now that was corny!

A 10-speed I got as a kid. Not necessarily the "coolest", but the work it took me to get it made it probably the most memorable. I had a not in a box that was wrapped that was a clue to another note. I followed clues all over the house. The last one said to go back to the tree. When I walked in the living room, the bike was next to the tree.

Or the gift wrapped inside a gift wrapped inside a gift wrapped inside a gift thing I had to go through when I got my class ring for Christmas my junior year of high school.

I had the Viper when I was young, but it didn't really shoot things out and was pretty small. It did have a little red dot that popped out the front, but it didn't actually shoot. At least I don't think it did.

Atari 2600 :thumb:

Was the "Viper" the kind of disk shaped one with the wings that extended out from the body? On mine, when you pulled the wings out, it exposed the plastic laser bolt thingies.

Haha - the only "video" game we ever had growing up. Thought it was cool when my cousing got Atari with Pong! Never really missed not having video games. We actually went outside and did things. One reason we haven't bought the kids any of the video games - they actually get exercise doing things.

Honestly though, I've been spoiled over the years. There was the year my wife bought me a Tag Heuer Link watch.... and many other years where I received quality gifts.

But none like the one my sister got me 6 or 7 years back.

My ex-wife took every single picture with her when she left - pictures from my childhood, Desert Storm, and individual pictures of my children and I. Even though she was court ordered to return them, she never did.

So one year my sister gathered every picture she could find of my girls and I (from Mom & Dad's collection) and scanned them to CD. She had purchased a scanner specifically for the project. Then she picked some of her favorites and put them in an album.

I cried like a baby when I opened it.

After some serious thought, the best gift I ever got was from my brother. He gave me a framed picture of our Grandpa which was taken while we framed my brotheers cabin on Grand Lake. It was the last time I saw Grandpa alive.
I was in tears when I found that picture in the rubble of my house in Biloxi.

.22 rifle we didn't have much, either, and that was a huge suprise.

Hey MC, what part of MS are you in. I've spent about 17 of the last 20 on the coast. I'm about to retire from the Navy, and have considered Meridian as my final destination if I can get a job with PWD at NAS. My wife is Pinay and I'm wondering if you know anything about that area.

No, the Viper is the Human ship, a search on the internet tells me the bad guys had Raiders. Go figure, your best toy was a Raider :P

Damn! Well, sepiku being out of the question, how do I atone?

Eh, the Chiefs have been using the Raiders like toys for a few years, so I think your safe :D

Heh, again I lost all that stuff in Katrina, but a buddy of mine showed me an old cruise book a few months ago that had a picture of the two of us in Northern Iraq during Desert Storm, damn I was a studdly young man!

I'm in Olive Branch ... 7 miles to Memphis from my house. Meridian is about 50 miles or so South of where I grew up (over in Bama ... about 1/2 down the state), but I've been away so long that I'm not the one to ask. I would think it is an okay area coz the base there should have introduced a more open/international type of community. It's not a huge city, but should be a great place to live.

Where did your wife grow up? Just hearing about her makes me homesick.