my Microeconomics and my Microeconomic Analysis classes. Timing was good because Blackerby taught Microeconomic Analysis on my final semester at San Jose State University.

3. Board Game Night (Various Dates). My family and I played Pictionary on Sat nights. It was the only board game we played together.

2. Japantown San Francisco (Aug 1998). I visited Japantown for the first time in decades. It was the first time I visited as an anime fan. A friend suggested we drive to San Francisco to escape a hot Sunday in San Jose.

1. Movie Night (Mar or Apr 1997). My brother and I watched movies on Laserdiscs and ate take-out Chinese food from a mom and pop Chinese restaurant on a Sat night. I rented the Laserdiscs for free because I worked at Blockbuster Video. I told my brother to screen calls in case Blockbuster called for help. My store had been short staffed on Sat nights. My brother stayed home for the semester because of an internship. One of the movies was Escape From L.A. starring Kurt Russell.

Update On A Past Blog

I remind myself to keep fun in check. The blog is Keep Fun In Check written on Feb 26, 2006. Take a deep breath. Be mature. Fun is not fun when there is any injury including physical and emotional. There's a good way to have fun. There's a bad way to have fun.