Russellmania.com

Longing for long term cooperation

09.28.2008

Not since my Japanese-English translated eBay seller have I had so many laughs from following a Spam-link. This morning, deftly gliding past the spam filters with ninja like ability, I was taken to www.eleabc.com with a promise of "You can get a PS3(20GB) for free if your order is over 660$". That's such a good offer I've got to check it out!

After waiting an eternity for their home page to load, I saw that this Chinese company sold everything. Digital cameras, phones, motorcycles, televisions. To confuse me even more, all the prices were in Euros. There's just so many things for sale here that it boggles the mind. Then I noticed some scrolling text at the top of the page:

They are longing for long term cooperation with me! That makes.... so little sense! I quickly visited their About Us page and found out ELEABC is China Ding Hao International Trade Co., Ltd. Of course, it makes so much more sense now! Except farther down in the page they state "At Kicks On Fire we stand behind every product we sell." Kicks On Fire? What about China Ding Hao International Trade Co., Ltd? Oh well, that's not important. I went on to look at their customer service rules:

The situations below are not in the free maintenance scope:
1.water rans into.
I may have peed myself a little when I read that. I wonder if pee rans into is covered?

Oh special note, if you take the time to visit their About Us page there are 2 pictures of warehouses, one of which is watermarked with "do not copy". That image comes from another Chinese shopping site. They may be partners, I just thought it funny the image is hosted elsewhere.

My time of laughing at ELEABC/China Ding Hao International Trade Co., Ltd/Kicks On Fire was drawing to a close. I'm not sure which link I hit, but I found a little FAQ about their shipping terms.

I think Jerry and I actually talk like that at times.

Permalink random

Unsanctioned Widgey II

09.24.2008

This past Friday there was a follow up to our last unsanctioned widgey as we met at Stately Ford Manor to continue our D&D quest. It was the same group as before, but this time with a little more playing experience, and hopefully a little more of a clue as to what we should be doing.

Our game consisted of the final 2 rooms in the basic DM guide adventure. Room 1 found myself and Brady at deaths door as a tag team of Kobolds and a giant rolling boulder from the first Indiana Jones movie pummeled us. Jer whipped out his magic whammy and managed to dispatch most of the bad guys, followed by a lenient Keith allowing the use of the Heal skill to preform CPR. This brought us to room 2, which had a dragon.

This is our first adventure. We're still a group of level 1 guys. Against a level 3 dragon.

Somehow we managed to work together and get some strategy going after surviving the first salvo from the dragon. Thanks in part to our DM forgetting some of the extra attacks the dragon had available, along with secretly re-rolling some of our bad attack scores, we managed to defeat the dragon handily.

But still, it was a freakin' dragon on our first adventure.

We're now (supposedly) heading back to town to turn in our quest, level up, and start Adventure #2.

Permalink boardgames

Nu Tars

09.17.2008

With all of my driving, I found that another 5000 miles had passed and it was once again time for an oil change and tire rotation. After 45 months the Explorer has amassed 70,000 miles. 45 months of not having any major, or really even minor, problems. I've been taking it back to the dealership service department for tune-ups, oil changes, tire rotations, etc. since buying it. They probably charge more than the generic mechanic I could track down, but I like Dave the Service Dept. Manager at the dealership. He's the kind of guy that will tell you "the book says you need XXX, but you're ok for another 10,000 miles".

Monday I went to see Dave and told him "my usual old and rotate the tires" followed by a little chit-chat. Afterwards I went to the waiting area and listened to my iPod while reading a comic. After 15 minutes Dave popped in and said "We got the oil changed but we're not rotating the tires. You need the tread." About 20,000 miles ago I asked Dave about tires, and after some investigation he told me Ford was proud of their tires and that I should find some elsewhere. Anywhere. He mentioned Costco, in fact. But now it was time to get tires, so I went down the street to Gina's tire guy and told him I needed tires, like what was on the car now. "Ok, I can have 'em here tomorrow." Fine, I'll see you Thursday!

Thursday comes along and I find myself with new tires.

I don't know why, but I was amazed at how smooth they rode. I originally got the same type of tire because they had low road noise for a truck tire. Now I feel like I'm driving atop a cloud of gossamer. Well, maybe not gossamer, but it's smooth!

Permalink conveyances

Russ Mysterioso

09.14.2008

Brandon from work returned from his Mexican cruise with a present for me!

I now have a genuine Mexican immitation luchadore Rey Mysterio wrestling mask!

I get the coolest stuff when my coworkers leave the country! Even better - Brandon knows me well enough to get me something that I find incredibly f'n cool!!!! Why else would I pose so goofily for a picture?

I'm sure I'll be getting a call form Vince to come to work in Stamford any day now. I wonder if I should go ahead an get a finishing move? The Flying Burrito hasn't been used in a while. But I'll rename it The Flying Burrito with a side of Pain Sauce!

Permalink wrestling

Unsanctioned Widgey

09.04.2008

This past Monday Jerry, Keith, and the 2 Ford Boyz visited Casa Boonie foe our inaugural playing of the 4th Edition D&D rules. I haven't played D&D since '96, and it's the only RPG I've actually followed through on playing after I purchased the rules. Keith has been playing with the gang at Dealnews and enjoying it, so much so that he talked Jerry and I into getting the rules. Afterward he talked his kids into playing, mainly so he could DM. He's evil like that.

The game itself was nerdy enough without any important details to pass along. Keith has us running through the adventure in the back of the DM guide, which the rest of us are neglecting to read at least until this adventure is over. Suffice it to say that the adults (me and Jer, seriously) and Keith's kids were pretty much on the same level. We didn't really know what we were doing until the 3rd encounter. I, a Jamaican Dwarven Fighter, had to convince myself to rush headlong into the enemy since I was a tank with no ranged weapons.

Lord Ford has been checking the Widgey page for mention of the game and pics, but I had to tell him this is an unsanctioned event since it breaks Rule #3 of Widgey Night:

No young'uns

Alas, little Fordlings count. Although they brought brownies, so we may be tempted to bend the rules a little.