There is a large cube under the tree downstairs. In fact, it’s so large, it’s pushing the lowest row of branches askew. I would think that HAL is in there, or the Infinite Improbability Drive, except that the wrapping paper has Winnie the Pooh figures on it. The Ernest Shepard Pooh, not the Disney Pooh. There are several charming scenes repeated over and over; I’m particularly taken with the rendering of Piglet and Tigger frosting a cake. Of course, the presence of W the P characters on the outside of the package does not necessarily indicate that the object inside will be Pooh related. And I can’t imagine what could be W the P themed and still come in so large a box. We shall see.
Mr. Rilch is also getting a mystery, though he doesn’t know it. He told me weeks ago that he wanted the Sega Dreamcast format of Hail to the King. In his best Red-Ryder-BB-Gun voice, he told me that if I got nothing else for him this X-mas except that game in that format, he would be satisfied. Well, I had the devil’s own time getting a copy, what with the release dates being so ambiguous, and store clerks not caring if they gave me accurate information. Mr. Rilch was aware of some of this. When I finally secured a copy (at a good price, too!) I told him I had been unable to find it “because it hasn’t been shipped to the West Coast yet”. Luckily, no one has tipped him to that, and we’ve both finished shopping. I told him I’d still buy it for him when it was available. Meanwhile, it’s down there, cleverly disguised as anything other than a game disk.
Further bulletins as events warrant!