MinusTheFire

What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever seen someone do whilst trying to pitch their product on Shark Tank? I'm talking either on or off air, preferably the latter.

Thanks, Mark.

As a former pizza delivery guy who got robbed at gunpoint, I can honestly say that I respect what you do (although I can't say that I miss that job at all). I thought delivering pizzas would make me sort of a Philip J. Fry, but man was I wrong. I still tip a shitload every time I order pizza to this day.

I read your comment about the guys holding you in their hotel room, so I was wondering if at any point they actually got physical with you or pointed a gun at you. Were you able to keep your cool through it, or did you freak out at all?

I'm asking because I often think about the night I was robbed. It happened on my 2nd night of work, and these two black guys (like you, not trying to sound racist, just stating facts and painting a picture) rushed up to me in the parking lot, "mean mugged" me (where they make that face where their gold teeth are out and they have the expression of "I'm about to kill you"), then demanded all of the cash that I had on me. I wasn't delivering to them at all, they just happened to spot me rolling through the parking lot with the stupid sign on top of my car, then took advantage of the situation. I had a glock shoved into the back on my head, and they pushed me down chest-flat against the trunk of my car. Thankfully, I left my cell phone in the car and they didn't go looking for it, but they did make off with my till (about $150 in cash) and they stole my brand new pack of smokes that I had just opened. That's the part that pissed me off the most, because I've never needed a smoke so bad in my freaking life at that moment.

I'm curious as to how you handled the situation, because I look back on what happened to me and I sometimes wish that I had flipped out on them and acted all crazy. I have no idea if the gun was loaded or not (but I do know that it was real, given the fact that the back of my head ached for about week afterwards), so I probably reacted in the best possible way considering I'm still alive and was mostly unharmed. Still though, I wish I could've done something...anything to have had the upper hand in the situation.

I'm rambling now, so I'll stop here. Thanks for the AMA, and thanks even more for putting up with such a shitty work environment.

Actually, I'm not sure if you've seen this already (likely have), but this LP of Trespasser is the best video of it's genre that I've ever watched. It's got a perfect balance of gameplay, info/facts, and humor. I highly recommend it!

How was it that you first came in contact with James Rolfe, AKA The Angry Video Game Nerd, and how's the score for the AVGN movie coming along (if you've started work on it yet)?

Thanks for doing this AMA. My phone's ring tone is currently "Maverick Regeneration", as it's one of my favorite "get pumped" songs.

Just to add to the other replies, I'm type 2 bipolar and I've found that smoking pot is key to helping me maintain any sort of day-to-day normality. I only smoke at nights when I'm at home, mainly because I'm one of those people that doesn't function very well when high, and I only smoke one bowl per night (occasionally more when my friends are over, which is rare).

I've talked to my psych about this at length and, at first, he was heavily against it and told me exactly what everyone else here has corroborated (marijuana use is often the cause of such issues). One of my biggest problems, however, was that the only drug that had any noticeable impact on my symptoms was Seroquel (I've tried several others), and one of the deal-breaking side effects of said medication was an absolutely incredible amount of drowsiness. Unaware of the side effect at first, however, I agreed to put the pot aside and start taking the medication according to a plan my doctor wrote up for me.

At first, even at small doses, I would sleep for about 14 hours after taking the stuff. It eventually got to the point where my symptoms were vastly reduced and my sleeping patterns normalized to a degree, but I could never shake off the groggy feeling when I was awake. My drowsiness was very apparent to my friends and family as well, and many of them told me that they preferred my company when I was off the meds. Sure, the drowsiness decreased gradually as I continued taking the medication, but it never went away completely and it was starting to have a negative impact on my daily productivity and work performance. It felt like I was walking around in cement shoes all the time and I apparently looked like a heroin junky to several of my friends, so after about two months of taking the stuff, I decided something had to change.

Anyhow, I took the risk and stopped my medication just to see how I felt in a no meds/no pot situation. Sure enough, my symptoms returned in no time at all, but at least I didn't feel like I was constantly on a Nyquil/Benadryl/Roofie cocktail all the time. After a rather nasty mood swing one day, I felt like I deserved a smoke session. Once I was good and high, I felt my mood stabilize and I was finally able to calm down. Granted, I don't feel much of anything other than what you see in your stereotypical stoned scenario whenever I'm high but, as long as my mood wasn't swinging for the fences, I didn't much care.

So I kept smoking, only at nights (as I mentioned), and only enough to make everything feel a lot funnier than usual. I did this nightly and, after about a month, I noticed that my day-to-day mood had drastically stabilized and I felt happier in general. I told all of this to my psych and, while he didn't put a stamp of approval on the process, he did notice an improvement in my general appearance and personality since our previous session, and told me to do whatever I felt best doing (although he did tell me to stop immediately if I started seeing any of the warning signs of psychosis).

I've been doing this for about a year and a half now, and I feel better than I have in a long time. I know that it's obviously not the right option for many people to choose, and that a lot of folks end up causing other mental problems for themselves by doing so. That said, it works wonders for me and I'm incredibly thankful for having something to help stave off those terrible symptoms.

Just wanted to add this to the discussion, as it's a topic that I've always found interesting.