Customer Service my ass...

A year ago I posted about how I hated the damn ear plug head phones they give you with your iPod. I never understood those things. Why are they so awkwardly shaped? Do they honestly think this is the universal shape of the human race's ear? Maybe it's just me. Apparently the inside of my left ear is the dark disfigured twin brother of my right ear. The Yin to it's Yang. The Hugo to his Bart. Hellboy was born with the "Right Hand of Doom" while I was blessed with the "Left Ear of Gimptastic Retardation"

A few weeks back I finally got fed up with my headphones popping out of that ear while I was laying in bed listening to music. I went to Best Buy in search of those ear phones that wrap around your ear, that way I knew those little bastards couldn't pop out. I found a pretty solid pair for about $20. Took them home, tried them on, fit great, but the sound quality sucked ass. That metallic type of sound. So a few days ago I had the chance to finally return these cursed things and get my money back. The advantage of being a creature of the night is that I get to do all my shopping at that point. I tell ya, the grocery store is a lot more peaceful at 10pm and I don't have to wait 20 minutes to return something to the Redbox. Same goes for Best Buy. The customer service line at 8:30 was basically nonexistent. Just they way I like it.

In fact it was completely dead. There was one customer at the counter waiting but nobody behind the desk. So there I sat for 5 minutes and nobody is around. 5 minutes is a long time where you are standing there like an idiot trying to find things to pretend to look at interested and girls you have to pretend you AREN'T trying to look at. Eventually this older Best Buy employee comes back carrying some product. I guess the dude waiting at the counter was waiting for them to go find something for him. This is when it gets annoying. The customer just starts arguing with the employee. I'm 10 feet away buy I honestly had no idea what was being said even though it was pretty loud. This started around 8:40.

This goes on for awhile. From what I could gather he wanted to exchange something expensive that he had broken 6 months ago with no receipt and obviously way past the 30 day return policy. Gotta love people. At 8:50 the Best Buy guy can obviously tell how aggravated I am since I have been standing for 20 minutes and have had no assistance whatsoever. So he asks me real quick "What do you need today sir?" and I said "I just have to pair of headphones to return. I have the receipt and everything is in the box. I'm ready to go" so he says to the customer "Do you mind if I help him real quick, it will only take a second?"
"No. You help me first, then him. I was here first."

So I throw up my arms in obvious frustration and says to the employee "Hey, thanks for trying". At exactly 8:56 (I was checking my cellphone constantly since I had nothing else to look at) another person decided to show up at customer service. Finally! Where the fuck have you been the past 26 minutes?? Granted the store closes at 9 so everyone is trying to get everything cleaned up so they can leave. So this lady seems to be a manager of sorts and she takes over to help the disgruntled douche bag and the older guy finally helps me. Here is exactly how it played out.
"Sorry for the wait"
"(angry) It happens"
"You said you wanted to return headphones?"
"Yeah, they don't fit in my right ear"
"OK. Since you used debit for the purchase I can only give you cash back, is that alright?"
"That's fine"
"Alright there you go. Would you like to keep the receipts?"
"No, I'm alright, thanks"

I think we all have an Inner Sakura waiting to burst. I was very close...

That was it. I waited almost a half hour for that. So I pretty much got a dollar back for each minute I stood there. So as I walked away I passed the angry customer, smiled, and said "One minute. That's all I needed. Thanks a lot" What an ass. Waste my time like that. Plus the store was closing at the point so I didn't get to look around like I wanted to which really pissed me off. Well, I could have, but once I store is closed I hate being that person who dicks around so the staff can't go home. I work in retail, I know what it's like.

So disgruntled customer, where ever you are out there, I hate you and everybody like you...

Jack Russell Terrorist

I have mentioned in the past my neighbor's dog. When my mom, brother, and I first moved into this condo complex the women we bought the place from warned us of "The Jack Russell Terrorist" that lived not even 6 feet from my door. She asked us if we had a dog, my mom said "yes" and this women said "May God have mercy on your soul". Boy she wasn't kidding. This dog barks just for the sake of barking. It barks at everything.

EVERYTHING!

When it's in the house it doesn't make a peep. Thank fucking Christ. But the moment the leash is put on that dog it's all downhill from then on. Every morning. Every FUCKING morning I am treated to what I call my "4th Alarm" I have my cellphone alarm, my alarm clock, my dog jumps on my bed to get fed for breakfast alarm, and then, technically my first alarm, the yapping dog from next door. The moment they put the leash on that dog and open the door to take it outside it starts barking. At nothing! Could you imagine owning a dog that every time you walked it it would bark for the entire time you were outside?? It's uncanny!! It's like the entire outside world upsets this creature and it wants it's voice heard. And I love animals, especially dogs, so for me to actually downright LOATHE a dog is saying something big.

They even put a small muzzle on this dog to try and shut it up but it doesn't work. How is that even possible??

So what inspired me to write this is that I was just out walking my dog at 10:30 at night. Low and behold I hear this barking in the distance and there's the fucking "Terrorist". Now this dog is obviously very tiny while mine is 80 lbs of pure fucking muscle Yellow Lab. My dog loves going for walks but once he hears another dog barking, he starts barking and going crazy. Now this is when I become the asshole. My dog and I are the terrible people because I am one of the few people not in my 50's in this neighborhood and I don't own a dog that could fit in my fucking pocket. Hence, young guy/big dog = bad people. Because when big dogs bark it's loud and deep and therefore evil. Just like me. I always wear a hoodie and sunglasses and am mostly seen at night (yes, sometimes I wear the sunglasses at night) so I look menacing. So I'm the bad guy. Always.

So just now when the "Terrorist" barked at us my dog went crazy and I had to use all my strength to pull him back. I mean, I think he really wants to kill this dog and I can't really blame him. But man my dog is strong. Imagine those Strong Man competitions with a dude using his teeth to pull a firetruck on a rope, thats how I look trying to keep Kenobi in check.

So this woman tonight, my God, she has the nerve to roll her eyes at me cause I have the strong dog going nuts. She obviously doesn't care about the fact that her yappy dog is barking non stop at 10:30 on a Sunday night annoying every condo they walk by. She walks the dog 3-4 times a day for about 20 minutes that barks the entire time!! Can you even imagine that? I don't know if she or her husband wear earplugs or it's just they are so old that they can't hear anything anyway but it is the most obnoxious bark in the universe.

But whatever, I'm the asshole apparently. Just typing this is getting me angry. I shall quit now. lol...

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

One of my favorite days of the year! I'm 50% Irish so it's a given. It sucks that it's on a Wednesday this year but oh well. I haven't drank anything in about 2 weeks and plan to keep it that way for awhile. Tonight is the one exception though I'm not even getting drunk. I bought a couple Guinness which I will casually enjoy throughout the night. It's a tradition, what can I say?

Yotsuba wishes you good luck with your drinking...

Tonight is just going to be a chill night for me. As I said I will be having a few bottles of Guinness while I play some more Final Fantasy XIII (I'm 31 hours in) and watch the latest episode of Lost. While it's nothing too exciting it's definitely an awesome night from my point of view.

Hope everyone has a great holiday! Be safe!

Adventures at the Drive Through

So not even 30 minutes ago I was driving back from Blockbuster when I decided to swing by the McDonalds nearby. I don't often eat fast food, especially when I'm on my diet, but they have a limited time offer of 99 cent Fillet of Fish sandwich. As I'm pulling up I get cut off my some douchebag and he gets in line in front of me. Fine, whatever, he's an asshole who apparently can't wait 2 seconds for me to pass, I'll fucking deal. He then, of course, proceeds to order 2000 things. *sigh* I just can't win. But you know what? Normally that would drive me up the friggin wall but not today. I had my iPod in the car and my mellow Japanese music playing which was keeping me at peace. I'm seriously considering just stapling my headphones to the inside of my ears and playing this music constantly where ever I go to drown out everything that annoys me. Seriously, just listening to this music puts me in such a great mood.

So once toolbag pulls up to the window the McDonald's guy is literally handing him soda after soda after soda and then bag after bag after bag. I counted 5 bags of food. Good lord! So he then finally starts pulling away and as I'm about to move forward the McDonalds guy is leaning out the window trying to wave the guy down. The car stops and the guy yells that he forgot one more bag.

At this point I have my music off and my window down. As I'm watching this guy slowly reverse back to the window (I left him plenty of room since I moved forward probably an inch or 2) I suddenly hear this high pitched screaming. And when I say screaming, I mean SCREAMING! I couldn't tell where it was coming from until I looked in my rear view window and I saw this woman in absolute hysterics! She was yelling, banging her hands on the steering wheel and also motioning for me to move forward. Honest to God, she is flailing her arms like a fucking ring-tailed lemur in heat

GIVE ME THAT FILLET OF FISH! GIVE ME THAT FISH!

I can hear her yelling "Move. Move. MOVE!! MOVE!! MOVE!!" Since I obviously couldn't move forward I just started laughing. Hard! And she could see me staring at her through my rear view laughing. It was like watching a coke addict suffering from withdrawal.

Then she laid down the horn.

That shut me right up. Now I was pissed. She went and ruined my good mood. So I undid my seat belt, leaned my head out the window and yelled "Chill the fuck out! He's still getting his food ya nut!!" Now I have no idea what kind of reaction she thought she was going to get out of me. Maybe she thought if she kept babbling like a fucking mental patient long enough I would somehow cave in and move forward but I could tell by the look on her face that the LAST thing she expected was someone to yell back at her. So that shut her up and boy did she NOT look happy about it. HA!

As if yelling back at her wasn't enough to make me feel REALLY good about myself I just had to milk it for what it's worth. She was obviously in a hurry so I decided to take my sweet ass time. I grabbed my bag from the guy and slowly pretended to look through it to make sure everything was in order (keep in mind, I only got one Fillet of Fish Sandwich) Then I asked the dude for some BBQ sauce. And then just to be a real asshole I ask if I can get a cup of water. While he's getting that for me I look in the rear view mirror and see that she is looking mighty agitated. I decided this was a good time to smile at her and wave. The guy gives me my water and as I'm driving away I reach my entire arm out the window and wave to her again. As I round the corner I notice her giving me the finger. LOL

God that totally made my day. I am so glad I decided to swing by McDonalds! You just can't make this shit up...

Quicky

And not the sexy kind.

I just wanted to share this real quick while it was fresh in my mind. It's not a big deal but that's why I have a blog!

So as I was just leaving work I walked through the parking lot to my car. As I'm about 10 feet away this car comes flying up the street. I stop in the middle of the street as to not get hurt and he stops too. As I'm about to start walking again he speeds ups and quickly passes between me and my car. My instincts kick in as always and I just yell "Go right ahead!" as he's driving past. Not realizing his window was open I heard him say "No problem man" very nonchalantly. He didn't even look at me. He was just some smart ass teenager who thinks he's cool.

Halt awesome teenager! I wish to live!

His response was so irritating to me that I couldn't stop dwelling on it the entire ride home. I thought "Should I have added 'asshole' or 'douchebag' when I yelled at the guy? Would that have pissed him off? Would he have gotten out of his car?" These are the things I think about. I've been in situations like this before where people just get pissy right back at me like I'm the one at fault. That I'm used to. This not so much. Maybe that's why I'm so mad. This guy didn't fight back. In fact, he didn't even give a damn. He was in a hurry and my yelling at him made no difference. He knows he's an asshole and has come to accept it I guess. He is all important in the sports car his parents got him and I am not. Fair enough.

By the time I came home, instead of dwelling on what had happened I had a pretty good idea. There is this song in the new Final Fantasy that I find extremely relaxing. I heard it over and over last night while on this one level and it must have seeped into my brain. I liked it so much I got it on iTunes last night and played it several times while trying to go to sleep. Very soothing. So I did the same thing once I got home. I plugged in my head phones and listened.

It definitely calmed me down. lol Serenity now, serenity now...

Final Fantasy XIII First 8 hours (No spoilers)

***NOTE: This was an email to my friends that I just copied and pasted to the blog so you might be confused at parts***

So now that I've sunk about 8 or so hours into this game I can pretty much give you guys the general idea of how I feel.

I love it.

Lightning, Snow, and Vanille: Super awesome...

The first 2 hours were strange to me because it was VERY linear, mainly because the first area is on a train track (yuck yuck). In those 2 hours it's just a bunch of hack and slash with basic attacks. I won't get into all the details about that but I will say that it will seem pretty repetitive those 2 hours because you have very limited attacks. But they do switch you around and have you play with different characters in different places. See, this is why I think they chose to go linear with this one and it's because of the story. Characters go off and do their own thing from time to time and so you end up taking control of them in different places but during the same time frame. So while Lightening and someone else are kicking ass in one area you eventually switch over to what another character is doing elsewhere and follow their part of the story. I don't want to give much away obviously but once you get used to it, it works. Plus it forces you to play as other characters which I think is pretty damn cool. It's always switching up. Once I get comfortable using Lightening I switch to another part of the story and have to control another character that I'm not used to. This throws you off a bit at first because now you have to figure out a whole new strategy in battle. It really keeps you on your toes and I dig that.

The story, so far, is fucking great. It has held my attention the entire time. Early reviews stated that it was more movie than game. I think that's probably because while there are a lot of cut scenes, they aren't particularly long. It will go battle, scene, battle, scene like that but most of them are just quick bits of story which fit in well with the flow I think. This isn't Metal Gear Solid with 40 minutes cut scenes, though every once in awhile they do have some long ones but that is expected.

And you can't enjoy the story without good voice acting and this game delivers. Everybody does an amazing job, even a lot of the supporting cast. Yes it can get melodramatic, this is a JRPG after all, but we're used to that from these games by now. Vanille is the bubbly, high voiced girl that will annoy most but at this point if you've heard Yuffie and Rikku speak in past games so you are used to this kind of character by now.

And now the battle system. Boy oh boy. Once you get passed those 2 hours or so is when shit starts opening up. As you've read about paradigms in the reviews they are extremely important and things can get pretty fucking hectic while fighting. As the only one who has played both FF X and X-2 it reminds me of a cross between those. Maybe even more so just X-2 by switching your "classes" mid battle. So while the game starts out slow it is slowly easing you into what will eventually become some awesome battles mechanics. As the game goes on you still learn even MORE shit. It just keeps on going! At 8 hours I THINK I've been taught everything by now but I can't be certain. Heh. It sucks that you can only control one character during battle but because of the paradigms it's almost like you're changing characters anyway. Oh I'm a Commando! Now I'm a Medic! Now I'm a Ravenger! Etc...

Bottom line, battle fucking rocks once it gets into the meat of it. I thought it was a bit easy at first (even after the 2 hours mark) but last night I had several fights that were driving me nuts. The beauty of playing a game like this when it first comes out is that there are no walkthroughs online. When I get frustrated with a boss or something I sometimes cave and look it up online. I don't have that option now and it's great. It really forces me to strategize and figure this out on my own.

As a hardcore Final Fantasy nut one might think I am more bias towards it since I love the franchise so much but to be honest this should have been the game that upset me. No open world? No mana? No switching characters in battle? No forming my own party? Are you cereal?! Those are some of my favorite aspects of those games! But I trusted the designers and figured whatever they threw my way would be awesome. And it is!

I'm hoping that once enough of the internet fanboys calm the fuck down and actually play they will realize that while it is different it's still a great game. But then again, internet/gaming fanboys are the some of the most hardheaded morons in world. lol

Welp, hope this helps!!

He's alive!

I'm baaaaaack!

Yes I know it's been awhile. The past couple weeks I've just been zoned into my own little world. Depending on the week I was either working a lot more than usual or a lot less than usual. I found myself extremely busy at points and have absolutely nothing to do at others. Kinda threw me off. Normally even if I don't write in my own blog I still go check on and post on all the blogs that I follow but I totally forgot about that too. I have a lot of catching up to do on those blogs!

I really got into the zone with Assassin's Creed 2. I basically played that during the free time that I had and beat it within a week. Then I immedietely started playing Bayonetta. I guess I was just on a Playstation kick for a few weeks, you could say. I also rented Prototype which I just really didn't care for too much.

I was also still aggitated with my "almost accident" for awhile I really didn't even want to get in my car to be completely honest. It's not a pleasant feeling but I'm definitely past that, for the most part. I still tense up a lot anytime someone tries to pull into my lane and also, sadly, I have noticed that I drive slower than before. God I am lame...

I think being engrossed in my video games, eating better and losing weight (down 9 lbs), and talking to my counselor a bit more I've found myself in a better mood. I haven't had much to bitch and moan about like I usually do. Though the past couple days I have had a few encounters that I will be sharing in the next few days. One involving my boiling point almost reaching an all time high while at Gamestop. I'll be visiting Gamestop again tonight so maybe I'll have a story about that as well considering all the nerds I'll be surrounded by.

Why you ask?

The midnight release of Final Fantasy XIII, that's why! That should be highly entertaining. I actually requested the next 2 days off work so I can play. Yes, I am that awesome. I didn't even lie to work either, it literally says on my Time Request Sheet "Final Fantasy XIII". It's been getting mixed reviews because it's not your typical Final Fantasy game but I don't really care. If it's fun it's fun, if not it's not.

Well I'm gonna run now. Gotta catch up on the blogs I read and then head on out!