The Nets Edge

So,

I wake up 30 minutes late this morning so Calista is going to be late to school. After we're nearly all ready to go...I can't find my glasses. Mind you that because I can't find my glasses and we're running so late I couldn't start the car early to warm up. Going outside notice that there's a nice layer of frost on the windshield. I have NO IDEA where the ice-remover is so we start the car. I figure I'll use the wiper fluid to help speed up the process, but instead it runs out about 5 seconds after I start using it ... and re-freezes to the car.

After waiting 5 more minutes it's finally visible enough to see. It's 7:24. We head out the back gate and the stupid thing won't open for me. Back and forth I try to get the freaking laser to read the card, even hopping out to see if it's covered in frost (it wasn't). Finally decide to go out the front gate which means taking one of two different routes to get there. Luckily for us, I choose the route with the school bus going 20mph in 30mph non-passable lanes.

From the front gate it's an additional mile or so to drive to where the back gate would have let out. We make it to the corner to turn on to the main street that heads to her school. It's a six lane street, with two lanes going north, two south bound lanes turning and two south bound lanes going straight. We need to turn... after sitting there a few light changes through I noticed that the turn lane lights that normally turn green before the south bound lights aren't turning at all. I guess that's why some of the cars were trying to get out of the lane. JEEESH.

We finally arrive at school at 7:49. It took 25 FREAKING minutes to get from our house to school. Any other given day it takes less than 10.

Somehow my 360 started it's own blog site. Check it out here. Maybe I should be worried.

I'm sure this has been covered much better somewhere else but some recent observations on why WoW is a drug.

1) The first hit is free

     Blizzard allows people to invite friends for a free 10 day trial. They figure give them 10 days of Wow for free and they'll be more than happy to pay for it.

2) Perks for referrals

     If you refer a friend and they get “Hooked” onto the new drug there are perks for you and your friend. You get 90 days of 300% experience bonus. Almost like Crack is to Cocaine. Once your 90 days is out you're looking for a new friend to refer so you can get those 300% bonus highs.

3) You feel more obligated to do things with other “junkies” than with your own friends and family.

     You start feeling more obligated to help people in game than do real things with your own friends and family.

4) In World of Warcraft you play in a fantasy world where your reality is not your own. On drugs...well...you're also in a fantasy world not your own.

So just some quick observations and before you get the wrong idea...I'm on Elune and my character name is....forget that...I don't need any more drug fiending friends in WoW. :)

“You do what you have to to survive, so that you can enjoy doing what you don't have to and live.”

Thanks to grandma, tomorrow Lynn and I are going to Charleston for a 3 day weekend without the kids to celebrate our 13 year anniversary. It'll be the first time the two of us have gone on vacation alone in six years...and we're both sick.

Calista and Tristan are doing fine, Lynn's been fighting something for over a week now but finally starting to feel better (I think) and I've just come down with something over the last day or so.

We'll have fun if it kills us!

All of the pictures can be found here. Or just browse the gallery on the right hand side.

Life seems to work in trifectas. I heard a clip release on the news from Al Jazeera last week, Sunday night Al Jazeera is brought up in the Sopranos and today, well let me just ask you to think about what you would do if Al Jazeera called you up to fix a server problem. I guess it depends on whether you think they're just another CNN or FOX or have an ulterior agenda (well, ok, one that's much more negative than FOX or CNN)

There's a discussion going on, I can't say where, about cell phones and warranties. Many cell phone companies have “Point of Sale“ systems that will let them sell waranties for phones they don't actually provide warranties for. For instance, Cingular doesn't insure their more expensive phones yet their store fronts will gladly sell you one. You won't know unless there's actually a problem and find that the phone is out of warranty and the warranty you bought is useless.

Now, you'll likely get your money back on the useless warranty you bought...assuming you complain about it enough and to the right people, but think about the people that bought the warranty and never needed it...never finding out it was useless to begin with. How much money do you think they've made on that?

So where does the subject line above come from? A quote from a friend:

“All mobile phone companies (IMO) have dismal customer service and service quality…I mean really, when Cingular can’t come up with anything better to put on their billboards than ‘Fewest dropped calls’, that sort of tells you they’re in a ‘who sucks less?’ industry.