Oh yeah? Well I don't care!

So yeah, I didn't get the late-night delivery I wanted. Supposedly it's out for delivery now. whatever.

I seem to recall this happened before with Amazon. Well, that's it! No more pre-orders from them! Ever!

I thought I'd look it up, just to ensure I wasn't forgetting anything ... and it turns out that it was EBgames.com, not Amazon. I think it was Mario Kart: Double Dash for the GameCube.

oops.

But that doesn't really matter. If I really want a game on launch day, I'm better off driving around for an hour and finding it live than paying extra to get it delivered and then finding out the day of arrival that it's not coming.

It's a shame that there's really no pressure in B2C relationships that you'd see in B2B ... granted, it's not about the money (I'm sure that'll be refunded) as much as the promise. I just don't feel like there's any urgency on UPS' part to deliver the game.

Well, it's not like I pre-order that many games anyway. I sure wouldn't do it if I had to put down a deposit ...

Update, 2:10 P.M.: It's here, finally. Of course I'm in the middle of a long Culdcept duel and won't be able to play for a while ... and today is supposed to be a DDR day ... grrrr ...

3-0

Well, I never would have guessed Game 3 would have turned out like this. The Wings held on to win, 4-3, but it was a great save by Jose Theodore that kept the Avs in the game late (on a breakaway by Dan Cleary), and even more surprising, Colorado pulled their goalie with about 1:30 left and not only got no shots on goal, they didn't even get the puck in Detroit's zone.

Andrew Brunette put in a couple of power-play goals that kept Colorado close, but really, this is the difference in talent between the two teams. Despite that, Games 1 and 3 have been great games, and this is what people should remember about Detroit-Colorado playoff series, not that fighting and thugging crap. (Note: pretty much all the cheap-shot players on both teams have moved on. Hopefully Claude Lemieux is having back problems somewhere.) The NHL needs to understand that you can have a really good game between two good teams that doesn't involve dropping the gloves every five minutes. (Don't think the NHL approves of thuggy play? If they didn't want it around, teams like Anaheim and Philadelphia wouldn't be able to play two consecutive games without calling up half an AHL roster: they'd have multiple players serving lengthy suspensions.)

The third period tonight was about as exciting as hockey gets. It's a shame the NHL screwed itself by burning an entire season for greed and settling for some third-tier network that can't even show all the games in HD. The Penguins are one of the more significant stories in sports the last ten years, and chances are most people have no idea at all. (I will say, though, that there are hockey fans around. Last week at BWW, there were some Pens supporters cheering the comeback win against the Rangers. We were surprised to hear cheering that didn't match any of the baseball or basketball games we saw.)

The what is where?

So, like five hundred thousand other gamers in the US (or so Take Two hopes), I preordered GTA IV, and just for kicks, I spent the $5 to have it shipped next-day instead of second-day air. So I figured I better get up early today to ensure I'd be at the door when the UPS man arrived. (It's not a big deal, usually, because they can leave most things, but sometimes you have to sign, and on rare occasions, you can't change it, you have to be there anyway - see UPS Ground Sucks.)

Today, I checked the status of my package.

US 04/28/2008 2:55 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Well, that's normal, although sometimes it says where it originated. This should be followed by arrival in Louisville, then departure, then arrival in Indy for delivery.

PHILADELPHIA,
PA, US 04/29/2008 2:20 A.M. INCORRECT ROUTING AT UPS FACILITY / THE PACKAGE WAS MISSORTED AT THE HUB. IT HAS BEEN REROUTED TO THE CORRECT DESTINATION SITE

Um, what?

panic. I'll have to play something else today.

Then calm arrives. Of course this happens from time to time. They'll ship it back to the Louisville hub, then ... um ... fly it up? It's a two-hour drive, so I doubt they'd drive it ... hmm ...

PHILADELPHIA,
PA, US 04/29/2008 10:42 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN

Okay, that's better. Back on track, but when will it be here?

LOUISVILLE,
KY, US 04/29/2008 12:33 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN

Not bad. It still has to be flown up here, though. I'd say 12:57 P.M. for departure scan from Louisville, 1:45 P.M. for arrival scan in Indy, and then 2:45 P.M. for "Out for Delivery."

Naturally, the whole time the status has been "In Transit - On Time", which is what I would tell a panicky customer who was worried that a very important shipment would be late.

Updates to come, but let's just say that right now, I'm unhappily playing Culdcept Saga.

Update, 2:15 PM: Yeah, it's not arriving today. They just updated the status: "In Transit." As in "Not On Time."

Oh well. It's not worth spending an extra $50 or $60 just to get it now, assuming I could find a copy of it.

boo.

I'm getting my $5 back from Amazon.

Update, 5:35 PM: but wait! There may still be hope:

LOUISVILLE,
KY, US 04/29/2008 4:24 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN

Right, so it did leave Louisville today. That's a good sign. Still, even if it's scanned in Indy at 5:25 P.M., I'd be surprised if it's on a truck and at my door by 7.

Surprise me, UPS.

Update, 8:25 PM: Closer, closer ...

INDIANAPOLIS,
IN, US 04/29/2008 7:32 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN

Of course, it doesn't say "Out For Delivery". It may actually be out, and the data may be out of date, but I doubt it.

boo.

Free Bird!

I just beat Free Bird on Hard.

Four stars, even.

I am getting better. I made it to the fourth set on Expert, too. My wrist kind of hurts, but still.

My 360 won't tell you about it tomorrow, not directly, but it will tell you that I added one achievement. Can I get a hell yeah?

P.S. I saw some of a rerun of the CMT Awards Sunday, and I remembered several reasons why I like country music.

Ha ha ha ha ha

The cheap-shot team in Calgary is playing San Jose in the first round. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind seeing a strong team eliminated so the Wings have a smoother road, but aside from my brother's preference for the Sharks, I hate teams like the Flames. I believe they are the main reason why the NHL has been relegated to Vs, that and the fact the NHL apparently doesn't care. I'd like to see Calgary, Anaheim and Philadelphia swept.

Anyway, ha ha, the cheap-shot Flames whacked one of the Sharks and got caught. Power play. Then another one tried something else and got caught. Two-man advantage. Then another one flat-out slashed a Shark in what probably should have been a four-minute penalty, but still, drew another penalty. If you're scoring at home, that's three Flames in the box. I'd guess that happens about once every 20 years or so.

Kudos to the refs for calling what they see. I hope the Sharks win 5-0 and that Iginla is injured starting a fight as I'm sure he will if the game is out of reach at the end. What a bunch of thugs. Go Sharks!

'70s horror returns

Well, it's time to move on ... my employer decided to become former. It's for the best for everyone, I think. Anyway, I had a phone call with a recruiter scheduled for 3 PM today.

At 2:45, my phone line went down. (I figured this out when my internet connection disappeared.) Aha! Neither my cats nor my house want me to find a job. What they did not know is that I am not left-handed. Actually, that I use my cell phone and already had relevant pages open in my browser.

Magically, the problem went away right before the recruiter called.

Uh-huh. Busted. Watch it, house. Just because you're in high demand doesn't mean I can't call an exorcist.