Cowinky dink?

I'm staying at a Marriott, and the newer ones and the renovated ones have little pictures on the room number plate. Here is mine from today. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! Here are a few pics from the room. Nice view here in Hazleton, PA.

Bye Bye, Love.

The Mustang has been sold. I finished the eBay listing about 8pm last night. Someone called me to ask some questions this morning at 7:15am. I told him what I would accept and he clicked "Buy it Now".

Let's have a moment of silence.

The decision

Looks like everyone took the long weekend off from blogging.

Well, I made my decision on the car. Since used ones are hard to find right now, and when you do find them, they are snatched up pretty quick, I decided to buy new and get all of the options I want on it. We looked this weekend at a couple of different cars and sizes; Ford Focus and Fusion, Toyota Corolla and Yaris.

Then when I got to work this morning and checked the credit union's web site, there it was. The deal I've been looking for. 2005 Nissan Sentra with 62k miles. Wholesale listed at $7400. Low KBB listed at $7100, middle price listed at $8,000. I offered $6500 and they countered with $6750.

This'll save me about $300/month in gas...

Boomboomboom!

Since I haven't posted about it yet, and there are a few people that read that weren't there, I want to give an account of my weekend at the 4th Annual GGSE Meet n' Greet.

I'll start with the Wednesday night packup. First off, I should have skipped the GTAIV multiplayer and just packed up, because I got in bed way too late to be driving 3 hours after work and staying up most of the night on Thursday playing H3, but I'm getting ahead of myself, I guess. After playing a bit of MP, I saw Hog signing in and out of Live over and over again, and realized that I still hadn't updated all of my games. So after about 45 minutes of that, which was totally a waste of time considering we had Live access from the LAN, it was down to packing. I've about got the packing for LANs down to where I need to be. After 3 prior MnGs and several local LANs, I've refined it a bit. I was able to get everything, including my clothes, into 3 bags.

The first bag I use is a backpack. This gets the actual 360, controllers, games, X1 headphones, and all associated cables I would need to play even if I didn't have the other bags with me. Cables and adapters in here include: power brick, 360 VGA cable, usb extender, plug n play adapter, monitor power cable, rca to mini adapter, female to female mini adapter, vga gender changer, and a CAT5 cable.

The second bag has various things I, or others, may need. Two 3-prong extension cords, 2-3 surge protectors, 2 sets of pc speakers with adapters, an extra vga cable, 2 extra pc type power cables, 2 extra headsets, extra network cables, and a CAT5 crossover cable.

The last bag is one that I bought to carry on when travelling, and it works great here. It's a 20 or 22" roll around duffel with a zippered compartment under it for clothes. I put my laptop and clothes in the lower compartment, then broke down the Rock Band drums and was able to fit everything except for the pad section in the duffel.

That left only the Rock Band drum pads, 2 guitars, and monitor to be carried seperately. So, without bringing all of the "extra in-case" items, I could get by with 2 bags, the monitor, and the RB gear.

I left right after work on Thursday and arrived at the hotel around 8:30pm EST. A quick call to Hog confirmed that they were still at Oosik's house and would be there long enough for me to head over and hang out. I'd like to take this opportunity to say a big "Thank You" to Oosik for his hospitality on Thursday night. I arrived to find Oosik, Bud, Hog, Junior, and Waders out on the patio having some beers. I grabbed some pizza and a beer, and we hung out for another hour or two. We shot some pool (made me miss my pool table :( ) and played a few games of H3 matchmaking on Oosik's home theater (and I mean THEATER) projection setup. We left there so he could get some sleep before heading to work on Friday, and we setup in their hotel room and played some games until the wee hours. I think I got in bed around 4:30am. We did some H3 co-op, but we couldn't get GoW or GRAW2 going because everyone couldn't get into 1 room for some reason.

I started my Friday sometime around 10:30am. Got a shower and woke up a bit and we headed out to Chipotle for lunch. When we got back to the hotel, several others had made it to town. Jeeps, Tim, Spark, Dusty, Jedi, Milk, and Mrs. Milk were all unpacking when we pulled up. Bud, Hog, Jr, Waders and I decided to make a booze run to replenish what had been consumed the night before, and I wanted to switch to bourbon. So, for some crazy reason, while in the liqour store I just felt strongly that I needed a 1 point seven-five liter container of hard liquor. Looking back, probably not really necessary, but that's what I felt. I couldn't bring myself to pay the extra 30 bux for the bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon, so I bought the Gentleman Jack Tennesse whiskey instead.

Upon arriving back at the hotel, it was time to go to dinner at the Wild Wing Cafe, where we all were meeting up with Oosik and MadFurther. Dinner was decent, but more importantly, we all hung out and had a good time. Let me see if I can go around the table and remember everyone that was there. McJeepers, Jedi, Dusty, Hawk, Mojo, Milk, Mrs Milk, Bud, Hog, Waders, Mad, Oosik, Sabian, Ninety Seven ...maybe a few more I can't remember. At some point before whirleyball, Eclipse and wife, Wise, YuSoDum, and Ramzezz joined us. Then it was off to Whirleyball!

Just as last year, whirleyball was a blast! Someone made the comment on the way hoping for the same ref/announcer that we had last year because he was so funny. Well, I think they were taking that back when our ref stepped out onto the court to go over the rules... a 100lb brunette that believed in 'if you've got it, flaunt it'. I don't know what band razor she uses, but I know she uses one, because her jeans only barely reached above her mommy parts. Even after she hiked them up as far as they would go, there was still some plumber's crack in the back. Ok, so back to the festivities, since we all had played before, the rules meeting was short and sweet and the festivities were on! Highlights were Bud spilling a Jaeger shot down his shirt, Bud about breaking my hand trying to block a pass, the 100lb ref telling Bud to "Get your ass in the cart!", the 100lb ref out on the court lifting a bumper car off of the ground to fix the body of it while 7 or so GGSE ogre guys sit there and watch her, the look on Jedi's face as he is standing next to the ref in the booth as she leans back and screams "OH YEAH! OH YEAH! HARDER!", YuSoDum running full speed into the wall at the windows and racking himself; not once but twice, and finally the biggest highlight of all, the ride back! Ninety Seven was nice enough to drive Bud's truck back with 8 drunk bastadges annoying the crap out of him, I'm sure. Bud was in the passenger seat, the middle row had Hog and Junior with Spark sandwiched between the captain's chairs, the last row had Hawk, Mojo (or Waders, Jedi?) and I, and in the very back was Dusty. At some point, Bud thought it was a good idea to take Johnny Cash out and put some techno music in the cd player. So the song goes, "Boom-boom-boom, let me hear ya say Way-Oh!" and 8 drunk guys all scream, "WAY-OH!"... at the red lights... with the windows down. Then we decide to rock the truck a bit. But, 97 got us back safely, and for that he deserves a big "THANKS, 97!"

After we got back to the hotel, it was another night of gaming until 4am. We broke out the Rock Band that night and I am surprised we never brought the wrath of the staff or the po-po down on us. Sometime during the night; unexpectedly, my old squadmate, Rude, showed up. It was awesome to get to meet him in person for the first time.

Wow, is it Saturday yet? I managed to get up a bit earlier on Saturday than I did on Friday. After we loaded up Bud's truck, we headed out to the LAN a little late, around 11:30, and then we had to turn around because I forgot the most important piece of equipment... my huge bottle of whiskey! Luckily (or maybe not), Bud was willing to turn around and drive back to get it. So I guess we, meaning Hog, Bud, Waders and me, got there sometime about noon and set up.

Let me take this moment to sing the praises of the Computer Arena. Walking in, you enter a computer store with a covered courtyard off to the left out another door with tables and chairs where the smokers could go for a fix. The computer store had used systems for sale, all sorts of cables, parts such as video and sound cards, cool cases for gaming pcs, pc build service, and pc repair and/or upgrade service. Heading on through the store, down a ramp, you enter the gaming area. Straight ahead is the classroom we setup in. There are about 25 stations setup with pcs for computer classes. Connection to the internet was provided. All we had to do was hook up out 360 and plug in the network cable already provided. To the right of the classroom are banks of pcs hooked to the internet for gaming. Awesome sight! There is a Wii setup on a big screen in front of a couch right there next to the classroom also. The snack bar is there in this area also. They offer beer, soda, ice cream, and a menu of item like pizza, burgers, and sandwiches. I had a pizza and it was pretty good. Behind this counter, there were about 12 360s, each with their own gold Live account for rent. In the very back, there was another room that could be closed off for a private area. In here, there was a stage set up with Rock Band. The big screen tv for Rock Band was kind of crappy, but it did the job. With all of the other nice stuff available, this was certainly no deal breaker. Also in here were several other big screen tvs in front of chairs and couches for 3-4 people to play 360, PS2, or whatever together. The price to game all day is $20 per person on Saturday and special occassions, and $15 per person every other day. If you live in the area, check this place out and support it! I want it to be there for our use next year! :)

We had a blast gaming during the day. I slowly drained about 3/4 of the whiskey during a lot of GTAIV, some H3, and one or two PGR4 races. At some point, I thought it would be funny for the drunk guy to use the classic, "I love you, man" line. And like most people under the influence, I carried it past the point of it being funny, I'm sure. So now, you'll see references to this phrase on people's Live bios or on the forums...

I'm not sure what time we broke it down, but it was an hour or so before the 2am cut-off. I think. I seriously do not know how I managed to get all of my stuff packed and up to my room and not lose anything. I remember going back down to Hog, Bud, Jr and Waders' room after I put my stuff in my room. I remember someone asking how I felt and replying something to the effect of, "Not all right." I went back to my room and decided I needed to get under some hot water, so I turned on the shower as hot as I could stand it, which was probably a lot hotter than normal. Eventually I laid down in the tub with the water running into my face. Time was beyond me then, so I could have laid there 3 minutes, or 3 hours. At some point I went on to bed. Good news is, I didn't get sick (unlike some people that weekend *cough* BUD *cough*). I think the shower helped.

On Sunday, I had planned on making the Braves game at 1:30pm with some friends that live in the area (hey Susy and Martin!). I actually made it up on time to check out before the noon cut-off time, and I felt pretty good. Well, I didn't feel good, but I didn't have a pounding in the back of my skull like I deserved to have. Luckily for me though, my friends' plans had changed and they couldn't make the game. Instead, I visited them for an hour or so and then drove on home. I crashed pretty early that night without unpacking, and I crashed pretty early after work on Monday night, again without packing. Tuesday, I was back to normal.

So, that's the story of the 4th Annual MnG from my perspective. All I can say now is, "Is it next year, yet?!"

Fuel woahs

I realize that it is Thursday and that I still haven’t posted about the 4th Annual GGSE Meet n’ Greet, but I’m going to do a topical one today. For now, I’ll just say that we had a blast.

Ok, so gas prices are up, averaging $3.62 across the country. Crude oil is up to $120+ a barrel. However, there is no fuel shortage! We are still putting oil into the reserve! Why they heck am I getting cut off at the pump? I have a 26 gallon tank. I fill it up. I drive it until the low fuel light comes on. (For me, that is about every 3 days) It usually takes anywhere from 21-22 gallons to fill it back up. So now, when I get almost there… the pump cuts off. At $75. This happened last time, 2-3 years ago, when prices jumped significantly. The pumps would quit at $50 then. And I’d have to restart and have an extra charge on my visa for 1-2 gallons. And they add these little signs, “Please be courteous to other customers and limit your purchase to blah, blah, blah.” Look, if I don’t buy it now, I will be back in less than 3 days. It’s unavoidable. It’s gonna happen. Why are you forcing me to stop more often than I have to? THERE’S NO SHORTAGE!

Argh!

And don’t even get me started today on the stations that remove the handle lock on the pumps. Hello, there is already a perfectly capable safety device in there… But that is a rant for another day.

Anyhoo, I am getting ready to make my first ever vehicle purchase that will be influenced mainly for the sake of fuel economy. I still haven’t decided which route to take. On one hand, I could buy an 8-10 year old car with 100-150k miles on it for around 3-4k, pay cash, and it’ll pay for itself in 8-10 months. After that, as long as it keeps running, I’m coming out ahead, and when it quits, I buy another. On the other hand, I tend to drive vehicles forever. I bought my truck new 9 years and 160k miles ago. I could buy a new, or almost new, economy car. That way, I know it will be getting optimum gas mileage for awhile, and I know I will keep it long enough to make it worthwhile. Also, some of them are available for 0% financing. Anyone out there have an opinion on it?

Atlanta = PWNED!

Just a few more hours until I head off to Atlanta for the 4th annual GGSE Meet n’ Greet! If you’re reading this blog, then chances are that you are one of the ones attending, or you at least know what I’m talking about. But for those that don’t know, this is when many of my online friends in the Geezer Gamers SouthEast clan get together to actually meet face to face, hang out for the weekend, and of course, play xbox.

The first two years, we rented a conference room at the respective hotels where we stayed. The second year was kind of crowded and we had a bit of a problem finding power on enough circuits to plug in all of the 360s and TVs without tripping breakers, so last year one of the Atlanta residents did some leg work for us and rented a huge room at Andretti’s for Saturday. That was a huge success. Plenty of power for all of our stuff, plenty of food and drink on premises, and the extra fun of racing go carts during LAN party breaks.



Also, Oosik reserved a Whirleyball court for us on Friday night, and we had an open bar and pizza and wings to eat. It was a blast. Bumper cars married to basketball. This year, we are playing Whirleyball again on Friday night, but we are opting out of the open bar/food because the food just wasn’t that great and it isn’t that good of a deal for the non-drinkers in the group.

The Saturday LAN party this year will be held at the Computer Arena. Again, Oosik did a great job with the leg work in finding us a place to get together. This place is already setup with 360s (although most of us will be bringing our own) and computers, and we are supposed to have internet access, something we haven’t had at the LAN party before. They also have a stage already setup for Rock Band, which should kick ass!
I still couldn’t talk Glenda into coming with me this year. I guess the pictures of everyone having fun at Whirleyball and Andretti’s didn’t interest her.
I’m hoping to get a few people that aren’t flying out or driving too far together for the Braves vs the Reds on Sunday afternoon. Nothing like a stadium dog and a beer for 20 bux!