Copyright 2006 Tim Quirey All rights reserved.

 Birth of the idea:

One day after receiving delivery of an arcade machine I realised that a seat would be required. Two milk crates would deliver the ultimate game player seat, only where do I get them from? Thus my journey began. Before long I realised milk crates were everywhere, involving themselves in all sorts of activities. It was then I realised I had spent my life oblivious to the whole world of crates and their adventures. The more I saw of them the more fascinated I became, and before long I decided I should write a book to share some of the many stories on offer. I had no experience in writing books or stories. My photographing skills were as equally underdeveloped. That said, what better way to learn than trying to put it all together while discussing milk crates.

First step forward:

I started cautiously, venturing out early of a weekend scoping milk crate locations and snapping away on my cheap disposable camera (I later joined the modern era and purchased a digital camera). Numerous photos later I had thrown caution to the wind and was snapping away freely in any location. While in New Zealand I even went on a few walks with a milk crate under my arm. As pictures were taken they were printed and I commenced writing a story for each one. Most stories are based on my own experiences, conversations had with friends and references to things I enjoy.

The final document:

After a couple of years taking pictures, writing stories, rewriting stories, and then finally typing them up I had a finished document. It was at this point in time I donned my sunglasses thinking the light at the end of the tunnel was close. My initial thought was let's go to print. Fortunately other thoughts prevailed and the sunglasses went away as the search for an editor commenced. The editor was faced with the daunting challenge of maintaining each story's timisms while also adding some finesse. She emerged with great success and it was then time to find a printer. A printer was found and slowly all the pieces came together as various formatting issues were resolved. A barcode, ISBN and CIP were also sourced.

Also during the editing process the realisation that I needed a cover scuttled through my head. I was extremely fortunate to have a friend who has proven invaluable in not only designing and constructing my cover, but also helping share in other challenges I faced along the way.

Books Arrive:

Finally the books were on the way albeit to the wrong address. Once this was fixed they arrived, and as I began opening the boxes I felt like a little kid at Christmas. I took many photos to capture the moment and I now have the first copy from the first box sitting proudly in my bookcase. Finally I had accomplished what I had set out to achieve almost 3 years prior. Since then I have gone about trying to achieve other goals set, such as getting the book into a bookshop, arranging a photo display, designing t-shirts and constructing this website.

The journey to date has been awesome, wonderful, amazing and many other superlatives. Heres hoping it can continue for a long time to come.

Cheers Tim