Well, there something to be said about being "dry" to your business associates - as long as they get the message, that's all that matters ("rude" is a different story).
That seller must've really got on the saddle after apologizing to me (while still managing to ignore my "dry" and final email). They promised to ship right away and they did. I picked up my Wolverine mini-bust from the mail room this afternoon.
I was going to complain since the bust is actually a little dirty (like there was water on it at one point or something). But well... not worth the effort. I'll just wipe it down with a dampl cloth. One of his claws appears to be slightly bent too - also not worth the trouble. Seems to be some kind of pewter substance - I'll just gently nudge it straight.
Gotta pack up now - it's my mom's birthday today so I think I'll pull a surprise visit this weekend... Ugh - I should stop by the mall on my way out from town to pick up something nice...
Friday, April 29, 2005
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Sassy T-shirt...
Seen on the front of U.D.G.'s T-shirt today:
"Cherry Pie Eating Contest
"Sign up here"
^o^;
...don't tease.
"Cherry Pie Eating Contest
"Sign up here"
^o^;
...don't tease.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Oh... *sigh* well, at least I heard from them
So I guess that rather dry email I sent this morning finally got the message through that I was not at all pleased about the situation. The seller finally got back to me and claims my shipment will go out tomorrow. Okay whatever. I won't even reply to that one...
Day went by fairly easily. Got a bagel and coffee downtown and spent a bit of time with my portable keyboard. It's just theraputic to put down something you know no-one will read. It's a little different than blogging... at least it feels a different.
The mall was jam-packed but I wanted to see if anybody was selling that new UMD format. Toys R Us had several films available. But I was actually keeping an eye out for Kill Bill. Already saw the movie, but I don't have it on DVD. Figured it might be cool to have it as a portable version. Naturally, this is not the sort of film you expect to find on the shelves at a toy store... @_@
...oddly enough, Best Buy didn't seem to have any at all instead carrying only UMD games (and even then, not a great selection).
Which further reminds me, I "finished" Ridge Racer last night. Sure, there's plenty more to do with the game - but I feel like it's gone into Pac-Man syndrome. Y'know - the game's the same only faster, harder, and more repetative. I managed to reach an ending-credit roll movie but the following maps and cars that were unlocked were insanely impossible to drive.
Anywho...
- ah yes, I redeemed all that Canadian Tire money I had lying around the house. All told, I gathered a dollar-sixty. So I picked up a bottle of windshield washer fluid. From now on, I'm thinking it'll be virtual-CT-money since it's so much easier to use my credit-card. I don't put much stock in loyalty-programs like this, but I figure, hey, everybody needs top-ups in their cars. You can't go wrong.
I also browsed the comic shops downtown today... One of the few times I left those places without actually buying anything. Must be the weather. ^_^;;
Day went by fairly easily. Got a bagel and coffee downtown and spent a bit of time with my portable keyboard. It's just theraputic to put down something you know no-one will read. It's a little different than blogging... at least it feels a different.
The mall was jam-packed but I wanted to see if anybody was selling that new UMD format. Toys R Us had several films available. But I was actually keeping an eye out for Kill Bill. Already saw the movie, but I don't have it on DVD. Figured it might be cool to have it as a portable version. Naturally, this is not the sort of film you expect to find on the shelves at a toy store... @_@
...oddly enough, Best Buy didn't seem to have any at all instead carrying only UMD games (and even then, not a great selection).
Which further reminds me, I "finished" Ridge Racer last night. Sure, there's plenty more to do with the game - but I feel like it's gone into Pac-Man syndrome. Y'know - the game's the same only faster, harder, and more repetative. I managed to reach an ending-credit roll movie but the following maps and cars that were unlocked were insanely impossible to drive.
Anywho...
- ah yes, I redeemed all that Canadian Tire money I had lying around the house. All told, I gathered a dollar-sixty. So I picked up a bottle of windshield washer fluid. From now on, I'm thinking it'll be virtual-CT-money since it's so much easier to use my credit-card. I don't put much stock in loyalty-programs like this, but I figure, hey, everybody needs top-ups in their cars. You can't go wrong.
I also browsed the comic shops downtown today... One of the few times I left those places without actually buying anything. Must be the weather. ^_^;;
Meh... ball's in their court now...
Well, it's Sunday morning again. It's now been a week since I sent my Paypal for my little bust-statue. I wrote them another email (this time slightly less polite, but not rude - just blunt). And at this point, I don't intend to contact them any further. If I receive my item in the mail in a few weeks, that'd be okay - I'll leave them one of those blunt "Item Received" feedbacks. But that's about it regarding this particular auction.
Turns out my Saturday was even lazier than I thought. I snapped a quick shot with my digicam, but my new watch came out as an impossible blur. So forget that... Here's a link to a professional photo of it:
Oakley Detonator
(Mine's the black with stainless-steel - so groovy)
Finally saw Dark City. I know - it's a classic, but I just never had it in me to look up. But it played on Space last night so I sat down to watch it for the first time. I gotta say, I love it. Now I realize what a rip-off The Matrix was.. Ha. ^_^;
Okay, not so much a rip, but you know...
Hmm... should head out and gas up. Don't wanna be caught like a few months back. The worst time to find an empty tank is on one's way to work. Bleah... that sucks. Should get some lunch too.
Turns out my Saturday was even lazier than I thought. I snapped a quick shot with my digicam, but my new watch came out as an impossible blur. So forget that... Here's a link to a professional photo of it:
Oakley Detonator
(Mine's the black with stainless-steel - so groovy)
Finally saw Dark City. I know - it's a classic, but I just never had it in me to look up. But it played on Space last night so I sat down to watch it for the first time. I gotta say, I love it. Now I realize what a rip-off The Matrix was.. Ha. ^_^;
Okay, not so much a rip, but you know...
Hmm... should head out and gas up. Don't wanna be caught like a few months back. The worst time to find an empty tank is on one's way to work. Bleah... that sucks. Should get some lunch too.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
I'll sleep much better tonight...
Firstly - had a great evening. Just got home from a mini-LAN-party with mrbabou. Tried out my first "skirmish" in "Battle For Middle-Earth." Long drawn out session but overall, a lot of fun. Not that I'll be playing this game much on my own though.
I also got to fool around with an oldie - and strangely enough, AVP2 still holds up even today.
Another pleasant surprise today (I mean besides discovering that my DVDs had been sitting in the admin office since who-knows-how-long)... my new Oakly Detonator Wristwatch arrived today! Photos later (I'm just too damn tired to dig up my cam at the moment).
Having all that stuff in my hands means that I get to clear off yet another two outstanding eBay items from my wait-list. And on top of that, I got such great deals on both these two, that, by way of the math, I pretty much break even and can actually absorb the loss of that Wolverine statue.
It still pisses me off and I still fully intend to continue emailing this idiot.
But I'm looking at the bright side now: I just got 3 DVDs for about $30. Each of those must've $30 at retail. In a sense, I've already saved $60. That alone would cover the cost of my Wolvie bust.
And now that I have my watch? I got it at least $150 below retail...
Hmm... rainy out all weekend. Bleah.
...all the more reason to veg out for the next two days and watch those videos I got.
"...and there was much rejoicing."
I also got to fool around with an oldie - and strangely enough, AVP2 still holds up even today.
Another pleasant surprise today (I mean besides discovering that my DVDs had been sitting in the admin office since who-knows-how-long)... my new Oakly Detonator Wristwatch arrived today! Photos later (I'm just too damn tired to dig up my cam at the moment).
Having all that stuff in my hands means that I get to clear off yet another two outstanding eBay items from my wait-list. And on top of that, I got such great deals on both these two, that, by way of the math, I pretty much break even and can actually absorb the loss of that Wolverine statue.
It still pisses me off and I still fully intend to continue emailing this idiot.
But I'm looking at the bright side now: I just got 3 DVDs for about $30. Each of those must've $30 at retail. In a sense, I've already saved $60. That alone would cover the cost of my Wolvie bust.
And now that I have my watch? I got it at least $150 below retail...
Hmm... rainy out all weekend. Bleah.
...all the more reason to veg out for the next two days and watch those videos I got.
"...and there was much rejoicing."
Friday, April 22, 2005
Ah Friday... [sigh of relief here]
From rereading my last post over at the FusionAce blog, you I'd have been ready to rampage across the country on a mad dash to destroy the world... But at the moment I've settled down and realized it's not such a big deal.
Not that all's right with the world. For instance, that eBay seller is still AWOL.
On the other hand, I finally got my DVDs... colour me a fool, though. Turns out that my package had been sitting for several days in the admin office and they just missed me (usually they'll leave a note in my mailbox). But I never got that note so...
It's good to know one more transaction is over (and I get 3-for-1 on feedbacks since it was 3 seperate Buy-It-Now's I made)... I just hope the seller leaves it quickly.
I'll give that other guy another two days. Come Sunday, I'll write them again reminding them that it's been a full 12 days since the auction closed, 7 days since I sent my Paypal, and 4 days since the last time I asked them to get in touch with me. I think I might need to use stronger language this time... Ugh. [rolls eyes]
Babou sent me an email at the office this morning inviting me to bring my PC over for a round of network games tonight... Whoa - remembered that I haven't reinstalled any games since that drive reformatting business back in October. Hasn't been much of a priority now that I have my PSP, of course.
Well, still... actually, I'd like to go over if only just to see the result of that box we worked on the other night. Must be really cool with all the gimmick lighting and stuff.
Not that all's right with the world. For instance, that eBay seller is still AWOL.
On the other hand, I finally got my DVDs... colour me a fool, though. Turns out that my package had been sitting for several days in the admin office and they just missed me (usually they'll leave a note in my mailbox). But I never got that note so...
It's good to know one more transaction is over (and I get 3-for-1 on feedbacks since it was 3 seperate Buy-It-Now's I made)... I just hope the seller leaves it quickly.
I'll give that other guy another two days. Come Sunday, I'll write them again reminding them that it's been a full 12 days since the auction closed, 7 days since I sent my Paypal, and 4 days since the last time I asked them to get in touch with me. I think I might need to use stronger language this time... Ugh. [rolls eyes]
Babou sent me an email at the office this morning inviting me to bring my PC over for a round of network games tonight... Whoa - remembered that I haven't reinstalled any games since that drive reformatting business back in October. Hasn't been much of a priority now that I have my PSP, of course.
Well, still... actually, I'd like to go over if only just to see the result of that box we worked on the other night. Must be really cool with all the gimmick lighting and stuff.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Black Forest - what is that exactly?
Why doesn't Black Forest Cake taste ham?
And likewise - why doesn't Black Forest Ham have cherry in it?
And likewise - why doesn't Black Forest Ham have cherry in it?
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
all geeked-out... Babou's new case
So I was with the Babou's last night helping out with a new case installation. His tax refund arrived in the mail this week. And if you're up on the Legion's verious blogs, you may have gathered that the Babous got screwed over yet again and had to cancel their anniversary trip this year (there were personal reasons beyond their control, sadly). So using their refund he and his wife decided to go nuts with the computer upgrades....
....naturally I tagged along for the shopping trip last night. ^_^;
(but I avoided at actually buying anything - I'm proud of my self-discipline)
Anyway, around 8pm we got back to the house and Babou did the whole daddy thing and bathed the little Babous and tucked them in while I amused myself with that newly-revived editorial show on CBC Newsworld called "The Hour."
Then we got down to the inventory... A new case by Antec with a glowing blue PS for the PC. And an additional stick of RAM for the Mac... we got on the PC first since I'm fairly well-versed in tooling around inside a PC more than that any Apple product (which as far as I can tell, is completely alien technology).
By the time 10:30pm rolled around, we had the motherboard and drives installed and were in the process of hooking up the power/reset wiring... But I was getting really sleepy by then and decided it was best for me to kick myself out before I became a road hazzard. Besides: mommybabou had already gone to bed half an hour earlier.
Still - I'm so happy for them. Y'know - couples that compute together... ^_^
....naturally I tagged along for the shopping trip last night. ^_^;
(but I avoided at actually buying anything - I'm proud of my self-discipline)
Anyway, around 8pm we got back to the house and Babou did the whole daddy thing and bathed the little Babous and tucked them in while I amused myself with that newly-revived editorial show on CBC Newsworld called "The Hour."
Then we got down to the inventory... A new case by Antec with a glowing blue PS for the PC. And an additional stick of RAM for the Mac... we got on the PC first since I'm fairly well-versed in tooling around inside a PC more than that any Apple product (which as far as I can tell, is completely alien technology).
By the time 10:30pm rolled around, we had the motherboard and drives installed and were in the process of hooking up the power/reset wiring... But I was getting really sleepy by then and decided it was best for me to kick myself out before I became a road hazzard. Besides: mommybabou had already gone to bed half an hour earlier.
Still - I'm so happy for them. Y'know - couples that compute together... ^_^
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
must be the tax season...
Babou swung by my new office to check the place out... I mentioned my eBay problems and he brought up an interesting suggestion. "Must be all the tax filers sending in their stuff."
Y'know... that could explain everything. All across North America (both the US and Canada) "mail slows down as you approach the speed of light."
...or something like that... @_@;;
Y'know... that could explain everything. All across North America (both the US and Canada) "mail slows down as you approach the speed of light."
...or something like that... @_@;;
Monday, April 18, 2005
Hmm... mail must be slow
We're rapidly approaching the end of the month and I just received my bank statement today. And I also set up an on-line payment for my cable bill which arrived in the mail on Friday (it's due in 1 week). Sheesh. If this is the new definition of snail-mail, then no wonder my DVDs haven't arrived (still annoying though).
eBay Update: no news (is not always good news, unfortunately). Where is this seller? You'd think they'd at least be thrilled to hear that I Paypal'ed them...
No milk in the appartment. But I've got some Jos.Louis (kinda like a Canadian version of Twinkies)... I dearly need to go for a supply run and pick up milk. Maybe some juices too.
Y'know what's good? Chocolate-covered peanuts. Not a big fan of the raisins though... just the peanut ones. M&M-Peanuts - that's okay too. Pray they never introduce a Raisin M&M...
eBay Update: no news (is not always good news, unfortunately). Where is this seller? You'd think they'd at least be thrilled to hear that I Paypal'ed them...
No milk in the appartment. But I've got some Jos.Louis (kinda like a Canadian version of Twinkies)... I dearly need to go for a supply run and pick up milk. Maybe some juices too.
Y'know what's good? Chocolate-covered peanuts. Not a big fan of the raisins though... just the peanut ones. M&M-Peanuts - that's okay too. Pray they never introduce a Raisin M&M...
Self-Affirmation for the day.
Repeat this out loud today:
"Everytime I see myself, I can't believe how awesome I am."
Go ahead - say it!
"Everytime I see myself, I can't believe how awesome I am."
Go ahead - say it!
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Colour me stupid... must be blind or something
Well, I went back to that auction one more time this morning in between checking my inbox thinking I may have yet again missed something important (and no, I never did get a reply about that Feedback question). But this time I noticed that the auction page itself had been updated. The page now links directly to a Pay Now page updated with the shipping stuff for Canada. Which in itself is weird because if something as important as that happened, you'd think that eBay itself would've sent me a notification via email. But no... I had to stumbling on it myself.
So I clicked the link, got redirected to Paypal and I sent my payment. In the optional "message to seller" box, I mentioned that they hadn't sent me anything regarding my Below-20-Feedbacks status and that I must assume that they were okay with this sale... and so I paid. And at the very least, if this deal goes south, I figure I can take it up with Paypal themselves.
Speaking of eBaying, that wristwatch I talk about now and then showed up again. This time from a Canadian seller - sweet. No cross-border UPS charges! Never did figure that out - why FedEx will collect any duty or customs fees and UPS goes through this thing called "Global Logistics" and charges you additional fees for that.
Lazy Sunday continues... gassed up already so I'll beat it after supper. Overall, a fairly healthy weekend, I think.
So I clicked the link, got redirected to Paypal and I sent my payment. In the optional "message to seller" box, I mentioned that they hadn't sent me anything regarding my Below-20-Feedbacks status and that I must assume that they were okay with this sale... and so I paid. And at the very least, if this deal goes south, I figure I can take it up with Paypal themselves.
Speaking of eBaying, that wristwatch I talk about now and then showed up again. This time from a Canadian seller - sweet. No cross-border UPS charges! Never did figure that out - why FedEx will collect any duty or customs fees and UPS goes through this thing called "Global Logistics" and charges you additional fees for that.
Lazy Sunday continues... gassed up already so I'll beat it after supper. Overall, a fairly healthy weekend, I think.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
whooo ....where am I?
It's a Saturday... Arrived at my family's house around quarter past midnight... wha-?
Yeah, um... went home after packing up my office on Friday. The place felt weird without the usual mess of a well-lived-in work-space. Left my PC and the phone. Everything else I had carted over in big moving boxes to my new cubicle down the hall. My friends, particularly UDG and Starfish made a big deal about it all over again. I decided to send out one of those sappy "I'm gonna miss everyone" messages.
Got home and nothing in the mailbox (e- or otherwise) - which still pissed me off. But not enough to stop me from powernapping. Figured I may as well rest up before the long-haul to Sherbrooke. Little did I realize the "power-nap" would take upwards of 3 hours. I jumped out of bed at 8pm.
Gassed up and stopped at the mall for a bite to eat (also picked up a top-up for my cell-phone). Then I hit the highway - which was pretty much smooth sailing for the most part. Unlike that Easter weekend, I blasted through Montreal in record time (despite spotting several cop-cars on patrol). Hey, this is the car that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.... she's fast enough for the old man.
Slept in this morning (go figure). Jammed on my PSP for a while, generally wasted the day. I did get a load of laundry done. And of course, finally got around to changing my tires for the summer. Heh ...didn't notice until I jacked up the car that my winters were going pretty damn flat (that would explain its tendency to veer off). Oops. ^_^;;
Just checked my home mailbox remotely through Yahoo. Still no peep out of that seller. I'll give them until Tuesday to mark of all full week. Then I'll talk to Babou and see what he thinks.
Babou's wife, known as "mommybabou" runs a small at-home jewelry business through eBay (among some local outlets). She'll be in a decent position to give me advice, I think. I'd hate to leave someone a negative feedback though... I'm just openning the gate for them to blow away my postive percentage... ~_~
Yah, anyway... I think I'll go watch a bit of television and veg out now. I'm all "tire"d out... [rim shot] *groan*... but first a good hot shower... not only am I beat, I'm all grimy from tired muck. (I'm sure my parents will appreciate finding my greasy fingerprints all over their keyboard). ^_^
Yeah, um... went home after packing up my office on Friday. The place felt weird without the usual mess of a well-lived-in work-space. Left my PC and the phone. Everything else I had carted over in big moving boxes to my new cubicle down the hall. My friends, particularly UDG and Starfish made a big deal about it all over again. I decided to send out one of those sappy "I'm gonna miss everyone" messages.
Got home and nothing in the mailbox (e- or otherwise) - which still pissed me off. But not enough to stop me from powernapping. Figured I may as well rest up before the long-haul to Sherbrooke. Little did I realize the "power-nap" would take upwards of 3 hours. I jumped out of bed at 8pm.
Gassed up and stopped at the mall for a bite to eat (also picked up a top-up for my cell-phone). Then I hit the highway - which was pretty much smooth sailing for the most part. Unlike that Easter weekend, I blasted through Montreal in record time (despite spotting several cop-cars on patrol). Hey, this is the car that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.... she's fast enough for the old man.
Slept in this morning (go figure). Jammed on my PSP for a while, generally wasted the day. I did get a load of laundry done. And of course, finally got around to changing my tires for the summer. Heh ...didn't notice until I jacked up the car that my winters were going pretty damn flat (that would explain its tendency to veer off). Oops. ^_^;;
Just checked my home mailbox remotely through Yahoo. Still no peep out of that seller. I'll give them until Tuesday to mark of all full week. Then I'll talk to Babou and see what he thinks.
Babou's wife, known as "mommybabou" runs a small at-home jewelry business through eBay (among some local outlets). She'll be in a decent position to give me advice, I think. I'd hate to leave someone a negative feedback though... I'm just openning the gate for them to blow away my postive percentage... ~_~
Yah, anyway... I think I'll go watch a bit of television and veg out now. I'm all "tire"d out... [rim shot] *groan*... but first a good hot shower... not only am I beat, I'm all grimy from tired muck. (I'm sure my parents will appreciate finding my greasy fingerprints all over their keyboard). ^_^
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Well huh... okay... so are we on or not?
So this it's been like 2 full business days since I won that auction for the Wolvie bust. But the seller still hasn't responded to my request for final shipping. So I went back to the auction page to double-check all the details thinking, maybe I had misread the shipping instructions and was supposed to just send payment right away after all.
Well...
...now...
Hmm...
I went over the section for shipping instructions with a fine-toothed comb and for the first time I notice this little clause they had in there that buyers with less that 20 feedback should email them before bidding! What the heck?!
I mean, I understand that some sellers won't sell to newbies with zero-feedbacks. But I've been eBaying for more than 5 years. I just have really low feedback because I'm not one of those guys who's constantly buying stuff on eBay - I reserve eBay for finding older stuff that I can't get in stores. So my 15 feedback don't actually reflect how long I've been eBaying.
Still, I sent them a second email this time explaining that I'd missed that tiny clause. (I mean, really - did anybody see that?)... and that I hoped everything was okay but if they wanted to cancel our deal, I'd be okay with that (provided they don't negative feedback me).
At this moment I'm just a little irritated that they've pretty much ignored me thus far. Like is the deal on or off?
Well...
...now...
Hmm...
I went over the section for shipping instructions with a fine-toothed comb and for the first time I notice this little clause they had in there that buyers with less that 20 feedback should email them before bidding! What the heck?!
I mean, I understand that some sellers won't sell to newbies with zero-feedbacks. But I've been eBaying for more than 5 years. I just have really low feedback because I'm not one of those guys who's constantly buying stuff on eBay - I reserve eBay for finding older stuff that I can't get in stores. So my 15 feedback don't actually reflect how long I've been eBaying.
Still, I sent them a second email this time explaining that I'd missed that tiny clause. (I mean, really - did anybody see that?)... and that I hoped everything was okay but if they wanted to cancel our deal, I'd be okay with that (provided they don't negative feedback me).
At this moment I'm just a little irritated that they've pretty much ignored me thus far. Like is the deal on or off?
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
On the brightside - R-J poster
Besides the weirdness of the DVDs I'm still waiting for, I did get a confirmation from the site-operator at Robot-Japan.com today for one of these...
R-J Poster
Sweetness... some people must have an artistic gene in them or something. I sure hope it arrives soon though. I'm uncomfortable with so much outstanding orders floating around in the ether of mail.
Well come to think of it, this one in particular doesn't bother me so much since I'm a fairly active member at the RJ Forums so it's not like they could just take the money and run.
R-J Poster
Sweetness... some people must have an artistic gene in them or something. I sure hope it arrives soon though. I'm uncomfortable with so much outstanding orders floating around in the ether of mail.
Well come to think of it, this one in particular doesn't bother me so much since I'm a fairly active member at the RJ Forums so it's not like they could just take the money and run.
Hmm... this is unusual...
Seller for that Wolvie mini-statue hasn't contacted me with final shipping tally yet... (I know there's a calculator there, but the auction text also mentions that I should contact them because I'm an "international bidder"). I'm a little disappointed. Well, at worst they'll leave me a message and I'll pay them over the weekend. But still.
I'm spoiled with super-fast eBayers, I think. There were times where an auction ended, and in the same evening, the seller and I hammered out the shipping details and I Paypal'ed them right away. The end of this week (Saturday, actually) will mark the end of week 4 of waiting for my previous buy from eBay. I've had shipments of stuff come from overseas faster than this. I'm crossing my fingers that my DVDs will arrive tomorrow (I'm starting to think the local mail system doesn't deliver anything bigger than a letter and only brings boxes on Thursdays). Which might explain what's up with this week.
I'm just annoyed because for the first time in a while, I've received my credit card bill BEFORE my eBay goods arrived... There's a point at which when you get something in the mail, it's not so much joy as it is relief. And that's just no fun at all.
I'm spoiled with super-fast eBayers, I think. There were times where an auction ended, and in the same evening, the seller and I hammered out the shipping details and I Paypal'ed them right away. The end of this week (Saturday, actually) will mark the end of week 4 of waiting for my previous buy from eBay. I've had shipments of stuff come from overseas faster than this. I'm crossing my fingers that my DVDs will arrive tomorrow (I'm starting to think the local mail system doesn't deliver anything bigger than a letter and only brings boxes on Thursdays). Which might explain what's up with this week.
I'm just annoyed because for the first time in a while, I've received my credit card bill BEFORE my eBay goods arrived... There's a point at which when you get something in the mail, it's not so much joy as it is relief. And that's just no fun at all.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Esso Extra - not as long as I thought
Wheee! A goody arrived in the mail today. Last week I hit the EssoExtra web site (with the price of gas lately, it's been so much easier to collect points for loyalty programs)... I decided to redeem a bunch of points for a $25 gift certificate at HMV. I figure that ought to cover the 6th volume of Ghost in the Shell when it finally comes out (always seem to be waiting for that series, don't I?
Or I could just shop around - never know who's got the best price, especially when it comes to readily available stuff like DVDs and/or CDs... Could save a buck here and there if I'm careful. But that's just a general rule I follow anyway.
Speaking of readily available, a bunch of stuff showed up on eBay this week I've been hunting for. That Wolvie bust is only the beginning (shudder: thank goodness for credit)... win now, pay later... say late May by the time the statement for the next billing period arrives. *whew* @_@
I'll be sure to mention everything that goes into my display cabinets - if you're lucky, I'll take photos.
Which further reminds me: I should probably look into getting tenant's insurance for all this sh*t... Hmm...
Or I could just shop around - never know who's got the best price, especially when it comes to readily available stuff like DVDs and/or CDs... Could save a buck here and there if I'm careful. But that's just a general rule I follow anyway.
Speaking of readily available, a bunch of stuff showed up on eBay this week I've been hunting for. That Wolvie bust is only the beginning (shudder: thank goodness for credit)... win now, pay later... say late May by the time the statement for the next billing period arrives. *whew* @_@
I'll be sure to mention everything that goes into my display cabinets - if you're lucky, I'll take photos.
Which further reminds me: I should probably look into getting tenant's insurance for all this sh*t... Hmm...
At times like these, I wonder if I over-bid
Hmm... won it with the single starting bid. And nobody bothered to snipe me either (I know because my proxy was only a few more dollars). My winning bid is so low that the shipping nearly doubles what I'm going to pay total...
Wolverine mini-bust by Bowen
This'll look great next to my Spider-Man bust.
Wolverine mini-bust by Bowen
This'll look great next to my Spider-Man bust.
Monday, April 11, 2005
PSA: dry your hands first
Got up this morning and the one thing that could ruin my day happens: the bread got moldy. So now I'm without lunch - will need to buy something at the cafeteria. I must've contaminated the bag over the weekend when I reached into the bag... should've dried my hands better. And now you know.
And it was almost empty too - I hate having to throw out 1/4-bags of sliced bread. ~_~;
And it was almost empty too - I hate having to throw out 1/4-bags of sliced bread. ~_~;
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Odds'n'Ends - Impulse Saturday
Woke up this morning feeling a little off. Spent the day yesterday enjoying the sun. Went for a walk into town with only a sweater on (very comfortable for a change). I'm so used to wearing an extra jacket because on weekdays, I'm off to my office before the sun is up and it's usually pretty close to freezing.
Didn't count on it, but I ended up spending a bit of money too. Made a huge 3-egg omlette before heading out so I wasn't hungry for lunch anymore. Walked across downtown all the way to Silver-Snail. Half expecting to find some goodies but half thinking I should save my money. Came home with:
The guy in the middle might look familiar... he's Leo Convoy. In America, while Transformers sort of faded from popularity in the early to mid 90s, the Japanese anime continued full-bore and never stopped. The Japanese counterpart of "Beast Wars" branched off into something called "Beast Wars Neo" and featured yet another version of Optimus - this time a robot lion.
He just looks cool to me... And so did the two buddies flanking him. When the old Generation-One Transformers came to an end Stateside, Japan continued with Transformers 2010 and Transformers Victory... these two fellas were featured prominently in the latter replacing Optimus as the leader of the good-guys. But I'm no expert on the matter. Try BWTF.com - curiously, the site's owner shares my name!!
Where was I? Oh yes, so I wasn't hungry. There I was with a strawberry/banana smoothie in hand when I wandered into HMV. Just a week after complaining that it was delayed, I found the 5th volume of Ghost in the Shell... the special edition also came with a goody inside. An ID card of every's favourite tough-guy cyborg:
(The Major's card is from a previous volume)
I can only wonder if I'll ever bother taking these out of their cases again... ever. ^_^;
My final score was at a local sushi place where they were offering a 2 for 1 deal so not only did I get a nice dinner, but I brought home a second free package. That's dinner tonight, I guess!
Didn't count on it, but I ended up spending a bit of money too. Made a huge 3-egg omlette before heading out so I wasn't hungry for lunch anymore. Walked across downtown all the way to Silver-Snail. Half expecting to find some goodies but half thinking I should save my money. Came home with:
The guy in the middle might look familiar... he's Leo Convoy. In America, while Transformers sort of faded from popularity in the early to mid 90s, the Japanese anime continued full-bore and never stopped. The Japanese counterpart of "Beast Wars" branched off into something called "Beast Wars Neo" and featured yet another version of Optimus - this time a robot lion.
He just looks cool to me... And so did the two buddies flanking him. When the old Generation-One Transformers came to an end Stateside, Japan continued with Transformers 2010 and Transformers Victory... these two fellas were featured prominently in the latter replacing Optimus as the leader of the good-guys. But I'm no expert on the matter. Try BWTF.com - curiously, the site's owner shares my name!!
Where was I? Oh yes, so I wasn't hungry. There I was with a strawberry/banana smoothie in hand when I wandered into HMV. Just a week after complaining that it was delayed, I found the 5th volume of Ghost in the Shell... the special edition also came with a goody inside. An ID card of every's favourite tough-guy cyborg:
(The Major's card is from a previous volume)
I can only wonder if I'll ever bother taking these out of their cases again... ever. ^_^;
My final score was at a local sushi place where they were offering a 2 for 1 deal so not only did I get a nice dinner, but I brought home a second free package. That's dinner tonight, I guess!
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Heh heh ...the capacity to "Arrrgh-chive," me matey!
So I arrive at Starfish's house, greet his girlfriend, and then get down and dirty with the dogs. He's got a big fluffy labrador/husky who has a crush on me (we think). Every time the other puppy tries to get a little attention from me, the other will growl at it.... Sheesh. I'm told she doesn't do that for any other human. Makes me feel special (and vaguely uncomfortable too).
The first thing on the Elektra disc was a long-winded PSA about how downloading pirated movies was stealing and whatever... Starfish and I looked at each other. Blockbuster's new no-late fees gimmick gives me plenty of time to run off a few copies for my friends and I.
Anyway, we watched the movie...
Style over substance, I'd say later that night. I wasn't disappointed, more like, I rather expected that sort of film. Nice to look at (Jennifer Garner might've had something to do with that) but not necessarily great to watch.
Starfish looked over at me at the end of it: I've changed my mind - I won't be needing a copy of this. ^_^;
So I've found a brand-new solution for the MPAA. Hollywood needs to make worse movies so nobody will want to bootleg them anymore! [rim-shot here]
The first thing on the Elektra disc was a long-winded PSA about how downloading pirated movies was stealing and whatever... Starfish and I looked at each other. Blockbuster's new no-late fees gimmick gives me plenty of time to run off a few copies for my friends and I.
Anyway, we watched the movie...
Style over substance, I'd say later that night. I wasn't disappointed, more like, I rather expected that sort of film. Nice to look at (Jennifer Garner might've had something to do with that) but not necessarily great to watch.
Starfish looked over at me at the end of it: I've changed my mind - I won't be needing a copy of this. ^_^;
So I've found a brand-new solution for the MPAA. Hollywood needs to make worse movies so nobody will want to bootleg them anymore! [rim-shot here]
Friday, April 08, 2005
Reactions around the breakfast table
So shortly after posting over in the FusionAce "life" blog, other co-workers started to trickle in for the day. Before long the whole team was assembled... We decided that we could head down to the cafeteria for breakfast meeting.
I thanked them for their years of loyal team-work ...and goodbye (it seems they'd been aware of a certain rumour that I'd be transferring out already). The 4th member I rarely mention is a funny little lady who immediately went into a rant about how much they'd miss me. We reminisced about how I trained her when she first arrived 4 years ago... Starfish called me a bastard for leaving him after so many years. And although I knew he was just joking, U.D.G. piped in "would you rather we all said, Good Riddance!?"
As for non-work related life?
Ran a red-light on my way home. Oops. ^_^;;;
I'm actually very embarrassed about that considering my spotless record (except for a couple of parking tickets while visiting Montreal a few years back). I can only hope it was one of those corners without the automatic cameras...
Nothing in the mailbox... I'm starting to wonder about those DVDs I won off eBay. We're coming up on week 4 so they'd better arrive soon. I've been spoiled with guys like Ken over at Toy-Wave who's packages arrive at breakneck speeds. (Might have something to do with the fact that he doesn't use an actual box - so the customs agents must take his word for it when reading the invoice taped to the top of the bubblewrap!) ^o^;
On the other hand, it gives me a chance to re-watch my older volumes of Rorouni Kenshin.
In the meantime I just got a phone call from Starfish... He rented Elektra and asked if I'd like to watch it on his gi-normous home theatre setup. Should probably head out soon as it's getting pretty late. Besides - I need to set aside some time to play with his dogs when I get there. Wheee! ^_^
I thanked them for their years of loyal team-work ...and goodbye (it seems they'd been aware of a certain rumour that I'd be transferring out already). The 4th member I rarely mention is a funny little lady who immediately went into a rant about how much they'd miss me. We reminisced about how I trained her when she first arrived 4 years ago... Starfish called me a bastard for leaving him after so many years. And although I knew he was just joking, U.D.G. piped in "would you rather we all said, Good Riddance!?"
As for non-work related life?
Ran a red-light on my way home. Oops. ^_^;;;
I'm actually very embarrassed about that considering my spotless record (except for a couple of parking tickets while visiting Montreal a few years back). I can only hope it was one of those corners without the automatic cameras...
Nothing in the mailbox... I'm starting to wonder about those DVDs I won off eBay. We're coming up on week 4 so they'd better arrive soon. I've been spoiled with guys like Ken over at Toy-Wave who's packages arrive at breakneck speeds. (Might have something to do with the fact that he doesn't use an actual box - so the customs agents must take his word for it when reading the invoice taped to the top of the bubblewrap!) ^o^;
On the other hand, it gives me a chance to re-watch my older volumes of Rorouni Kenshin.
In the meantime I just got a phone call from Starfish... He rented Elektra and asked if I'd like to watch it on his gi-normous home theatre setup. Should probably head out soon as it's getting pretty late. Besides - I need to set aside some time to play with his dogs when I get there. Wheee! ^_^
Thursday, April 07, 2005
This story amuses me becuase it's true
Babou lives right here in Canada but still downloads tv episodes... Bit-Torrent is like a virtual shared VCR to him.
Lost without Lost?
And I have to admit - me having been fully established as a geek - even I downloaded the full season of the new Battlestar Galactica (even though I'm always home on Sunday evenings to catch it on Space (Canada's version of Sci-Fi Channel).
I'm still a little peeved about the take-down of Super-Nova.org ...but isn't everybody? ~_~;
Lost without Lost?
And I have to admit - me having been fully established as a geek - even I downloaded the full season of the new Battlestar Galactica (even though I'm always home on Sunday evenings to catch it on Space (Canada's version of Sci-Fi Channel).
I'm still a little peeved about the take-down of Super-Nova.org ...but isn't everybody? ~_~;
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
me so geeky: believe the hype!
Damn it, I can't believe I'm blogging yet again about the PSP. I honestly haven't been this excited about a gadget since my first Palm Pilot. I'm imagining all the possibilities for a little gizmo like this and I can imagine quite a bit.
After reading a few reviews (and quickly dismissing them) I figured that hockey game that was bundled with it was okay and the people in general were just exagerrating. Everybody was saying how crappy it was - but I'd just spent the last weekend wasting my time with it - how bad is my taste in game sensibilities that I couldn't tell?
Well, tonight for fun I stopped by EB to ask about whether or not they had any plans on carrying 1Gb sized Memory Sticks (they didn't but the guy was fairly knowledgeable and said in his opinion, with a gadget like the PSP in the mainstream market, it wouldn't be long before 1Gb-sizes would become common-place). He admitted that he wished his store could carrying bigger sticks than 256... I had better news over at Best Buy where the sales guy enthusiastically told me that not only was there a 1Gb stick that hit the market last week from Sony (and Sandisk as well) but that Sony was hyping the development of a 2Gb stick too....
But since I was out and about (and had spent the gas already driving into the west-end)... oh... erm... what the hell. Screw my budget: I picked up Ridge Racer for my PSP. And I don't regret it... except...
I now understand what all those other PSP fans were talking about. Having seen the light, I now see all the shortcomings of Gretzky-NHL glaring up at me.
1) game load-time is way too long. Ridge Racer loads itself into the PSP's RAM in seconds.
2) saved data is too big. Ridge Racer's save data is less than 1Mb...
3) too many "glitches" - I'm often seeing little graphical-processing like "white-space" when a polygon is clashing with another polygon leaving dead space in the overlap that isn't rendered.
4) why is the music breaking up when accessing the memory stick for saves and loads? That's just sloppy programming.
These little things that I didn't take seriously before... Ugh... Ridge Racer has spoiled me.
After reading a few reviews (and quickly dismissing them) I figured that hockey game that was bundled with it was okay and the people in general were just exagerrating. Everybody was saying how crappy it was - but I'd just spent the last weekend wasting my time with it - how bad is my taste in game sensibilities that I couldn't tell?
Well, tonight for fun I stopped by EB to ask about whether or not they had any plans on carrying 1Gb sized Memory Sticks (they didn't but the guy was fairly knowledgeable and said in his opinion, with a gadget like the PSP in the mainstream market, it wouldn't be long before 1Gb-sizes would become common-place). He admitted that he wished his store could carrying bigger sticks than 256... I had better news over at Best Buy where the sales guy enthusiastically told me that not only was there a 1Gb stick that hit the market last week from Sony (and Sandisk as well) but that Sony was hyping the development of a 2Gb stick too....
But since I was out and about (and had spent the gas already driving into the west-end)... oh... erm... what the hell. Screw my budget: I picked up Ridge Racer for my PSP. And I don't regret it... except...
I now understand what all those other PSP fans were talking about. Having seen the light, I now see all the shortcomings of Gretzky-NHL glaring up at me.
1) game load-time is way too long. Ridge Racer loads itself into the PSP's RAM in seconds.
2) saved data is too big. Ridge Racer's save data is less than 1Mb...
3) too many "glitches" - I'm often seeing little graphical-processing like "white-space" when a polygon is clashing with another polygon leaving dead space in the overlap that isn't rendered.
4) why is the music breaking up when accessing the memory stick for saves and loads? That's just sloppy programming.
These little things that I didn't take seriously before... Ugh... Ridge Racer has spoiled me.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
The fall of the righteous
"There's no justice in this world" - I forget who said that, but certainly the head of Sony Computer Entertainment, INC must be feeling the pain. Sucks to be oppressed by "the Man."
The Demotion of Ken Kutaragi
The Demotion of Ken Kutaragi
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Enough crap to last me!
It's been raining out... which is great since I think the weather's finally going to settle down into a "spring-time" climate. While it didn't rain this morning it certainly was dreary most of the day and I got to thinking that the only thing I could do (rather than my usual weekend marathon into town) was to go shopping and blow some cash... something I've been doing with alarming frequency as of late.
I decided to stay in today.
And you know what? Turns out I wasn't as bored as I thought I'd be. Didn't need to blow money to entertain myself. I realized that with all the crap I've accumulated in my apartment lately, I could pretty much keep myself busy enough passing the time for a day.
Started off this morning an hour late (for those of you in the middle latitudes, you may have heard of this thing called "Daylight Savings Time" originally developed by the agriculture community).
Goofed away the day and still found time to make some scrambled eggs for a quick brunch. I also did the dishes - which is something to be proud of as they've been piling up for a while. Passed the day away with the PSP playing GretzkyNHL - I wish there'd be someone out there with their wi-fi switch on... I could do with some actual human interaction. Also snuck in an email session and sent off some messages to friends I haven't spoken to in a while.
In the afternoon I popped in the third volume of Burn-Up Scramble - something I'd meant to do for several days. After months of waiting, the third volume finally delivered some serious action. True, it's an anime title long-since known for gratuitous violence and fan-service shots of the main heroine's body, but still, a police-actioner is a police-actioner and there's plenty of room for sci-fi thrills. Now if only they'd hurry up and release the next volume of Ghost in the Shell - seems like an eternity since volume 4 came out.
Managed a quick work-out with Antigrav when the sun came out and lit up the apartment (broke a sweat - but not sure if it's because the game's gotten tougher or if I'm just out of shape). ^o^;
Before I knew it - the afternoon hit 5pm. So now I've just made myself some coffee and am thinking it's about time to pop a pizza in the oven or something similarly easy for supper. The up-side to the pizza would be that I automatically get leftovers for lunch tomorrow. ^_^;;;
What to do ...what to do? I guess I'm just pleased to have managed a whole day without spending a single penny on non-essentials...
I decided to stay in today.
And you know what? Turns out I wasn't as bored as I thought I'd be. Didn't need to blow money to entertain myself. I realized that with all the crap I've accumulated in my apartment lately, I could pretty much keep myself busy enough passing the time for a day.
Started off this morning an hour late (for those of you in the middle latitudes, you may have heard of this thing called "Daylight Savings Time" originally developed by the agriculture community).
Goofed away the day and still found time to make some scrambled eggs for a quick brunch. I also did the dishes - which is something to be proud of as they've been piling up for a while. Passed the day away with the PSP playing GretzkyNHL - I wish there'd be someone out there with their wi-fi switch on... I could do with some actual human interaction. Also snuck in an email session and sent off some messages to friends I haven't spoken to in a while.
In the afternoon I popped in the third volume of Burn-Up Scramble - something I'd meant to do for several days. After months of waiting, the third volume finally delivered some serious action. True, it's an anime title long-since known for gratuitous violence and fan-service shots of the main heroine's body, but still, a police-actioner is a police-actioner and there's plenty of room for sci-fi thrills. Now if only they'd hurry up and release the next volume of Ghost in the Shell - seems like an eternity since volume 4 came out.
Managed a quick work-out with Antigrav when the sun came out and lit up the apartment (broke a sweat - but not sure if it's because the game's gotten tougher or if I'm just out of shape). ^o^;
Before I knew it - the afternoon hit 5pm. So now I've just made myself some coffee and am thinking it's about time to pop a pizza in the oven or something similarly easy for supper. The up-side to the pizza would be that I automatically get leftovers for lunch tomorrow. ^_^;;;
What to do ...what to do? I guess I'm just pleased to have managed a whole day without spending a single penny on non-essentials...
Saturday, April 02, 2005
PSPVideo9: widescreen tweak
It occurs to me that I never did mention my solution for tweaking PSPVideo9 so for those who still haven't figured it out, here's how to make a widescreen video for your PSP.
What is "widescreen?" I thought PSP was already 16:9!
Well, 16:9 is indeed wider than your regular 4:3 home television - it's the standard for HDTV. But it's not "theatrical widescreen." If you watch, say, Lord of the Rings on an HDTV screen - you'll know what I mean - it's still letter-boxed with the black bars even though your television is called a "widescreen television." The pros (folks like Peter Jackson) refer to 2.35:1 as widescreen (where by 1.85:1 is just a home-theatre standard).
Okay - so how do I make a letter-boxed video for my PSP using PSPVideo9?
Well lucky for you and me, there're plenty of helpful folks on the PSPVideo9 message boards. But if you're like me, you're too shy to ask outright - you just realized that those guys assume you know how to tweak the resolution of the encoder.
First, you'll need to pick one of the given presets under Setup - I chose convenient "368x208/29.97fps/768kbps Stereo/128kpbs" in the "Profiles" tab. Click the "New Profile" button to make a copy of this preset and give it a name in the "Profile Name" box.
Now look down: there's a box called "Costum FFMPEG Flags" - type the following in there:
Finally click the "Apply" button. There now you have a copy of that profile - same stuff in it except you've just added 26 pixels of blank bars at the top and another 26 at the bottom.
Wait a minute: now I get an error message!
That's right - the problem now is that PSPVideo9 thinks you're trying to create a video that's 260 pixels high! That's right: the original profile we modified had 368x208. So 26+208+26 = 260 pixels high. Unfortunately, unless I'm some kind of idiot (that was rhetorical) - PSPVideo9 doesn't seem to have a way of editing the original total resolution so you'll need to get down into the actual XML for the rest... and lucky you - I'll tell you exactly how to do it!
Go into your Program Files directory where you installed PSPVideo9. Open the file called "profiles.xml" with Notepad or any plain ASCII text editor. At the bottom will be the newest profile - that is, the widescreen one you created. And it unfortunately still reads
See - that wasn't so hard! Now if only I could figure out where to buy a 1Gb Memory Stick Pro Duo for cheap.
What is "widescreen?" I thought PSP was already 16:9!
Well, 16:9 is indeed wider than your regular 4:3 home television - it's the standard for HDTV. But it's not "theatrical widescreen." If you watch, say, Lord of the Rings on an HDTV screen - you'll know what I mean - it's still letter-boxed with the black bars even though your television is called a "widescreen television." The pros (folks like Peter Jackson) refer to 2.35:1 as widescreen (where by 1.85:1 is just a home-theatre standard).
Okay - so how do I make a letter-boxed video for my PSP using PSPVideo9?
Well lucky for you and me, there're plenty of helpful folks on the PSPVideo9 message boards. But if you're like me, you're too shy to ask outright - you just realized that those guys assume you know how to tweak the resolution of the encoder.
First, you'll need to pick one of the given presets under Setup - I chose convenient "368x208/29.97fps/768kbps Stereo/128kpbs" in the "Profiles" tab. Click the "New Profile" button to make a copy of this preset and give it a name in the "Profile Name" box.
Now look down: there's a box called "Costum FFMPEG Flags" - type the following in there:
-padtop 26 -padbottom 26
Finally click the "Apply" button. There now you have a copy of that profile - same stuff in it except you've just added 26 pixels of blank bars at the top and another 26 at the bottom.
Wait a minute: now I get an error message!
That's right - the problem now is that PSPVideo9 thinks you're trying to create a video that's 260 pixels high! That's right: the original profile we modified had 368x208. So 26+208+26 = 260 pixels high. Unfortunately, unless I'm some kind of idiot (that was rhetorical) - PSPVideo9 doesn't seem to have a way of editing the original total resolution so you'll need to get down into the actual XML for the rest... and lucky you - I'll tell you exactly how to do it!
Go into your Program Files directory where you installed PSPVideo9. Open the file called "profiles.xml" with Notepad or any plain ASCII text editor. At the bottom will be the newest profile - that is, the widescreen one you created. And it unfortunately still reads
resolution="368x208". The solution: change 208 to 156. That means the two bars you added will now sandwich a shorter video (26+156+26=208) - making a total video size back to 368x208 - fits the PSP screen again!
See - that wasn't so hard! Now if only I could figure out where to buy a 1Gb Memory Stick Pro Duo for cheap.
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