Bloody hell, cheers my good man!

So I was trained on a new project at work today (yay job security). I am kind of torn about the whole situation. Usually we make business to business calls during the day, but this project is business to consumer. We are calling people in the UK. This wouldn't be so bad, since over the years I've spent many hours gaming with Brits and have grown reasonably accustomed to understanding the accent, but the kicker is that I have to manually type in their responses to certain open ended questions. Which when my brain is working overtime to understand the thicker accents it makes it difficult to follow. I am not too sure why this project, unlike all the others, is not sent to transcription so that we don't have to risk messing up what we type. I can type 80wpm, but I become stupid in a situation like this and it feels like I'm doing like 25. I have so far noticed one thing that differs from calling Americans vs Brits is that they seems far more polite even when they don't seem too happy about things. Americans are dicks. And I get far more terrible English speaking/understanding respondents from my normal projects. Go figure right? So to all the UK residents I offer my sincerest apologies for calling you guys at 8pm and potentially interrupting your dinner. Cheers!

Why so grumpious?

So as any of you fantastic people who see these ramblings know I work for a telephone research company. Sometimes is it frustrating calling people upset with the particular company I am calling for. For instance, I had this guy who went on a tirade for about 5 minutes about how he never gets any help to his problems and that the company I call for never does anything to improve things. First of all, he made his rant during my introduction. So everything he said was lost into oblivion as we don't record or have an option for responses without actually doing the survey (which wonderfully enough the survey takes as long as it took this guy to complain). As a whole this guy didn't seem to realize that it's not the entire company out to get him, rather the more local location not being up to snuff. This is where my work comes in. We call people that go to their specific locations and gather information so that the main corporation or business can light a fire under the respective asses of the underperforming places to improve there service. So if guys like this would just do my quick survey then shit could get fixed and they wouldn't be mad all the time. I have rules I have to follow, and I know people are not always happy with my calls, but how can you expect good customer service if all you do is complain to the wring people and don't help yourselves and other by actually contributing?

CableOne's autopay system is autogay

So I was leaving for work this morning and my wife said the Internet wasn't work and said we hadn't paid the bill. This is confusing, seeing as for the last two years I have been using CableOne's autopay system. Which is required for the contract I am on anyways. So according to them the bill had not been paid for September. They never sent me a notice or email or anything in regards to this occurring. So I called them and said I owed $2. The rep said it was a late fee for not paying my last bill on time. Strange, because you are supposed to just take that payment... So she fixed the problem, but I think they charged me $10 to pay over the phone, without telling me. I didn't ask to pay by phone, I just asked for the problem to be fixed. Apparently my card expiration date needed changed, which they never sent me a single bit of prior notification that it needed changed. That being said my bank is wonky in that I can still use my old debit card regardless of the expiration. So they tried to say it was probably a problem with my bank. Well I had plenty of money to pay and if there was a payment attempt that failed my bank would have notified me of this. So now I am lost and probably going to be making many phone calls after I get off work today. Why can't shit be simple? Isn't that why places started the autopay option, to make sure bills get paid on time and that you don't have to worry about them? Ugggghhhhh!

Car woes and a crappy frapp

Today has not been spectacular. Starts off with my battery to my car being dead right before I had to leave for work. Which I had this problem yesterday as well, but that was after I went to pick up my car from the shop that fixed my broken axle. They did something to cause the battery to die and after trying to jump it this morning, I pretty sure it was a battery homicide. To make the day worse, at lunch for work I went to the gas station and got a Starbucks Mocha Frappichino. Well after chugging half the bottle, I realized it didn't have much of a coffee or mocha taste. So I looked in the bottle and noticed a slimy film near the top and little floaties in the rest of it's contents. So I check the date on the bottle and it say Aug 01 11. AUGUST FUCKING 1st!?!?!?!? That's over 2 and 1/2 months expired! Now my stomach is in knots and I am borderline pukey. I just wonder what the hell else is going to go wrong today. Ugh!

Me no likey this Game Pass

So I recently read that Battlefield 3
is yet another game added to the list that will require a Game Pass to play online. In this instance, where I will buying the game at release, it will not effect me. It still leaves a horrible taste in my mouth. It feels like the video game companies are just adding a new way to rape gamers in the mouth. Hence the bad taste. They say they need to do this to cover the costs of servers and such. I hear this and I can't help but laugh. Really? I am playing a little game called Gears of War 3. It has servers, is incredibly popular, and does not require a pass to play online. What costs are you actually worrying about? I mean, someone buys the game used, that spot that was taken is refilled not added to. If you really want to curb used game purchases the entire industry needs to drop the new game prices by at least $10. You want to compete with the Gamestops or equivalent in the world? Start your own chain of video game stores. Then it's all profit on top of profit for your company. People will buy your game new, then trade/sell back to you, and you sell it to someone else. Simple enough. Hell, you don't even need physical stores, you can work out a system where the games are sent by mail and you give credits or vouchers for games that can be used towards other games from that publisher. There are many ways this could be solved without charging used game buyers to play online. I mean with all the useless DLC we buy nowadays, we don't have the money to pay to play. If I want that experience again I will start WoW back up.

Scribblenauts teaches me things #2

So Death is pretty straight forward. His touch causes death. But what have I learned about him based on Scribblenauts?

1. Death loves to pick up small animals. Unfortunately they always die when he picks them up. He looks sad.
2. Dragons can survive one touch of death, but not two. With this a dragon can harm Death a little. Conclusion, an army of dragons could kick Death's boney white ass.
3. Death can kill a Phoenix before and after it's resurrection, permanently.
4. Ghosts are not immune to Death's touch.
5. As with Vampires, Medusa can turn Death to stone.
6. Death picks up live chickens and they become fully cooked in under 5 seconds. Fuck microwaves, I am going to buy Death.
7. Death doesn't like aliens eating his chicken.

So there you have it. Death is a little bit less if a mystery thanks to Scribblenauts. Next time I think I will take a look at zombies or werewolves.

Scribblenauts teaches me things #1

Things I have learned about Vampires from playing Scribblenauts Remix:

1. Headless Vampires can still create other Vampires. I am not sure I want to know how this works.
2. Santa can be turned, yet they ignore the Easter Bunny all together.
3. Both God and Satan can become Vampires.
4. Vampires die if they touch Death.
5. As expected Medusa turns Vampires to stone.
6. Vampires win 1 on 1 fights with Sasquatch, Chupacabra, and a Jackalope.
7. Vampires won't kill you if you climb a ladder. This was an unforeseen defense.
8. Vampires can easily kill dinosaurs. Perhaps that explains extinction.
9. Poisonous snakes can cripple and slowly kill Vampires. I know, crazy right?

So it seems all the books and movies have it wrong. This is the future of Vampires.

Next time I will school you on Death, son.

Fresh and friendly gaming community

I felt today would be a great day to promote one of my XBL friends new gaming community venture. It's basis is simple: provide a positive environment for gamers. With all the negativity in gaming these days we need some good community based positivity to balance out. Right now they community is small but growing and it will be a great place for gamers of all aspects. I believe they are going to be planning a code giveaway for XBL once they get more members. So please visit IONGaming and follow at http://www.Facebook.com/IONGaming

Also give a mention that BrimstoneH2 sent you. I like knowing that I contribute to things. LOL

My phone does that too

It really bugs me that I get nailed for using my phone during work. I don't make calls, I don't text, and hell I don't hardly ever play games. I use it to check news articles and related things or to read books. Yet they don't get onto the people reading books or newspapers, they let people do puzzles and searches they print out, and they let people draw. How is any of that different for me using my phone? In this era of technology why is it not acceptable to do equivalent things on my phone? I have tested this time and time again, I perform better when I am using my phone between my work calls (which are automated). I know it may be "policy" but really can that not be changed? I do see the other end to this. I know I am working on my employers time, but it seems silly to disallow something that pretty much keeps me sane during the monotony. Seeing as the do nothing to really promote morale. Occasional they do trivia sheets, which are utter bullshit, because if the answer they have is easily disputed they don't care, if it is not on there answer key, then it is wrong. A good example of this was the question: "What movie shares it's name with the main character?". Seriously, could you be more vague? I put down no less than 8 applicable answers, and a few that could also apply, but I was wrong because I didn't have the exact thing on their answer key. You have a computer in front of you, look that shit up.

White devil? What?

While I myself am not a follower of any particular religion, I do respect others choice of religion. This assuming they don't try to push it down my throat. I don't try to press my opinion on you, therefore you should give me the same respect. That being said, the other night while a few of my friends an I were playing some Gears 3, we ran into what can only be describes as the racial equivalent of a KKK member. This guy was equating white people with the devil. He in simple words stated that his was the master race and all others were nothing but the devil. He very clearly stated he did not believe in equality, that no one was in anyway equal. He said things like white people will be slaves after the end has come. Now my friend Too Lo, a very well spoken and educated individual, tried to have a rational conversation/debate with this religious nutcase. This guy basically discounted anything that was not in the Bible. With of course his interpretations. This guy was getting schooled on history by Too Lo and was told by the guy that he needed to learn his history. Since anything outside of the good book is wrong. I just don't understand how people get to that extreme with religion still in this day and age. The thing that gets me is really just the fact that this guy was playing Gears of War... Seems like something that kind if person would consider evil. Especially since it was created by a "White Devil".

Halo or MW3?

I kind of want both the Halo Anniversary Edition and Call of Duty: MW3. Although I really would rather get Battlefield 3 and Halo. I am just not so super excited about the CoD series these days. I need something like Battlefield, which requires much more teamwork and skill to play. So I think I will preorder Halo today through Amazon to get the $10 game credit they are offering. Which I will get it for free thanks to the $20 credit I got for buying Gears of War 3 and the $30 reward credit I have on my Amazon card. Then I can still get $20 off of Battlefield. Man I do love Amazon.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Battlefield 3 - Limited Edition
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Xbox 360 Gears of War 3 Limited Edition Console Bundle

What are your kids doing?

So we took the kids to the park yesterday. I am wholeheartedly disgusted with the way the parents handle their children. My boy was having fun going down the slides until we had to have him stop because of a little girl who had peed her pants. I'm talking full front and back visible. She kept getting all over the equipment, for at least 15 minutes before whomever had her there even noticed. We were there at least another 30 mins and they never changed her or anything. To make things worse she was just running in and out of the street and they did not seem to care. There was also a little boy that was throwing wood chips at the kids on the merry go round (which also included one of my children). It took at least 2 mins before the father noticed. Who was sitting so far away that the kid (looked between 2-3 ish) could have ran off or did anything before he got to the boy, even at a dead sprint. He didn't even say anything to the boy about what he was doing. I am reasonably new to the whole parenting thing, I've been taking care of my four year old stepson since he was two and my now one year old baby. I don't understand how these parents can just leave there 4 and under children unattended in a large busy park AND not pay hardly any attention to them. Mind you, where I live is reasonably safe, but that does not mean we are immune to abduction or violence. I do have moments of distraction, but I stay within A few yards at most and never let the kids wander out of the play area without me. I just don't understand how neglectful these parent come off as. I don't presume to judge them beyond the park, they could be amazing parents elsewhere. I think that they need to pay better attention to their children. Just because there are plenty of children for yours to play with, it does not mean you can "set it and forget it".

Gears of Rage

I feel a little ranting about Gears would be quite fun right now.
So one of my most hated things is the sawed-off. If you use it all the time you are just bad. The weapon takes little to no skill, its sole purpose is to make people who can't aim able to rack up easy kills. That said, I can understand using in some cases. Put it in the hands of someone who is actually skilled and you have a walking nightmare. I don't like using it because the reload is atrocious. In that time I could have gibbed two more players with a gnasher.

Lately another thing I have noticed is hardcore camping bitches. You know who you are. How is it fun to hold up in one spot for entire games? I am not playing MLG or Gamebattles match. I don't want to spend 30+ mins on a game that should take about 10.

Rage quitting? Really, I get it. You are having a terrible game, but quitting isn't going to help you get better. Every time you quit while playing against better players, you are missing out on an opportunity to get better at the game. Watch what they are doing differently from your team. Perhaps they are using TEAMWORK? Foreign concept, I know, but it's amazing how much better the game goes for you when you use this crazy idea in a game that involves teams.

Incoming Leg!

Late at night me and my friends kind of tapered off from normal conversation and did many what ifs about Gears of War in general. I would like to share some last nights imagineering.

So I mentioned that I wish I could grenade tag myself in the head an just rush into the other team. This tapered off into absurdity. One of us came up with being able to rip off your leg and throw it (like a boomerang) and if it hits your opponent it would instagib them. This is where ones character would yell "Incoming Leg!". Another idea was to be able to pick up a dead opponents head and throw it at your opponent for damage or a headshot if hit in the head. We really had a mess of these notions. They were quite stupid, such as being able to chainsaw a teammates arm off and run around beating people to death with it.

We also discovered a wonderful real life applications of Cole Train's "Wooo". This should be used after just about anything you do. Taking a dump in a public restroom? Follow up completion with this handy exclamation. Playing at an organized gaming event. Do this everytime you get a headshot, but make sure you come off as a shy quiet type beforehand for best results. Work fast food? How about you give it a go after you hand someone their food. Or in the other end place your order and follow it up with the pure excitement presented by Cole. There are many applications of this in almost every aspect of life. So remember when you are having a good romp with your lady friend, give big Cole Train "Wooo" after you finish!

These were just a few of our late night idiotic musings. I would present more if I could remember. There was just too much laughter and lack of sleep for that to happen.

My friend rages supreme

So I have this friend on XBL. I played quite a bit of Gears of War 2 with him. He complained often about connection issues. Mind you he got host quite often, so when he didn't it became quite the bitchfest. He always regarded his connection to be top notch, regardless of the fact that only held true about 50% of the time. We were always nice and didn't complain too much. But when he was not host, it was on. We would have a full group and the other 4 of us would have little to no lag, that's when his rage would have no end. It took about 2 games and he would just give up. Fast forward to Gears 3. I had not played with this friend in a while, it was late, so I didn't actually play with him. I did however listen to him in the party chat. No bitching about lag... This time he has a new target: the Lancer. "These bitches need to learn how to use a shotgun!". He screams, while I support the use of the gnasher, he hasn't quite grasped the way the game works. In previous Gears games it seemed most battles ended up with shotguns or power weapons. Gears 3 so far seems to work better with long range (Lancer, Retro, or Hammerburst). While it takes some adjustment, it's a very necessary weapon set in the new game. For example: The opposing team consists of at least 3 players using a sawed-off. They like to rush at you. Logically I am going to pull a Lancer on them so they die before they can get close enough to instagib me with the sawed-off. The games is a lot more about every weapon now and it's all about the particular situation. Why would you run at the other team with a shotgun, when they have long range crossfire on you?

I am reasonably sure we all have friends that bitch more than trying to just play smarter. I have some of my own beef to make, but I will save that for later.