Unfortunately I have to jump back to reality now and then. It's at those times that I realize money coming to me out of nowhere isn't likely to happen. It seems I'll have to earn it. That always leads me to the belief that I'll either hit it big in the stock market or land some interesting job where I'll do spectacularly. Within a few years, I'll have moved up the company ladder, be in charge of a few hundred people and be pulling down a very high six-figure paycheck each and every week. Then I'll move to Bora Bora and lounge on the beach all day with tropical island girls running to do my bidding.

Then I have to shift myself into true Mike mode. That reality is that I'll end up working at an ok job for the next 30 or so years. I'll make a normal living, and when I retire, I'll have enough cash saved up to lounge around in a hammock. Since I don't know any tropical island girls in the NY area, I'll just have to teach my dog to run and do my bidding. Won't quite be the same, but it won't be too bad either. That is, of course, if I actually work.

When I'm feeling particularly lazy and spend hours or even days up in my room just staring at the TV screen and playing games, I have to come to another scenario. I'll lose my job because a whole slew of Dreamcast games come out, and all I want to do is play them. I won't bother getting another job. And since I don't have to get up every day to see people, I stop bathing too. My parents take pity on me, and, when they retire to Bora Bora, they leave me the house. I spend the next 30 or so years becoming "that weird old guy up on the hill who licks his feet" to the neighborhood kids. I turn my lights off on Halloween. I keep all the balls that come into my yard. And I'm occasionally seen shuffling through the thigh-high grass in my yard chasing down rats for dinner, clutching my Dreamcast to my chest as if it's a talisman of protection.

If at all possible, I'd prefer not to have the last one happen. My Dreamcast is a blast to play, and I get many hours of enjoyment from it, but I do have to realize that simply playing with it all the time, without getting paid, will lead me nowhere. Of course there is always the hope that I could find a job playtesting all the Dreamcast games and getting paid good money for it. It would be nice if the office of this Dreamcast playtesting place were on a tropical island somewhere. And if it had tropical island girls around to do my bidding, I could have the best of all worlds.

Anyway, I thought I'd share that little insight into a few possible futures of mine and possibly yours if you think along the same lines as me. Remember, kids, the Dreamcast isn't meant to be the be all and end all of your life. It's meant to bring joy and entertainment, not insanity and being called "that weird old guy on the hill who licks his feet."

Mike isn't all that old or weird yet. But he does lick his feet.

- Sega Radar