Opinion-8-ed

Game Retreat Recap

2010-04-05T11:38:00.010-05:00

After much planning, coordinating, and several schedule changes we finally had our annual gaming retreat two weekends ago. I am including links to many of the games so you can check them out.

Wednesday The posse arrived and we started to get things rolling. We played Citadels (http://fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=31) . Citadels was very fun and easy to play. It's a card game with some interesting choosing mechanics similar to Puerto Rico or Twilight Imperium.

Then we played Wasabi (http://www.zmangames.com/boardgames/wasabi.htm). It was a complete beatdown, but I wrote a session report about it anyway, here -http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/510287/two-first-timers-new-strategy-attempted.

After that, we wrapped it up with some Castle Panic, which we won of course (http://www.firesidegames.com/castlepanic.html).

Thursday We started by making characters for Mutants and Masterminds. The character creation process was massive. M&M is by design very open and allows for an infinite number of super heroes, but at the expense of it being new user friendly. We spent too much time making characters, and still didn't finish by the self imposed deadline of 5:30.

Then I think we played Smallworld that night. I thought it was going to be a very boring game based on the description on the back. It ended up being our most enjoyable board game of the entire weekend. We craved to play it each day. I highly recommend it! http://www.daysofwonder.com/smallworld/en/

Friday We started the morning off by attempting to make it through level 50 on Gears of War 2. Last year we made it to level 49, but never made it to the final level. We tried for several hours last year, but failed each and every time. To re-familiarize ourselves with the game we tried waves 1-26, then jumped to level 40. The monkey finally was off our back as we worked solidly as a team and the four of us trounced level 50. http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/AgeGate.htm

We played M&M for a few hours after completing our characters. http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/

Saturday We played some various rock band games. Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero Van Halen, and finally a lot of songs on Rock Band 2.

After that it was time for Pandemic, which we ended up losing (http://www.zmangames.com/boardgames/pandemic.htm).

We played Small World one more time. After that we went to my place and had a large dinner. We played Wits and Wagers and Formula D afterwords with about 10 people.

(http://www.northstargames.com/ and http://www.asmodee-us.com/index.html). Update - formula D might have issues at the website, try this BGG entry instead - http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37904/formula-d

Sunday I decided that since one of our participants had never had me as a DM before I wanted to run a quick game for him and the others. We played the Goodman Games Zero level module, "Heroes are made, not born." http://www.goodman-games.com/5100preview.html I modified the module to end at the boss fight at the Ogre. I never liked the last part of the module and we only had 3 players so it made sense. The players had a highly effective tactic for taking out the Ogre. It worked perfectly with some excellent die rolling and just by its sheer design. After being beaten by Pandemic days before, we vowed a rematch, which we won soundly.

All in all pretty successful weekend. I am missing quite a bit of the things we did, but memory isn't as clear as it once was. :-)

Modern Warfare 2 Letdown

2010-02-12T12:19:00.005-06:00

It's been just over 3 months since the highly anticipated release of Modern Warfare 2 (called MW2 for short). In this sequel Infinity Ward (IW) decided to not have a public beta test as they did in the first game. The reasoning was that they wouldn't need to do a tiresome public beta if an internal "professional tester" beta was deemed sufficient.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/101/1015777p1.html

Within a few short weeks issues started arising at an alarming rate. The host issue that plagued the first modern warfare was more apparent than ever. Unlike many other multiplayer games, Infinity Ward goes the less expensive route and does not have their own servers for players. As such, a certain Xbox live subscriber will be given host rights and therefore also given about a 2 second lead time ahead of everyone else.

This issue wasn't addressed and still plagues the game to this day. It's openly known that the host gets superior reaction times, damage output, wins in all tiebreakers, etc.

Even more troubling, players were only using certain equipment loadouts even though there are hundreds if not thousands of options. This points to an unbalanced game. First came the Dual 1887 shotguns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2IZd26F43I

Observe how the person doesn't even have to aim the guns in order to score instant kills. Just point in the general area and boom.

It's funny to think that not only could the Terminator not reload as fast as these guys are reloading two guns at the same time, but also humorous that in over 120 years of gun making technological improvements, the 1887 shotgun is better than any gun ever created in history.

After this slipped through the professional testing at IW, the cheaters stepped in. The first widely spread cheat was the javelin glitch. Essentially a player would arm himself like a suicide bomber and run around the board. When he would die a massive explosive would happen, killing people in a wide area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0-nYVHyQWc

After a few weeks of this glitch ruining the integrity of the game, and a complete embarrassment for the quality control process at Infinity Ward, they managed to rush a patch through Microsoft.

Let's give IW a get out of jail free card for that, sometimes a few bugs make it through no matter what the testing process.

However, more cheats followed. Specifically the one that has ruined more games for more people is the care package glitch. With no one way to find out specifically who is actually performing the cheat, it is a major game changer the likes that has never been seen in multiplayer games before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Y6kuRHAqY

You can't tell who is performing it unless you see it for yourself, so reporting it is very difficult.

You might be able to tell by stats, but if the player is sharing all his care packages with his teammates, their stats go up and his do not. So, merely picking who is in first place doesn't really say who is cheating for certain. He could share some, and not others, and keep everyone relatively equal on the stats.

The other cheat is the unlimited emergency airdrop, which is also referenced on Youtube above. Four care packages at once, for as long as the match lasts.

The third cheat is the speed glitch when using certain care packages. This isn't the best video to show how fast you run, but it will do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQMNzTkw_vE

Notice at the 1:45 mark that not only does it make you run faster, you also are hunched over, making targeting you that much harder. Most users of this cheat will add commando pro and start the killing spree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxtXK6sYBcA

I am glad that IW is at least willing to address these issues with a patch. But after 90+ days of allowing cheaters to destroy the credibility of their game, stating that their QA process was superior to the previous testing methods, and much more, I have to admit I am done with this game. While I am a huge fan of IW and the Modern Warfare series, something has changed at Infinity Ward for the worse.

Apparently I am told a patch was pushed out today that addresses some but not all of these issues. For me, 3 months to fix obvious blatant cheating is too long for a game that sold 7 million copies its first day.

Modern Warfare 2 was widely successful because of the game play balance, graphics, pacing, and wealth of options from MW one (COD4). I won't be as naive for MW3. Infinity Ward is obviously a company that now has turned to making more of a profit from its fans at the expense of making quality games that are fair and balanced.

Lets say that even with all the various options chosen for MW2, night vision goggles, new Xboxes, etc, that there were "just" 60 a copy in revenue from MW2.

Before costs, sales of Modern Warfare 2 at that price accoung for 720,000,000. That's right, 720 million dollars. A company with that kind of revenue stream has no excuse to allow these types of cheats in their game, let alone have a quality control department that allowed them to slip through testing in the first place.

What I Recently Wrote to Whataburger

2009-12-11T11:40:00.006-06:00

Dear Whataburger,

Please stop assuming all customers that are paying for their meal with cash are using counterfeit bills. Recently I purchased a Sausage Bob (breakfast on a bun) and handed the cashier a $5 bill. The cashier then checked the bill for authenticity using one of those counterfeit markers.

I have an issue with assuming that all customers that pay cash are guilty until proven innocent. After all, I don't force you to allow me to watch you make my meal from scratch after hearing horror stories of what is done to fast food while the customer is not watching. I trust that your minimum wage workers are not spitting, urinating, or placing some other type of bodily fluid into my mayonnaise.

I trust you haven't placed any mad cow meat into my food that will cause my life to end in a very painful and early manner. I trust that your employees have washed their hands, thoroughly, after dropping the deuce in the restroom.

I trust all those negative things blindly without verification, even though I have heard of other fast food chains having any and all of the above listed problems. I put my life in your hands assuming you're not feeding me tainted meat or vegetables that have salmonella, the least you can do is trust that the $5 I gave you is in fact, real.

How much money, barring over inflated statistics that certain interested parties would like you to believe, is lost daily on people paying $5 for a bob? Do you have one a day at all your locations? Since soda costs .04 - .10 a cup , charging $1.99, filling the cup with ice, and giving me less than 12 ounces of soda, you could easily cover the costs of the $5 your out on the counterfeit money. 12 ounces of soda is the same amount in a can. This makes ordering a "12 pack" from Whataburger cost almost $24. Who's the criminal here?

When you find out the bill is phony, do you call the police on the unsuspecting customer? Do you give it back to him and tell him it is fake? Does this result in the customer peeling out before the fuzz can arrive? Do you keep it and say he needs to pay another way (which goes back to him trusting your saying the money if fake and not pocketing it yourself)? Do you pull a gun on him and perform a citizen's arrest, again assuming he is guilty?

I have decided to start bringing my own counterfeit pen to verifying the change you give me the next time I visit. After all, with so many potential criminals frequenting your establishment, one can never be too careful.

Sincerely,
Name Withheld

Bad Food Words

2009-11-25T10:54:00.002-06:00

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought I would mention a few words that should be removed from describing food. These words always make food sound disgusting.

They are:
Creamy
Nugget
Loaf
Corned

For example:
Creamy catfish nuggets
Corned vegetable loaf
Fish fillet loaf nuggets

My personal favorite is creamy corned catfish nugget loaf. Doesn't that sound delicous?

Uncharted 2 Review

2009-11-04T14:55:00.002-06:00

Overall 9.0
Graphics – 10.0
Gameplay – 8.5
Value - $50
Trophies - Relatively easy

Pros
Excellent voice over dialogue, good story, enjoyable variety of puzzles / combat levels, top notch graphics and sound, fun combat scenes.

Cons –
Some levels are too much of the same thing, controls aren't precise, grenade indicator lacking, direction to go in combat is sometimes hard to determine.

Full Review

Uncharted is a great game and very fun to play. The graphics are very detailed and scenic. My only "complaint" is more a nit pick in that it seems like every character's eyeballs are reflective from too much water, almost like they are about to all cry. Maybe it's from the beauty of the game that moves them to tears. The snow falling all around, the hot sun, the details of simple things like rocks falling down a cliff, those things make the look and feel of the game great.

Story wise it is very engrossing. Every time I have played this game I have had a small audience watching me wanting to know what happens next. My family loves the character interaction and dialogue. Many times they have said it is like "watching a movie."

The level design is good for the most part. It is a mix between straight combat, puzzle solving / cliff climbing (similar to the first one), and straight climbing. I definitely got tired of sole climbing levels that seemed to go on and on. This is mostly due to the controls being strange at times. Frequently I would hold down a direction to jump, only to have Drake jump right off a ledge and plummet to his death in a direction I didn't press.

Combat is a blast. You have to conserve ammo and accuracy is rewarded. You can decide between a variety of weapons and styles to use. Keep in mind that often you will be forced out of your "comfort zone" because of ammo and be forced to use a weapon you wouldn't normally like to. I am okay with this as it makes for a more challenging and rewarding experience if you have to change things up a bit in order to succeed.

I did have a few gripes that the grenade indicator and damage origin seems to be off at times. Still though, these are very minor issues. Fighting is very fun.

Uncharted 2 has a Teen rating, but is more PG than PG-13. Violence isn't very graphic and language isn't more than you would hear on the radio. There is some language, but it is not very persistent.

I have not tried the multiplayer so I can not comment on it.

I have seen where you can purchase items for your next play though, such as unlimited ammo for certain guns. This is similar to Resident Evil 5's style. I have not tried these features out, but in RE5 this made playing through again and again much more enjoyable so I would assume a similar experience with Uncharted 2.

The length of the game bucks the current trend of $60 for a 3 hour game (Halo ODST). I have played several hours and I am not sure how far along I am with the story.

All in all a very enjoyable game that is relatively family friendly and engrossing to non gamers. Pass the popcorn and let them enjoy the show.

Borderlands review

2009-10-21T17:55:00.001-05:00

Bordelands
Overall 9.3
Graphics – 9.0
Gameplay – 9.5
Value - $50
Achievements – Very easy (Almost all are easily attainable)
Pros
Quick and fun gameplay, different classes make game enjoyable, co-op and multiplayer are a good time
Cons –
Some achievements are bugged, bad guys respawn behind you during missions (see below)
Note: I have played this game only for a day and about 8 hours. I will modify my comments and numbers above if need be.
Full Review
I was concerned about Borderlands turning out to be some over the top game with too much descriptive violence, cussing, and immaturity. I am glad to be wrong on this. I have heard very little cussing, and the depicted violence matches your actions, that is, you shoot a guy in the head and his head explodes.

The M rating is for the above mentioned violence and the environments of the bandits you encounter, along with some of their dialogue. For example, fighting a bandit in his lair might lead to him antagonizing you with “Do you have any last words before we cook ya?” They don’t drop MF bombs or anything like that. I honestly am not sure they cuss at all, but I could have the volume turned down too low. Update - They definitely cuss. Maybe as they get stronger their cursing vocabulary increases. :-) Also, the game is more of a mix of Fallout 3 and Diablo than WOW.

The game is a first person shooter with a mix of World of Warcraft type spawn with very limited RPG elements in leveling up your characters. It is an absolute blast to play.
Missions are from simple scavenger hunt style to assassinations. They are a standard variety of them, but they vary enough to make the game fun.

There are 4 classes of characters that fit standard stereotypes. Bruisers, snipers, front line gun nuts, and “magic users.” The magic user isn’t really that, but it’s hard to explain her story.
There are a large quantity of guns, but that can be misleading.

While it is very enjoyable to have this large variety of guns, they really break down into a few categories, stats, and bonuses. You might find a shotgun labeled “Rusty Shotgun” that does 10 damage and has a bonus to the spread, and another labeled “Rusty Shotgun” that does 11 damage and has no bonus to the spread radius. The guns appear the same, but have different stats and manufacturers.

That being said, the guns are an absolute blast and do have noticeable quality improvements as you get better guns. They are also generally color coded with their special ability. A gun that catches your target on fire is red, while one that does electricity damage is a cool blue color, corrosive damage are green, etc.

Leveling up not only consists of leveling your character and choosing various traits, but also you become more proficient with the weapons each time you use them. You like combat rifles? As you use them you gain bonuses to accuracy, damage, and faster reloads.

My main complaint thus far is the spawning system needs tweaked. Many times I would be heading into an underground lair, or some larger area and behind me monsters would spawn within just a few minutes of clearing it out. This is frustrating as it does not allow you to take your time, or the ability to find ammo and equipment from a vendor that was at the start of the level. Thought you had enough ammo to make it through, but you don’t? Too bad, if you run the way you came in, all 50 enemies you killed are back on the board after 10 minutes. Fortunately with the variety of weapons and different ammo types this isn’t too much of a pain. If you run out of ammo on your fiery pistol, use your shotgun or combat rifle.

Update - The multiplayer portion is fun, but terribly difficult to implement. All participants must be at the exact same part in the story or they can not play together. This means that bad ass 30th level hunter you have can't play with another 30th level character unless he is in the same part of the overall campaign that you are. Bad deal here.

It has been awhile since a game sucked me into its clutches like Bordelands has. I strongly recommend it for a fast paced action filled game. Kind of like a hyperspeed fallout that is definitely worth the price of admission.

Only In Theaters....

2009-10-14T13:48:00.003-05:00

So I hear this time and time again in a movie trailer. "Now playing, Yet another over inflated big budget reboot of some comic book character" only in theaters!

This must be removed from all trailers.

Where else would it be? Are you saying that you are not going to have a million copies for sale at all retail outlets on both Blu-Ray and DVD in 6 -12 months?

Are you saying that people can not download it for free at all the various pirate sites out there? You have managed to cut all piracy of your movie?

Are you saying that newly released movies are available by PPV or some other method the day they come out? Not that I have seen.

Maybe they want to warn us that there is no real life acting down at our local theater, and that we can only see it via the movie. Thank goodness they warned me, I almost went searching for the Shakespearean version of Transformers 2. If not for that part at the end "only in theaters" I would have been searching for hours.

Get rid of it already, it's insulting. It's like saying "Air conditioning keeping it 72 degrees, only indoors." or "Shoes, only available at retailers or online."

Try spending that time into something more constructive or showing more of the trailer.

An extra 3 seconds of Megan Fox for example would be more productive than telling me the movie is only available at the only place that it could possibly be available.

Explanation of Value in Game Reviews

2009-10-07T13:13:00.002-05:00

Often when I review games I place a value in the review. I wanted to explain in a bit more detail what that means.

I think that very few games are really worth the $60 it costs to purchase them. I assign a value that is my gut feeling for what the game should cost and what its price point should be.

For example, a game like Fallout 3 or Call of Duty 4 have long term playability for different reasons. Fallout 3 is an RPG, first person shooter without any multiplayer, with a huge open world to explore. COD4 has a decent single player campaign mode with excellent pacing and a very robust multiplayer experience. Both games are worth their price due to the countless hours you can spend enjoying them.

In contrast, a game like Halo ODST is nowhere near the $60 price tag. A campaign that is less than 5 hours long, with one new multiplayer mode that is very similar to Gears of War Horde Mode, 8 new maps, and nothing else for those who already own Halo 3, you gained 5 hours of new content and 8 maps. Compare Halo ODST to Shadow Complex, a $15 game on Xbox live, and you will see that their value is similar.

My hope in assigning value for a game is that if you have an opportunity to purchase a game for that value, you should take it. If you find Batman for $30, it is well worth that price. Will you still be playing it 2 years later (COD4) or enjoy 120 hours of game play over a year (Fallout 3)? No, so the game is not the same value as those. But at 30 bucks, you get a great game that you will most likely be trading in to a retailer in 30 – 60 days.

Batman Arkum Asylum Review

2009-10-07T12:33:00.002-05:00

Overall 9.0

Graphics – 9.5

Gameplay – 9.0

Value - $30

Achievements – Relatively easy

Family Friendly – For the most part. Language is very tame. Some appearances of bad guys might scare very small kids. Violence is comic book style without anyone really dying (they fall down but there is no indication they died). They are just defeated. No blood splatters, head shots, or gruesome gore.

Pros

Fun game, good story, variety of challenges and resolutions to tasks

Cons –

No multiplayer, short (8-15 hours to complete, faster if you don’t actively look for the riddler’s clues)

Overall a very enjoyable if short game. The gameplay is varied and has a very solid comic book feel. Level variation is fun, standard fighting thug levels, with puzzle levels, mixed in with trippy Scarecrow levels make for a fun experience. Multiple villains make their appearance as well as several cameos from the Riddler’s clues.

There are also challenge levels where you can hone your combat skills in two modes, a basic combat mode, and a hunter mode. In the hunter mode you have to use stealth to combat enemies that wield guns. You can hang from gargoyles, create diversions to attack goons from behind, and much more. These same tactics can be used in the campaign as well.

I also enjoyed upgrading Batman’s gadgets in the order that suits my play style. As you complete levels you choose different upgrades and equipment. Multiple batarangs, better armor, new combos to utilize in combat, and much more are at your disposal.

Best Man

2009-09-27T22:42:00.001-05:00

Here is my best man speech from this weekend:

10) Toilet Seat down

9) Always make time for the two of you as a couple

8) Never bring up the past.

7) Arguments happen, resolve quickly

6) Make up Sex

5) Never be too proud to say I am sorry

4) Allow her to buy all the shoes she wants... Video game

3) Tell her she is beautiful and that you love her every day.

2) Never go to bed angry.

1) Carmen is always right.

If I could have your attention.

Please take a moment to join me in congratulating Zack and Carmen on their very special day.

I have known Zack and Carmen for many years and am honored to be the best man at their wedding.

Marriage is a major life changing event. It is very rewarding and sometimes challenging. I put together a list of the top ten things you should do to keep your marriage happy.

10) No matter how you feel about this, it is always better to leave the toilet seat down than up.

9) Always make time for the two of you as a couple. Even when you have kids in the future, plan to have time with just the two of you. This marriage forms the foundation for your family and it must be the focus of your lives.

8) Never bring up the past. You have to move on from mistakes made in the past that cannot be changed. Only the present and future matter.

7) Occasionally, you are going to have disagreements. Arguments happen. Be respectful when this happens, try not to yell or call each other names. Focus on resolving the argument. Which leads me to number six on the top ten list…

6) Make up sex.

5) Never be too proud to say I am sorry. An apology goes a long way towards a resolution.

4) Allow her to buy all the shoes she wants, this way you won’t have to feel guilty about your extensive video game collection.

3) Remember to tell her she is beautiful and that you love her everyday. Even though you know it, and she knows you know it, it is important to remind her how you feel each day.

2) Never go to bed angry. When an argument happens, it is never a good thing to sleep on it.

1) Which brings me to number one. I think this is the most important thing to have a long and successful marriage. It is often overlooked by many couples out there, but it is definitely the key to staying happy. And that is, Zack, Carmen is always right.

Pause

Congratulations

Inflation and your "Raise"

2009-09-14T10:11:00.003-05:00

One of the things you want to take note of when your job is giving you a raise is the annual rate of inflation.

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2009	0	0.2	-0.4	-0.7	-1.3	-1.4	-2.1
2008	4.3	4	4	3.9	4.2	5.0	5.6	5.4	4.9	3.7	1.1	0.1	3.8
2007	2.1	2.4	2.8	2.6	2.7	2.7	2.4	2	2.8	3.5	4.3	4.1	2.8
2006	4	3.6	3.4	3.5	4.2	4.3	4.1	3.8	2.1	1.3	2	2.5	3.2
2005	3	3	3.1	3.5	2.8	2.5	3.2	3.6	4.7	4.3	3.5	3.4	3.4
2004	1.9	1.7	1.7	2.3	3.1	3.3	3	2.7	2.5	3.2	3.5	3.3	2.7
2003	2.6	3	3	2.2	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.2	2.3	2	1.8	1.9	2.3
2002	1.1	1.1	1.5	1.6	1.2	1.1	1.5	1.8	1.5	2	2.2	2.4	1.6
2001	3.7	3.5	2.9	3.3	3.6	3.2	2.7	2.7	2.6	2.1	1.9	1.6	2.8
2000	2.7	3.2	3.8	3.1	3.2	3.7	3.7	3.4	3.5	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.4
1999	1.7	1.6	1.7	2.3	2.1	2	2.1	2.3	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.7	2.2

Now a lot of jobs offer you the standard 3% raise annually. The average rate of inflation over the past 10 years is 2.82%. This means that the items you buy at the end of the year cost 2.82% more than they did at the start of the year. With a 3% raise your buying power only increased .18%. or to put it into words eighteen hundredths of a percent.

For those of you that did not get a raise last year, myself included, we actually took a 3.8% pay cut.

We all know that times are tough and we should be thankful to have gainful employment. However, let's not lose sight of the fact that even during far better times we still only increased our buying power by less than half of a percent.

Madden Curse

2009-09-11T11:44:00.002-05:00

I found it interesting that for the most part, being on the cover of John Madden football is a bad career move. Quoting Wikipedia:

Prior to 1999, every annual installment of the Madden NFL series primarily featured John Madden on its cover. In 1999, Electronic Arts selected Garrison Hearst to appear on the PAL version's cover, and has since featured one of the league’s top players on every annual installment. Since then, certain players have experienced a decline in performance, usually due to an injury. For example, quarterback Michael Vick appeared on the cover of Madden NFL 2004, and suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for most of the 2003 season.Donovan McNabb was featured on the cover of Madden 06, on November 19th, 2006 in a game against Tennessee, McNabb tore his ACL while attempting to scramble out of bounds which left him sidelined for the remainder of the season. Running back Shaun Alexander, then the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player, was featured on the cover of Madden NFL 2007, and sustained a foot injury that caused him to miss six starts As a result, Alexander’s rushing statistics were substantially less than those from the previous season, and he never returned to true form.^[23] Madden 08's cover featured Vince Young, the starting quarterback of the Tennessee Titans. On September 7th 2008 Vince Young sustained a knee injury which put him out of the game. He would never regain his starting quarterback position after he was relieved by backup quarterback Kerry Collins.^[24] Brett Favre was on the cover of Madden 09 and he was subsequently injured with a torn biceps ligament and his performance declined during the last six games of the 2008 NFL Season.^[25] On September 10th 2009, Strong Safety Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers sprained his MCL in the season opener against the Tennessee Titans.^[26] Polamalu shares the cover of Madden 10 with Larry Fitzgerald.

In 2007, GameSpot and CNBC reported that a large number of LaDainian Tomlinson's fans, who believed in the Madden Curse, were strongly opposed to EA Sports' initial decision to feature him on the 2008 cover, so much that a fan created SaveLTfromMadden.com to voice their disdain.^[30]^[31]^[32] Tomlinson eventually declined the offer, but stated it was solely due to contract negotiations.^[32]

GameFly Explanantion

2009-09-07T18:13:00.003-05:00

Some of you are wondering about this whole GameFly service and how it works. Thought I would shed some light on it for you in case you are interested.

Essentially Gamefly is just like Netflix, you pay a monthly service fee and receive unlimited rentals. Based on the subscription you choose, you can have one to four games out at a time.

You create a queue just like Netflix and place games in it. You can place games from every single system, even previous generation systems like Nintendo Game Cube, in the queue. You can also place games that have not been released.

My concerns at starting this service might match yours so here is my list and my experience after 90 days as a member:

1) What is the likelyhood of obtaining games that are new releases?

I was concerned about this. I wanted to make sure that the company didn't purchase one copy of Madden 10 and then dole it out to a 100 subscribers making them wait months.

My experience was that I had three new releases that I wanted to try, Madden 10, NCAA 10, and Batman Arkum Aslym. In each instance I had the game the day of or the day after it was released.

2) Is there a buy option for games you decide you might want to keep?

I could see myself falling in love with a game, then mailing it back and purchasing it from another vendor. Who wants to go to that trouble when the game is already at my house?

Yes, you can buy games that you rented that you want to keep permanently.

3) Is that option a scam or are the games a decent price?

Brand new releases are $48.99, free shipping. You rent Madden 10, decide you want to keep it, it's yours for 49 bucks. That's 11 cheaper than anywhere else. Since you got it the day it came out, it's technically not even used.

Previous releases vary greatly, but I have picked up 3 games over 90 days for under 17 a piece.

4) Do the entire contents of the item come with the game when you buy it?

Yes, they send you the game and instructions and you do not pay for shipping. The contents are brand new because they don't mail the cases or instructions to renters so you actually receive a brand new case and instructions for the game.

5) How long does it take for discs to arrive?

My discs take 2 days to arrive.

6) Will I save money by renting as opposed to buying and trading in at a local store?

Yes, In the last 45 days I have tried out two games that weren't worth $60 by a long shot, and beat another $60 game in less than a week. I would have spent $180 for them all, and would have received 75 - 90 in trade for store credit, making it a net loss of $90, which is far less than my current monthly subscription rate.

Bonus:

Gamefly offers a rewards program, sales, and more for subscribers. I receive a coupon every 3 months for $5 off any used game. After 6 months I will automatically get 5% off used games as long as I am a member, which increases to 10% off at 9 months.

Gamefly offers a trade in program which in my experience has superior margins than Gamestop, even with my Gamestop edge card. I use the mailers they send games I purchase from them to mail back games I no longer need.

Of course, these are only my experiences, but the trial period is very cheap (See the link at the top right) and you can see for yourself.

I have changed my buying habits completely and have saved a bundle using this service.

Attorney Visit

2009-08-13T07:49:00.003-05:00

So I visited with an attorney for a little while and not sure where to go from here.

Even with all my grievances and the pain caused from the landlord, I am looking at getting half of the deposit back, which minus the $50 she gave us already is $450. This is due to the fact that in these disputes it is a he said she said situation and even with all the documentation I have the judge will probably not award the entire amount to me.

To get this I would have to take two days off of work to file the claims, paperwork, get a court date, show up to the court date, etc.

Even if I receive a judgment, the attorney said that the vast majority of these small claims end up being either shafted on their money, or they file an appeal. In which case your looking at one to two years for a new trial and then you will HAVE to have an attorney for that. Filing motions, evidence, and more. Attorneys are $200 - $300 an hour, and you usually have to pay up front.

If they lose an appeal, they can still stiff you on your money. Then you file a lien on their rent property. If and when they decide to sell it, you then get paid first before they do. Again, this requires an attorney and more to resolve.

On a more personal note, if I take her to court I have to provide my home address. Given her son's behavior of destroying my property and his background I found out from the neighbors when I asked, I wouldn't put vandalism above him for retaliation. He could easily stop by and key my vehicle, which has a $500 deductible, making the entire case a wash. What's to say he doesn't break in an really get violent with the kids at home? He has a long history of trouble with the law, so I am not comfortable with him knowing where I live.

The bottom line, it's not worth receiving $450 - $750 two years from now to lose two days pay at work and worry about violence towards my family.

On the bright side we originally were just going to file on the big items her son stole and not worry about the small items here and there. Now you can bet that even if the item was under $5 it will be filed as part of the claim. The insurance has in house attorneys as part of their staff. They can take her to court, file on her, etc. And best of all, they pay us first, then go after her, so no appeals for me to worry about, no garnishments or liens, no worry of violence, nothing.

Landlord Saga Continues

2009-08-04T22:41:00.004-05:00

I sent a final e-mail in June saying I hoped she would return the deposit in full after we had cleaned the carpets, paid for a professional house cleaner, edged and mowed the lawn, and kept the utilities on the entire month.

The landlord refused at least 3 attempts to do a walk-through of the house so we could discuss damages. She would hang up on us, or shout a command and then hang up on us.

Yesterday I picked up our certified letter with our deposit. Enclosed was a check for $55.93. $55.93 out of $1000 deposit. There were pictures as well of the house, a "broken" fixture (we'll get to that later), "damage to the AC unit" (also see below), and a strange fetish about a rocking horse we gave to Sally's sister.

There was a list detailing the damage claims to the house that explained each picture.

The broken light fixture photo has the light turned on, well lit, and no damage to the glass encasing the light. When I inquired about the claim that the light was broken, the landlord responded that it was a fire hazard and "you are lucky it didn't burn down the whole house."

The AC had a few grass clippings on the outside. The claim is that this somehow caused damage to the AC. Apparently you are supposed to not have any grass on the outside of the AC unit whatsoever, at least that is how they have it in crazyville.

There were other photos and wild accusations. One where she performed "tree trimming" and said that even though she didn't have a receipt, she did the work herself and that $150 was the going rate.

Another was for a charge for the sprinkler system that never was fully functional.

Another charge was for a cleaning service in May, one that we have documentation that we won't be charged for because she sent the lady in to bleach the floors before the house was shown.

The two biggest items were $250 for "lost showings" and $250 for "neglect during showings."

The lost showings were times that she agreed to not have people come show the house, and they say denied by the seller, not by the renter.

The neglect is from a showing that occurred without our knowledge, consent, or notice two days after we moved most of our items. We didn't know people were going to be in the house, therefore we didn't really tidy up. As anyone who has ever moved knows, there are things under your furniture that you don't see until you move. Dust bunnies and the like.

And no, we never did receive any more of our stolen property. So far we are missing $1700 worth of items.

Out of the kindness of my heart, and with the hope (please God) to never have to deal with this lady again, I offered her an option to avoid going to small claims court. I said that if she pays the remaining amount in full by August 10th, that I will consider the matter closed. After that day the offer expires and is off the table.

She has since responded with more accusations and insults to our family. I have asked her to stop communicating that way and to return the deposit.

My guess is that she will not return the deposit at all and will continue this strange erratic behavior.

Fortunately, with over 15 violations of the lease and the refusal to do a walk through, I feel pretty good about our chances. As some of you know, when you sue for your deposit you get up to three times the amount of the deposit, plus $100, plus reasonable attorney fees.

I also found out that the landlord has to give the tenant a chance to fix items themselves and with no walk through I couldn't fix any of these things. We are still trying to figure out how a fully functional light fixture is broken and how some trees were trimmed, even though we can't find any evidence of there being any limbs cut.

I think my favorite photo was of "abandoned trash." It was trash we set out the day before the trash ran. It was a small cracked swimming pool with a broken hose in it. Sitting in the spot where trash was picked up for a year.

I meet with the attorney this week. Wish us luck!

Dad Questions - Day 4058

2009-07-07T22:29:00.007-05:00

"Dad, are Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy real?" my daughter asks. I take a pause. Wasn't quite ready for that question...

Need to buy some time..

"Let me guess, some of your friends are saying otherwise, that they aren't real. Right?"

Head nod.

Hmmm, that didn't buy much time... Think Jared think...

"Well, let me ask you this. Do all your friends believe in God?"

"No."

"How do you know God exists? Do you actually see him?"

"Not sure, I don't actually see him."

"If you had to come up with a way to tell people you see him, how would you say you do?"

Shrugs

"It's in his works. The miracles you see everyday. How you feel inside when you believe, that kind of thing."

That obvious sign when the wheels are turning in someone's head displays on my daughter's head.

"How do you know Santa and the Tooth Fairy were there? You don't see them. But their gifts are there. So..."

The conversation went on how to avoid conflict with non-believers of Santa and the tooth fairy and how to stick up for your belief while still respecting theirs. Agreeing to disagree, so to speak.

More importantly we talked about believing in something that you can't physically see and not being influenced by what others think or say as much.

Que the full house music.

Landlord Responds

2009-06-28T20:52:00.002-05:00

Spoke with the insurance who said that the Bedford Police Department is notorious for claiming crimes are civil manners and that I would have to get a little abrasive in order to get what I wanted.

I did just that citing several examples of places I have access to that I can not steal from. That didn't get me very far until I asked the office on the phone if I had access to his house could I take all his possessions and it not be a crime. I was transferred to dispatch who then said "if an officer is available, we will send one out."

15 minutes later the police arrive and we get the police report filled out. You have to obtain this to file a theft claim from your insurance.

We find a bag that has less than a third of the stolen items. Contact the landlord who informs us that it is our fault that we didn't tell her what else was stolen. I asked her if she thought victims had to give lists of their stolen possessions to a burglar in order to get them back... Finally I said "Look, have your son or whoever was at my house look through their things, anything that doesn't belong to him bring it back here and I will go through it since I am the only honest one here."

She hung up.

Called her back to tell her about the police report just so she was aware. Also asked for when we can do a walk through on the home. No response.

Next day (Saturday) no items returned to the house, paid a cleaning lady to wipe it down top to bottom. House looks great.

Sunday we call the landlord, who hangs up on Sally after less than 30 seconds. "Just throw the key in the house and lock the door." She also claims we are stealing her $5 curtain rods that we purchased when we moved in. With a heavy sigh we take out the 2nd mortgage on our home and spend the $5 at home depot and place new rods for her in her window.

Asked again for when we can perform the walk through, no response. Receive a nasty hate filled e-mail about the condition of the home and further justification of why they took our things. Nothing in the e-mail about when or how they will be returned.

Cleaned the carpets with a steam cleaner. Sent a quick professional e-mail to the landlord about her threat on the deposit and the so called condition of the house. Still waiting for a response.

Definitely going to take some pictures on this one, can't put anything past this lady.

Landlord Theft!

2009-06-25T21:54:00.002-05:00

Update on the situation with our landlord:
We went to visit the house on Wednesday to get the remaining items and do some cleaning. When we arrived we found that the house had been "visited" by either kids, vandals, or someone else.

Items inside the garage were placed in the living room and taken apart. Items were missing from our closets. And most importantly a priceless item from Sally's grandma, a jewelry box, was destroyed and its contents stolen.

Contacting the landlord we learned that she allowed someone into the house on Tuesday night and they are the ones that took our things. She would not say who it was or why they were in our house that we are still paying rent on, but that she would "get it all back."

Since then there have been no responses to phone calls or texts and the items have not been returned. No real surprise that when contacting the police they said it was a civil matter and that we needed to find an attorney. I wasn't aware that a landlord could steal all your possessions from your house and it isn't a crime, its a civil matter.

We are discussing our options with our rental insurance provider tomorrow and hopefully will make some headway in this very sticky situation. Wish us luck.

Why I Buy Dice

2009-06-05T08:59:00.007-05:00

I recently purchased another two sets of dice from a local game store. My logical side of my brain said no, but for some reason I couldn't resist. After my purchase, my logical brain analyzed why it could not override my spontaneous "wasteful" purchase.

Most likely I will roll a particular set of dice in an actual game less than 100 times before I die. Therefore there is not much utility in a purchase of a set of dice, if you already have several sets.

I have too many dice as it is. Filling two dice bags for my playing dice, and one dice bag for when I run games. My "DM" dice, that is, dice that do not roll very well. So it isn't a lack of dice that made me purchase these two sets.

Dice worn out? Nope. Don't like the colors of the current dice? Yes, I still like them. Current dice don't roll well? Yep, they roll just fine, if they don't they go into my DM bag.

As I sat there rolling the d20 (Always have to start with the D20, its the QB of dice) verifying randomness in a very unscientific way I traveled back in time.

I thought of my first D&D game where I taught myself to play, made characters, and ran a game against a party of me, myself and I in the Keep on the Borderlands. I remembered how the dice looked back then, and how now they look faded, chipped, worn down.

I glanced at my new D4 remembered how it used to actually be sharp, learning this first hand when I stepped on one and it made me bleed.

I remembered taking the books to school before I knew about the stereotypes of Devil worship, suicides, drug use, and social ineptitude. To me it was just a game, the greatest game on the planet.

I remembered when I ventured out into other role-playing games, Marvel Super Heroes, Car Wars, Shadowrun, Judge Dredd, DC Super Heroes, Champions, Cyberpunk, Traveller (for about 5 seconds), Ninjas and Superspies, Rifts and many more. Each time I would pick up a different sided dice, I would remember a different gaming system.

I thought to recent memories of the first time I tried D&D 3.0 after a decade plus hiatus. I remembered how much I enjoyed D&D and how much I loved the new edition. I remember the first time we confirmed a critical hit, thinking at the time you had to roll two consecitive 20s to do so.

As I looked at the D10s I thought about Jimmy blowing up Erik's character in Cyberpunk. And Erik's subsequent revenge.

When I looked at the percentile D10, I thought about the first time I ran a game where the players were "outdoors" in D&D. What a concept!

I thought about Beefcake, my ultimate tank superhero, using his shoe sent at a high velocity to knock out a fast moving superhero (Ie, flash).

I thought about Erik tackling two animated chairs at the same time, and the quote that would stick with him forever because of it.

I looked at the D6s and remembered Shadowrun and my trash talking coward hacker.

And most recetly, I thought about when I talked Seo's character into giving me a boost to grab a gun from a guard while I was in mid air, knowing I had to make 3 DC checks in a row to do so.

The openess of these games, and how enjoyable it is to both run and play them, all boils down to the dice. A string of luck, bad or good, can change everything in a game.

Dice are one of the important cornerstones to enjoying an RPG. They represent endless possibilities, catastrophic failures in TPK (Total Party Kills), and against the odds triumphs.

As I continued to roll my new dice, I realized that they represent a hope for new upcoming games. New experiences to forge with my friends and family.

I also realized that although these dice have not been used for any real games yet, their familar shapes provide a link to those dice used in the past.

Here's looking at you, Borealis Green and Phantom Orange, I look forward to crafting memories with you in the future.

How a LockBox Works

2009-05-13T13:25:00.001-05:00

There might be some confusion as to what a lockbox does and how it works. I just recently learned this and it is crucial to the story below, so here goes.

A lockbox it a device that contains a key to your house. The key is only accessible by licensed realtors. They use their realtor key which opens the compartment that contains the key to your home.

You receive a c all from a third party service ahead of time saying either the realtor is on the way, or to give you a time window that they will be there.
You can deny the visit, but it is best practice to not do so. If you do deny the visit, it is a good idea to give them an alternate time.
If you do not respond to the third party’s notification, the realtor is allowed in at the said time. You do not have to respond to approve, only to deny.

You can set up restrictions on visitations. For example, if you worked nights and didn’t want anyone at the house until after 12 noon. Or if you had children alone at the house at certain times.

There is one realtor, who is the “head” realtor. She secures the lockbox. Then, other realtors show the house. In our case the head realtor is in a city an hour away. Most of the time, local realtors in or around our city will show the house. The head realtor may or may not know them.

This means that multiple realtors visit your house, but each has to give the third party service a call before doing so. The third party then calls us to inform us of the planned visit.

Moving Part III

2009-05-13T13:12:00.000-05:00

Next day I received a call from the realtor saying a showing was happening that day from 2 – 3. No worries. At 3:22 my daughter calls and informs me that they just arrived at the house. Meaning they got there after 3 and let themselves in, completely ignoring the restricted times. Hearing their voices in the background on the phone while I am talking to her made me very uncomfortable. I don’t know these people. Is the realtor showing someone who has a thing for blonde haired girls?

What happened next though was unbelievable. The realtor was unable to do the tasks that 3 other realtors before her had managed to do, she could not get the key out of the front door lock. Giving up after a 15 second try, she told my daughter she was leaving and to “try and get the key out of the door if you can. If not, have your mommy or daddy come home to take care of it.”

So on top of unauthorized access to my home, they left my child alone with a key sticking out of the front door allowing any criminal to come inside. Needless to say I rushed home, leaving work early.

I pulled the key out without any trouble. It wasn’t forced, it just came right out. This leaves me wondering if the realtor even tried to remove it. I called the head realtor and informed her that I am keeping the container and the key and that from this moment no one is authorized to come inside the house.

She was very concerned about her lock box, didn’t care that my child was alone, and didn’t apologize at all for the actions of the other realtor. She also told me that the house would not sell if they can not access it during the day. I told her that I had no faith in their ability to follow procedures in place as this was the very first day of the restrictions and they weren’t followed whatsoever. I asked her “What kind of people are you sending into my house who are okay with leaving a minor without the ability to secure herself in her home?”

The realtor decided she needed to get off the phone at that point. I received a text from the landlord apologizing for what happened and that she didn’t blame us in our decision.

At this point we are not sure where to go with this. I don’t want to have the lockbox, but want to help sell the home to get out of there early and only pay partial rent in June. At the same time, who knows if the policies will be followed or just tossed aside again. The safety of my children trump any dollar amount.

Moving Part II

2009-05-13T12:11:00.002-05:00

Meanwhile, we decide to rent the new place. We carefully look over the lease, but he wants the security deposit ASAP to make sure we are serious about renting the property. This means we have to come up with $1300 before we receive our deposit back from our current residence. We figure out how to do that, but run into another snag. He would like to have someone in the house the 2nd week of June. We want to move the last week of June so we don’t pay rent at both locations.

We compromise and meet in the middle, paying half a month rent. I decide to contact the current landlord and try to make a deal with her about the lockbox. Let us out of the lease early and we will allow the lockbox and access to the home. Keeping it very clean and showable.

She called in a maid to clean the house on Saturday morning for a showing that was to happen at 1:00. We vacate the house, allowing a stranger unsupervised access to our home and valuables for several hours. Receive a call that the showing has been moved to 2:00 and that another showing is scheduled for 4:00. Receive another call that I need to mow by 4:00. The lawn is not unsightly and has been mowed previous week.

Most importantly, I find out that the lockbox has been installed without my permission and with disregard of my concerns. I watch Star Trek while the kids are at a Birthday party, excellent movie.

When I leave the theater I am extremely pissed off at the lockbox fiasco and the mowing demands made by the landlord. I call her on my way home. A heated exchange ensued with the landlord hanging up on me. She called back and left an angry message that she was going to get the authorities involved if I didn’t let people into the house.

The next day she begins texting, which that Sunday was Mother’s day. I asked her to stop texting on the holiday as it was causing stress. She continues to text anyway. Sally calls her and she calms down. She apologizes for being a terrible landlord and said she wanted out of the house because its not something she is very good at. I call the realtor and receive very specific answers to my concerns about the lockbox, who can access it, what types of people, how much advance notice do we receive, etc.

We reach an agreement to help the landlord sell the home. If it sells, we get out of the lease early, thereby saving paying rent on two places at the same time. The realtor agrees to not let anyone in the home from 3 – 6 during the week. I also will receive at least 1 hour notice before a realtor can show the house and I can decline this request. We agree to keep things picked up and try to be available for house showings as much as possible.

We Are Moving! Part 1

2009-05-13T10:40:00.002-05:00

Many have wondered what happened, why, etc. I thought it would be good to place those details in one easy to view location.

Two months earlier she said there were no plans to sell the house and we were welcome to stay another year. We planted a garden, landscaped, added furniture, and more.

On Monday, May 4^th I received a call from the landlord saying that she was stressed and wanted to sell the home. She offered for us to buy the home, but there isn’t a way for us to do that.

On Tuesday she attempted to get us to pay for rent in July as well, effectively keeping us in the home for 3 months while she tried to sell it. There is a 60 day clause in the lease, and she tried to say that because of the it being May 5^th before a written notice was served, she is entitled to July’s rent. I wrote her a note about the condition of the home, lack of repairs, and more. She backed off on the July rent.

Found a house on Wednesday. An older lady who makes this her summer home lives there currently. She writes a newspaper that delivers events to Japan that happen in Greece, Turkey, and Hungary. She speaks 4 languages. She is moving back there the first week of June and will be gone for at least 2 years, maybe 3.

The house has a better layout even though it is less square footage. The yard is better, the garage is bigger, the kids rooms are bigger, and more. Rent is about the same as the current location and it is only 2 blocks away, making moving easy.

On Thursday current landlord said we could stay and rent the house, but she needs to increase the monthly rent amount. We decline. Thursday afternoon she informs us that we need to fill out a lockbox authorization form. On this form it mentions to keep all our valuables out of sight, including prescription drugs. Further it says that personal injury may occur and that we are waiving liability for that.

I immediately think of our daughter being home alone after school for a few hours and a keybox hanging outside my front door. I inform the landlord that I need time to figure this out and that we would allow people to view the home for the time being as to not cause any issues. The landlord gets upset, claiming that I am required to have this and that it is in the lease (it is not).

Day Off - Why So Difficult?

2009-02-08T19:37:00.002-06:00

Taking a day off:
1) Clear it with your local team
2) Clear it with your boss
3) Send an e-mail to your boss reminding him about it when it gets close to time
4) Add a appointment in the global team calendar
5) Change your out of office reply in your e-mail
6) Change your voice mail on your cell
7) Change your voice mail on your desk phone
8) Send an e-mail to some folks in another city
9) Take your day off
10) Return, change your out of office reply
11) Change your voice mail back
12) E-mail another person in a different state telling them you were gone a day
13) Update your vacation allocation calendar

Takes about 2 hours of prep time to take 8 hours off. Have to communicate with 24 other people each and every time you take a day off.

Thank a Smoker

2008-12-19T15:31:00.000-06:00

This is a pro-smoker article, something I never though I would write.

I do not smoke. The thought of inhaling a carcinogen into pink lungs turning them into black infested soot bags makes me wonder why anyone would chose to smoke in the first place. The smell gets into your car, hair, clothes and everything you own. It also contributes to people staying poor, and takes fathers and mothers from their kids years sooner than normal. Don’t get me started on the 2^nd hand smoke that is infecting your child’s lungs right now… Even so:

The idea that a smoker is causing your insurance rates to rise, and we somehow have to pay for them through our healthcare system is completely inaccurate. It is not "costing" us a dime to have smokers smoke and we come out ahead in the long run. For one, your assuming that by saving a smoker he wont die of something else, which we all know death comes to us all. Second, you assume that health care costs in the future are going to be the same as they are now, which anyone would tell you is incorrect.

Let's take a look at the first reason in more detail. If all smoker's quit one day, on average they would add around 20 years more of their life. One article says that male non smokers will live 18 years longer than their counterparts. (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9703.php). This article places the "death date" at 65 for a smoker, and 83 for a non smoker. With annual rising costs of healthcare, do you think it is cheaper for someone to die today, or 18 years from now, adjusted for inflation? Now take a look at some of the things that kill people in their 80's. What about someone who has a stroke at 70, then stays in a nursing home or assisted living center until 83? What about a patient with dimensia? Do you think the doctor's bills for 13 years worth of Alzheimer treatment is cheaper than the 6 month long cancer treatment (basically the latest theory is lung cancer is pretty much untreatable)? Since we all have to die of something, having a smoker die of something earlier than his eventual death 18 years later is actually cheaper on everyone involved. Bottom line, smokers don't cost us money by smoking.

Tax revenues from a lifetime smoker are huge. A pack a day in Texas generates $1.70 of state and federal tax each time it is sold. If the above smoker dies at 65 smoking a pack a day, he will generate $217, 175 in tax revenue on cigarettes alone, assuming the tax on cigarettes doesn't change over his lifetime (unlikely). This smoker puts 4 kids through a state college just by smoking a pack a day. Thanks!

Dont forget about social security and Medicaid. After spending his or her lifetime working and paying federal income tax, the majority of smokers will die before they can ever draw back on a penny of their investment. This is the type of person we need if we want Social Security to stay afloat. Someone who pays into it their entire lives, but never receives any of it. Of course, if the above referenced smoker is married, the widow will receive a partial amount. But lets realize that most people who live with a pack a day smoker are smoker's themselves, either 1st or 2nd hand and will die sooner than later.

If everyone stopped smoking they would be forced to raise the Social Security level to 75, because we would all be living until 83. Do you want to work until your 75 because I don't. In fact, one could argue that until the dangers of smoking were truly known and all the people being coerced to quit happened, Social Security was never in jeopardy. It was until people starting living in their 80's that we started to worry about its ability to stay around. People living that much longer can directly be related to smoking. Every adult male that doesn't smoke lives 18 years longer than one that does.

Sure, the medical field claims that advances in medicine are why we are living longer, but lets be real for a moment. The last time medical people cured anything of value was Polio. Sure, creating a chicken pox vaccine is nice, but that was hardly a life threatening disorder back in the day. And yes, they can give you an operation ($) that will keep you alive for 2 more years during which time you will need to pay for a maintenance drug ($$) and probably need follow up treatment ($$$) then on the day you die will take another trip to the ER where they will pronounce you dead and send your spouse the bill ($$$$).

Wait, I digress.

Back to the subject, smokers save you money, they don't cost you anything. If they want to get cancer and die off early while putting your kids through school and keeping the retirement age down, let them. We all have to go sometime and smokers are using the express lane to Heaven while making our lives on Earth better through their sizable tax donations and hefty insurance premiums.

Auto Bailout

2008-12-07T20:30:00.000-06:00

There has been many things posted about how there will be nothing short of Armageddon and the collapse of the universe itself when the big 3 automakers fail. If it helps any here are a few things you might find interesting and helpful to calm your nerves if you are concerned about this happening.

First, let’s agree the frequency that you purchase a vehicle is not determined by how many car vendors there are, with a few exceptions. It is determined by other factors such as reliability of your current vehicle, financial status, and family status. As such, if GMC stops making vehicles you are not more or less likely to purchase a vehicle in the future when your current car’s engine block blows. You may not be able to buy a GMC, but perhaps you purchase a Dodge instead.

Second, please be aware that many “foreign” cars are made in America and many of the Big 3 car manufactures produce vehicles outside of the U.S. I am still looking into research on this but 20% of Fords are made in Mexico and Canada, 50% of Toyotas are made here in America

Also remember that parts are sold and services are performed here in the states. Further remember that many parts are manufactured here as well for foreign and domestic cars alike. What this means is if you sell Chrysler parts and Chrysler goes under, another car manufacturer will have the demand for parts and service increase giving you the opportunity to transition over to be a vendor for that company.

On that note, just because no more new cars are coming out of Detroit doesn’t mean that the current ones on the road will never need parts or service. This allows vendors of this nature a lengthy transition time (5 – 10+ years) to change their business to a car manufacturer that is still in business. Those that do not want to transition have the opportunity to have a niche market similar to those that restore older cars and have used car parts. Junk yards could also see increased revenue based on car manufacturers closing.

The history of the big three in Detroit has been one of placing non competitive vehicles on the road compared to their foreign counter parts. According to Consumer Reports Ford recently has finally caught up with Toyota as far as quality is concerned. GM and the others still lag behind, making gains in quality but so far not being able to replicate the other manufacturers. The big 3 have lagged behind in quality and ingenuity for over 30 years.

Some might make a bunch of excuses about this, cheaper labor overseas, etc. But let’s compare these a little more closely. The Toyota Tundra, truck of the year and one of the most highly reliable trucks on the market, is built here in the United States. How do the big 3 in Detroit argue that they can not make as reliable as a vehicle when a company is using the same labor force, same part manufacturers, same pay rate (The hourly rate at the Toyota plant is .25 less than that at Detroit), and is able to deliver a truck far superior to theirs?

Partly we have the UAW to blame. Living in the northern states for awhile I noticed the culture of entitlement that dominates there. Employees believe they are doing the company a favor by working for them. This creates a lack of quality in work, a lack of concern for the fate of the company until the company is bankrupt, and an overall attitude of disgust for the very employer that is putting food on the table of these Americans. Lawsuits, pension plans, company paid health care after you retire, and much more has crippled the big 3. How many jobs do you know where you could work there 25 years, pay 50,000 into a health care account, then receive free health care for over 25 years and spend any amount of money you need? Anyone can see where that could be an issue.

These things are not in place at American plants that produce so called foreign cars. They have learned from the mistakes of labor agreements and have more traditional benefits packages like thousands of other corporations have here in the states. You want some retirement? Then invest in a 401K, the company will match your contribution up to x%.

Most importantly, the big picture is that there just be a redistribution of wealth when and if the big 3 close. The lack of quality and innovation, coupled with unrealistic labor agreements and managerial practices have caused the company to be in the position they are in now. These same deficiencies will continue as indicated by their 30 year lag in quality control with or without bailout money. John Adam’s invisible hand needs to be allowed to roam here.