Thursday, August 28, 2008

Extended Warranty?

So, mahaps some of you have heard of people calling cell phones all hours of the day and trying to sell extended warranties. I get them on my cell, and at home too.

Actually, it's a scam. Either they are phishing for SSN and information, or are trying to get your money, or both. Needless to say, the 'extended warranty,' if it exists at all, rarely covers anything you actually need repaired.

So, in the public interest, I'm listing the numbers I haven gotten recently that offer the extended warranty.

304-431-3460
620-585-0104
334-257-3715
973-328-7372
319-758-7205
425-869-6371
802-759-2575
231-733-6197

This is probably just a small selection of the numbers. I'll add more here as I get them. Feel free to comment below if you have any numbers or experiences with this.

Get Money Now?

One thing that has been happening a lot more lately since the economy has turned south is that some advertisements are employing the money saved=money earned argument to their ads.

In essence, by buying something at 40% off, I've saved money, which is essentially money earned. The problem is, I'm not going to buy power tools at 40% off. I'm not buying paint at buy one get one free. And, I have to spend money to get the savings.

"The more you buy, the more you save!" No, the more you buy, the more you spend.

I'm looking forward to the Labor day weekend though, just not the sales and ads.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Settlers of Catan

Yesterday, instead of roleplaying, we played Settlers of Catan. It took a lot longer to play through a game than I though it would. I don’t think I’d ever played it with four people though, so I’m sure that had something to do with it.

It was really fun!

Afterwards, I thought that it is interesting that German and international board games are so much better than U.S. games. I wonder why that is.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Car in the shop

Yesterday on my way home from work early, my car had some problems. First, it sputtered and died in the parking lot. Then it died while in traffic, on a bridge no less. I got through the bridge, and waited 20 minutes for a tow (which isn't so bad.)

Got it towed to where the radiator was replaced a few months ago. Waited for a while for Beth to drive me home.

Turns out that the radiator hose had a pinhole leak in it that sprayed water on the distributor cap. Water pooled in the cap, causing it to short out. So, that has to be fixed with a new radiator hose.

Good news is, they had R-12 Freon. So, the A/C is getting fixed at the same time. It had a leak in the compressor plate. They'll try to replace the fittings instead of the whole plate, and we'll see if that fixes it.

It should be done today.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

My poor car

A few months ago, when it looked liked Beth would start getting a paycheck soon, I had said that she could buy whatever she wanted with her first month's paychecks. After she got her first one, she told me she wanted to fix the A/C in my car, which I thought was a very nice thing for her to do.

She got her second paycheck August 7th, so I was going to take it in on the 8th, but that didn't pan out, and neither did the 11th. So I called the shop we usually take it to in order to make an appointment. That's when they told me that they couldn't fix it.

The reason: It's a 1990 Toyota Camry that uses R-12 freon, which has been phased out in favor of R-132 freon.

So, I can do a retrofit, sell the car and buy a newer one (1994 or newer), or go without.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Old Sacramento


Another post!

Beth, Gabe and I went to Old Sacramento on Sunday to see a real life replica of the Nina, one of the ships by Columbus when exploring the New World. It was really cool.

They have to have GPS equipment and an outboard motor due to coast guard regulations, but when they dock, they stow that away, so as not to detract.

There's more pictures on my .Mac site. We meet up with John and Katie there too, so you'll see a picture of them.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Kalamar Session 08 (Gygax Tribute) – August 1, 2008

I’ll try to keep this journal post short. My players survived the tomb of horrors, after almost 5 months and 7 Friday evening game sessions

Essentially, they picked locks, disabled traps, searched around, and found the true crypt.

One thing I regret is how I allowed another player to control my wife’s character in a way that put her at risk, and probably in way she wouldn’t have actually acted.

Her character (Chamele) died first, failing her saving throw. Next, the elven fighter died. The human fighter saved, and then the elven druid Aldoran picked up the portable hole that Chamele from the ground and used it like a net to trap the demilich construct inside.

One of my players thought that this thing was invincible or undefeatable.

They also found what appears to be a holy book of the church of shackles.

Then, since it seemed that time was against them, Aldoran, Vorian, and Casandra prepared to go to Geanavue, the closest metropolis and best place to get healing. Aldoran changed into a eagle, and flew non-stop with a helping wind (10 mph+) to Geanavue, almost 600 miles away. (speed 80, hustle for 160 miles per 8 hours, shifting three times and using cure spells between shifts to remove fatigue)

So, I allowed that he could make it in time. The question then is how will the clerics and leaders of Geanavue react to a powerful demilich construct being brought to their city? Suggestions and comments welcome!

Demilich information from d20srd.org: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/demilich.htm (this is substantially more powerful but essentially the same, at least the soul sucking part