How The Internet Lies To You...

Snopes is a website dedicated to vetting out urban legends, including those passed along through E-mail. I ran a search for the recent e-mail being passed around not buying gift cards due to several recent or impending store closings and found this, which was posted a few days ago:

Store Closings

While the numbers aren't likely to look good this Christmas for many retail stores thanks to this lovely economic setback we're currently enjoying, the reports of the impending deaths of several companies have been greatly exaggerated or misreported. Other companies have indeed been facing closure or bankruptcy, but that kind of thing happens all the time and it is currently not on the grand scale that we are left to believe.

The major concern with these types of scares is that it puts people in the mindset that "oh well, this store is closing down so I should not shop there until their big going out of business liquidation sale starts," when there may not be any credible facts to support this. Especially this time of year, anything that will deter the consumer from filling the cash registers of these businesses ends up hurting the business.

Having said that, gift cards do indeed bear certain risks. Under current law, if a retailer or restaurant does indeed file bankruptcy, it is left up to the bankruptcy court judge to decide the fate of those who are holding gift cards. Usually these cards have been thrown out by these judges in favor of other creditors. This means that if a company does go under, you can lose all the money on your gift card.

A company, even one that's been around for decades, can go under, so it's best to not hold onto gift cards any longer than you have to. Doesn't mean that you have to spend them the very next day, just means that you shouldn't hold onto one for six months and never spend it.

There are several consumer groups out there currently petitioning the Federal Trade Commission to provide safeguards for gift card money, but nothing has been set in stone as of yet.

The big concern with the Visa gift cards is that the credit card companies often charge hidden fees for you to use them. One such fee is the usage surcharge, where they charge you either a certain percentage (1% to 3% of your purchase) or a flat rate fee ($2.50, for example) every time you use them.

Another lovely fee is the so called "storage" fee where the credit card company will deduct money from the value of the card for actually not using it in a certain amount of time. $2.50 every six months, for example.

Regular store gift cards can be awesome, but they are just as useless if they're not redeemed. Companies make a ton of moolah off of people who never use their gift card in their store. In cases like that, the company is basically printing money.

Best advice I have is to buy them from places you know and to make sure that the person who is receiving the gift card enjoys shopping there and will most likely use that card as soon as possible.

And Now For Your Moment of What...

Ace Ventura Jr.

How much coke does one have to snort to be high enough to greenlight projects like these?

Huh.

Obama asked Hillary Clinton to be his SecState and she said "yes."

Can you say "political payback," boys and girls?

I knew you could.

Wrath of the Burger King...

Just read Wonko's account of his attempt to snatch a copy of the latest Warcraft expansion pack. As some may have surmised already, W is wholly responsible for getting me into WoW.

"C'mon, man, it's fun. You can quit anytime if you don't like it..."

Now who's going to pay for my WoW rehab, Mister?

I'm actually teasing him here, folks. Truth is that I've been a gamer all my life. If it wasn't Pac Man, it was Zaxxon. If it wasn't Zaxxon, it was Joust. If it wasn't Joust, it was Civilization. If it wasn't Civilization...

From the time I was four years old when my folks first brought home the Atari 800 to the present, I've played many video games. To some minor extent, I was encouraged in my habit due to the shitty depth perception I was blessed with at birth. Video games somewhat helped me to develop coping mechanisms for overcoming my eyesight shortcomings, so in a way, I was helping myself while I played.

I signed up for Warcraft almost a year ago and, much to my surprise, discovered that several other colleagues and friends of mine at work had been playing together for quite some time. I honestly had no idea that a quarter of the people who work where I do spend a few hours battling online in the epic struggle of good vs. evil.

As many know, I'm a bit of an insomniac, so it gives me something to do to wind down a few nights a week instead of staring upward at the ceiling all night. It's a fun hobby for me and it gives me a chance to hang out with friends I know in real life, friends I've met in-game as well as hang out with my brother who also plays occasionally.

Wonko showed me the ropes when I first got to Azeroth. He was completely patient with my obvious n00b mistakes and basically taught me everything I needed to know to be a kick ass grinding machine. We still run quests together and have a lot of fun doing so from time to time. There is still I ton I learn from the guy.

So, to read his post was pretty disheartening. I know he'd looked forward to getting the new content and I really felt bad for the guy when he told me that he had "no joy" in his attempts so far to snatch a copy.

Myself, I was a little more fortunate. Living in the Middle of Fucking Nowhere as I do actually does have its advantages on occasion. I strolled right into the Wal-Mart at 12:45AM, picked up a copy and went home. I had a really sinking feeling in my stomach when the nice lady who rang me up told me that all the stores in nearby Austin (big city) had sold out of their non-pre-ordered copies in TWENTY MINUTES. Ouch.

She also said that I was the twenty somethingth person to buy a copy by then and while they had a box and a half left in the back stock, they'd likely be gone by 6 or 7 AM based on all the phone calls they had been getting from the hordes (heh) of hungry gamers wanting a copy. Double ouch.

I went home and installed it. At this point, I was pretty wired up so I knew sleep wasn't an option. I ended up playing the new content for an hour before I hit the sack, waiting to see if anyone I knew would show up and want to get into some mischief.

I heard from a buddy the next evening via in-game chat that he had no luck after his search across stores in his city. He and I frequently team up for fun as we level a pair of 'toons who are the same level, so I asked him if he wanted to go get into some trouble.

"Nah, I'm good," he replied, "you go ahead and have a good time with the new content."

I knew he was pretty disappointed after his fruitless journey to find a copy and my response was instantaneous as it was genuine.

"Seriously dude, let's go run our 'toons. It'll be fun. I can screw around the new areas another time. Let's go kick some ass."

And kick some ass we did until he finally had to go to sleep. Questing is more fun when you do it with a friend and it's not something I would think twice about.

The funny thing was that as soon as my buddy went to bed, another friend in-game mentioned that he'd like some help running a couple lower level dungeons someday soon to finish up some quests he still had. I paused for a split second to think as I stood on the boat dock to board the boat that goes to the new content area.

I smiled to myself in brief contemplation as I watched the boat pull away from me as I stood still on the dock. I asked my pal which one he wanted to do first as I clicked the "invite" button to form a group.

The new and fancy stuff could wait.

Fly In The Ointment...

Something I found for my fellow WoWheads (click to embiggen)...

It has been asked why I've been quiet as a mouse this election cycle. Many have grown accustomed to my die hard Independent views on many of life's issues, so why is it that I've steered a wide path away from discussion on this election since the primaries?

I really didn't feel like sharing. I got so tired of defending myself against those around me who could not understand why I wasn't pumped up and excited for either candidate. One colleague said to me after the last Obama/McCain debate: "Surely, you have to know by NOW who you want. You've not been paying attention otherwise."

It got a little quiet around work whenever people would gather and discuss politics and I just happened to pass by. No one really knew where I stood and that made things awkward. I don't give into "Groupthink" very often, especially in political matters, so I suppose I could understand.

It was a very interesting cycle, one that really didn't give me a ton of fervor beyond "anyone, dear lords of Kobol, except Hillary." Now that the election has come and gone, I feel in a better place to discuss my feelings.

First off, I really don't have much to say against Obama.

I respect how far he has come in such a short time and I recognize the positive historical significance of his victory, hopefully leading to better cooperation and understanding between ourselves and with the world around us. He ran a campaign based on hope, encouragement and promoting a "we're in this together, let's get to work" attitude. In times like these, a little Pollyanna "we can do this because WE CAN" attitude is exactly what we need to get things back on track.

In many ways, he has reignited a sense of optimism and good feeling about this country. Much like Reagan, Obama has unique charisma that can really ignite a crowd.

I feel more comfortable with Obama in charge than I ever did with Bill Clinton. Obama is more of an idealist, who hopes to accomplish as much as possible to benefit this country. Clinton was a charismatic idiot who hoped to accomplish as much as possible to benefit himself. Big difference.

The downside of Obama's Pollyanna optimism is the reality that he's been charging up a high bill of promises that will be difficult as hell to cash in. Right now, this country is in a state of euphoria. The people have spoken and history has been made, so let the celebration commence.

Let's see what happens in a few months once the transition is complete. Obama will come into office with a Congress that has added more Blue seats in this election. Indeed, the Senate is only a few seats shy of having a filibuster-proof majority. You would think that this would mean that Obama will have an easier time passing his agenda, right?

Time will indeed tell. My hope is that we can get through the next two years without major political corruption, wasteful spending and tax increases rising again to epic proportions. There is a reason why you do not want one party in overwhelming control of both houses of Congress as well as the Presidency. Too much temptation to fuck off at the expense of the taxpayer with little reprisal.

I'm hoping for the best, I really am. I've never been keen on either political party and have always felt that the blind faith that several of my colleagues have placed in the party of their choice is disturbing at best, but it is their choice and I should respect them for that.

As for myself in this election, I wasn't actually all that impressed with either candidate. To be perfectly honest, I struggled for over ten months to make up my mind, even up to the point where I closed the curtain behind me and started voting. Who I did end up voting for will remain a mystery here because I honestly am so tired of political chat I could scream.

I'm not one to give blind faith and devotion to anyone. You hope you made the right choices and the system runs on automatic. It is up to you to make sure they stay on task. I wish the Dems luck and hope that they use good sense and try not to take advantage of their good fortunes.

Oh, and don't raise my taxes either. I can't afford another bump, thank you very much.

A Little Housekeeping Is Rarely That...

To follow up on the last post, as a good colleague of mine pointed out, Der Bahn will be back a little early. Apparently, they're going to somehow freeze the lanes over (or lube 'em up?) to create the special Christmas "Sled Run" ride!

I have to hand it to S-bahn. If anyone can find a way to turn a muti-acre complex filled with WATER slides and pools into a bustling CHRISTMAS themed celebration, it's them. I wish them luck, I really do.

I may even pop the $14 to check it out. While I may detest the holidays, I'm a sucker for theme park holiday celebrations. If ever I can satisfactorily work out that logical conundrum, I may indeed have unlocked the mystery of the ages and will one day receive that big check made out to Science for the amount of $327.38.

Anyway, something to look forward to. I hope the sled version of Der Bahn is as bitching as the summer version. Still have to wait a month to find out... Patience. Grrr.

Oh, yes! To answer the question posed by those who wondered exactly why I've fallen off the face of the Earth this past week, I've been falling in my bed quite often, in between the magical in-depth discussions I've been having with my toilet bowl.

It's been delightful.

We've discussed, at length, the failures of our two-party system of government, the latest episode of Kitchen Nightmares and finished it off with a long marathon debate about why can I not stop revisiting my latest attempts at meal consumption. You'd be surprised how insightful a toilet can be.

Been more or less down for a week now. Been going into work since the initial first few days since I have Responsibility, but given the option, I'd stay at home and watch my Buck Rogers Complete Series DVD's. Again. For the third time.

The worst experience of the week came in the form of a nightmare I had where Dr. Phil was chasing me around with a chainsaw yelling at me for showing up to the Dr. Phil show-----DRUNK! Yes, that fat, bald bastard can run.

Woke up in a cold sweat and realized I'd left the TV on while I slept that day and I guess my brain's Dream Management Centre picked up on the fact that Dr. Phil was on and decided that it was bored enough to fuck with my mental well being. I still have residual trauma as a result, lemme tell you. Heh.

Halloween wasn't as awesome as I'd hoped because of the illness. I threw on last year's Shaun costume for the few hours I was at work, then left it on for a couple of hours at home before falling asleep to hearing Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds musical version. I observed tradition regardless and I pledged to do better next year.

The return to Standard time went without a hitch. Fortunately, I neglected to unpack unnecessary clocks, so that reduced the annoyance level. I managed to log into WoW for a bit and hang with my bro. Don't tell him I said this, because I'll deny it for the sake of the Code of Rugged Manliness, but I totally missed hanging out with him this week. We don't get a chance to see each other in RL as much as we'd like, so that's kinda what adds another level of cool to the whole WoW experience.

Plus, with the expansion pack coming out in less than two weeks, we'll have the perfect excuse to screw around in WoW some more and have a few laughs with him and the other hilarious pals we have there in chat. I'm usually only on a couple of hours here and there, but it's a nice escape when I need it.

Other than that, I must say that the Addy cat has been quite the godsend this week. While she isn't quite the fluffy pillow that Katy was, she's found a knack for doing that "making bread" kneading thing on my sore stomach. That and sleeping on it, which doesn't feel quite as good but who am I to complain?

Alright, kids, I'm logging off for now to fetch me some soup. Hope each and every one of you is doing awesome, feeling good and all that good stuff. I'll be back again soon with... something to say, muwahaahahahahahahahaha!