Tuesday holiday sends week askew

Every once in a while, we all have a couple days, or even a week, when we feel like completing work is harder than usual.

This week was one of those for me.

I think the Fourth of July holiday was what threw everything off. One big factor, the Janesville Journal had to change its schedule because it usually mails onTuesday.

The other thing that threw me off is that events were scheduled differently than usual. A majority of the events I needed to attend and the tasks I had to perform fell on Thursday, Monday, and Tuesday. I actually had most of the weekend off! But the tradeoff was working at least eight hours on the Fourth of July. (I don’t know for sure yet. I’m writing this column ahead of time to hopefully reduce the number of tasks that await me on the Fourth.)

I didn’t have too much on my list this week. I had Elysian’s Fourth of July Celebration, some Lakefest events, a writeup on Wild Spirit Sanctuary, and the Waseca Library’s water carnival. But, the first two items were plenty of work. I think by the time I’m done, I’ll have spent nearly 15 hours on Elysian’s Fourth of July Celebration alone.

And the writer’s block I had was insane. I’ve had some occasions when I just didn’t want to write until Sunday night and I pushed through it. But the elongated work week made it so much easier to wait. When Monday came around, I had to force myself to type the first 500 words: Eventually, the writer’s block eased a bit.

I am sorry to hear that the Good Game Gaming Center closed in Waseca. It honestly sounded like a good idea to me, bringing people in the community together to game. I just wonder if it never had a chance due to the popularity of online gaming. Why pay to gather in a space to game when you could do the same thing at home or online?

The concept of Good Game Gaming Center reminded me of an old place in Janesville called Jethro’s. There, you could “rent” a game and play it on a PS2 or Xbox. I think there were two of each and they eventually had an Xbox 360. It also included a place to sit down and hang out, a bar where you could order food, and a pool table.

When I moved into town, it became a haven for people like me. It’s where I got to play the game Guitar Hero for the first time. It was where I fell in love with chili dogs with a vanilla malt or milkshake. I made a few friends there and we all spent time together enjoying the old Halo games on Xbox.

Jethro’s ended up closing around 2011 or 2012. It was a shame because it was such a cool place to go after school, in the summer, and play games that you probably wouldn’t have been able to play at home, to be honest. I never found out why it closed. I wonder if a parent found out their twelve-year-old kid played Grand Theft Auto or something and complained to the owners. Maybe there were too many scratched-up video games and there wasn’t a reason to buy more.

Whatever the case, it was a great part of my childhood. In a way, I was rooting for Good Game Gaming Center to bring the same memories for young kids in Waseca. But sadly, their business concept didn’t work out.

The only pieces of the business left that prove that such a business existed are the articles written about them, their ads, and a website they paid to have on the internet for ten years. It sounds like they’re going to use their next nine years to “update” the website every once in a while just for the fun of it. At least they have a sense of humor.