Friday, December 29, 2006

The Dartboard From My Childhood

When I was a kid, my parents bought me a dart board for my birthday. Nowadays however, if I bought my son a dartboard for his birthday, he would think I am punishing him. The closest he would probably get to playing darts is if there was a Nintendo Dartboard game…There probably is!

Anyways, move forward to about thirty years… My parents, getting on in age, decided to sell the old house and move into an apartment as the bathroom and bedrooms were all on the second floor which made it difficult for my mother. I was over there the day they moved and, on a whim, decided to head down to the basement to make sure that nothing was left. Fortunately for me, I came across a few things that belonged to me during my childhood. I had actually forgotten about these items and would never have even thought of them ever again had I not scoured the basement one last time. Knowing I would feel guilty about abandoning these “treasured items”; I decided to scoop them up and return them to their rightful heir … me!

A few days ago, I couldn’t help but notice that the price tag never made it off the dart board. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the price my parents paid for this birthday gift… $2.75 (Canadian dollars.) Now for you who are not familiar with Canadian Currency, that would equate to £1.20, US$2.37, 8.37 Malaysia Ringgits and 1.80 Euro. Today, if I was to purchase a dartboard, I would have to end up paying CAN$38.00!! Now that’s an increase of approximately 1381%! What’s with that??

“Inflation” they say… Yah well you can say that again! It amazes me that prices have gone “sky high” in basically everything and yet wages stay the same. The money must be going somewhere but it sure isn’t coming to me!

Now I suppose that since I have had this dart board for about thirty five years, I must have got my money’s worth out of it but if you were to count the dart holes in the board (please don’t!) you would conclude that I hardly used it. So, for my new year’s resolution, I am going to play the heck out of the dart board so that I become satisfied that I have squeezed every penny out of it! On the other hand, maybe I should just let bygones be bygones and make my son play the game… after all, if it was good enough for his “old man,” it should be good enough for him!

By the way, those darts that are stuck in my board … Don’t let the photo fool you … the bull’s eyes were shoved into it by hand to make me look good (did it?) … the closest I really ever got to the centre is where the bottom dart is. Maybe I should have stuck to playing cards!

11 comments:

Jo said...

There are lots of pubs in Vancouver where they still play darts. It's actually a lot of fun and great hand/eye coordination. Your son might actually enjoy it. Who knows? You should give it a try.

I love darts.

It's never too late to get your money's worth.

Josie

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

I agree with Josie. You should have a go at the dart board with your son. He might actually enjoy it. Let us know how it turns out.

I am a bad dart player but I know it's a game that goes down well with a beer.

bourbouli said...

Yo Dave

I still have all my childhood toys in my attic. They are wrapped up for my future kids but until that time, when i'll show them those toys, authorities will probably bust me for keeping ancient stuff in my house.

Darts 4 ever!

Anonymous said...

This is exactly the board i use to play with in the Swiss mountains many years ago (i was extremely bad at it, but it was fun). I'm afraid mine is lost forever... Anyway, good memories never die, thank you for reminding me of that!

Dave said...

Hi Josie, Hi lone grey squirrel! Maybe I will get my son to give it a go! I'll let you know how that goes!

Hi bourbouli, another childhood toy was a table hockey game ... I am still looking to replace it. Wish me luck!

arevik ... As you can see by the dart photo, I wasn't good at it either! In most cases, it wouldn't even stick in the dartboard! :-)

Mel said...

Enjoy that dart board! There's hours of pleasure left in it yet.

(ANd thanks for leaving me a very true comment - cheers.)

Marie-Hélène Raletz said...

I don't keep things. I prefer to store memories.
I guess you are the romantic type :)
Marie

j said...

Nice blog.

And yes, the dart's shoved in by hand had me fooled :)

Clive Nutton said...

Hi Dave

Thanks for posting on BrightAire. France is a great country. It's a place where people still, largely, maintain a sense of national and civic distinctiveness. This is in contrast with the UK, where we seldom seem to value what we have but harken to the most vacuous tastes of the USA.

We, too often, abandon the landscape and cultural traditions of our own or submerge them in an orgy of conspicuous consumption. Halloween has lost its liminal Pagan associations, taken over by Walmart-driven spending on shabby costumes. Still, the kids seem to enjoy it!

Dave said...

Hi Mel! There is definitely a lot more hours left in it since when one side is dug into enough, the other side is still brand new!

Hi le nightowl!

Memories are always the most important, you are so right! My friends house fire reminded me of that as he lost everything!

Thanks for your comment, JenKneeBee
Now I regret telling you about my shoved in darts! LOL

Hi Clive!

WalMart ... you just ruined my day mentioning that store! :-)

bourbouli said...

Hi dave
Hi ALL

Best wishes to all for 2007.

Best wishes to a quick replacement of your hockey table Bob.

I had a ping-pong table and i gave it away for nothing.. i wish i could play some ping pong now but my spare time is near 0!