You may also know of Kerry, my best friend and perpetual sidekick. He has had a bit of a problem with eBay addiction, resulting in large parts of Dollar Tree paychecks being diverted from things like food and to things like bass guitars, spiderman rings, and collectible game cards. Although I usually scold him for his gratuitious spending, I do not hesitate to enjoy the crap he buys. The greatest example of this came when Kerry parted with fifty dollar tree dollars to acquire nothing less than Rob Cockerham's famed Dr. Octopus Costume.

    Part A of the awesomeness here is that Kerry got a pretty great deal considering this giant costume is utterly unique, has working claws, and has won 1st prize in a major local Halloween costume contest. Part B is that since the costume was local pickup only, we would have the opportunity to meet his Cockerness in person. Trust me, if you're as huge of a geek as I am, it's a big deal.

    We prepared a lovely Dollar Tree gift basket including "hay hay" cookies (the name of which Rob found quite entertaining), the kinda-cool-so-why-is-it-at-the-dollar-store toy sensation Astrojax, and a nice wholesome can of grits.

    Rob honors my request to "pose for a picture as if we are friends".

    Kerry tries on the Dr. Octopus costume. You will note that he wore a green shirt for authenticity, but kept the beanie on. You will also note that it was kind of dark out.

    We straped Spiderman's tattered corpse down in the back of my pickup. Given his light pvc and paper-mache construction, we were concerned he might fly out and hit the taxi behind us, simultaneously recreating a scene from the movie and causing one of the world's more amusing traffic accidents.

    I stop by my brothers house for a surprise visit, looking very badass in the Dr. Octo-getup. His wife peeks at the giant mechanical monstrosity outside her window and dryly calls out "Scott, your family is here."

    At the end of the day, Kerry makes a new bunkmate of his hero's dead body. That's going to stink after a while. Rest well, arachnid, for a new day of hijinx will come.