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Not much of an update. Bland day off. I spent a few minutes of it helping my folks order a replacement dryer, and a large portion of it sleeping. I did catch the block of Family Guy, and it's spinoffs. I won't really review them here, but I found it pretty enjoyable overall.

I was happy to find out that Comcast put back the HD channels they had taken away back in March. I can only guess a substantial amount of people in my boat complained until they put them back. So at least I get to watch Smackdown in 720p again.

Really not looking forward to tomorrow's closing shift. Eh, it's a living.

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Yeah it's a crappy line from a crappy Randy Orton intro. Oh well.

I have a few more caws I'll put up eventually. Yes I know lately it seems I run away into escapism rather than feel.
I don't know that that is exactly whats going down. (Okay maybe a little) but it's a lot of fun, and in the case of one of the caws it's even therapeutic.

Speaking of which, today would knock even the most dedicated recoverer off of the wagon.

I spent over an hour in traffic for what should have been a fifteen minute trek to work. So I was 45 minutes late along with almost everyone else. Then I had a nice double whammy today because the traffic jams delayed our shipment, so that took forever. On top of this, I basically got to hear all day about how craptacular we apparently are, and how everyone is on the brink of unemployment. They didn't come out and SAY that of course. But if you read in between the lines as I've learned to do over the years that's pretty much what they mean. Now I don't dispute there is some level of merit to their complaints. After all in the course of a month we went from #1 in shilling attachments to the middle of the pack. That's like being the World Heavyweight Champion, and jobbing out to the Intercontinental Champion. Except in this business you're not trying to "Build" the stores of tomorrow by putting them over.
That said, one would think by now management in all facets of business would realize that threatening your henchme-- er I mean employees, does not MOTIVATE them to do well. It merely scares them enough to barely scrape by so they can still pay the bills as long as humanly possible. It never worked in any of my other jobs, and it isn't working here.
Compounding this low morale is the fact that it's a tumbleweed month. So without the foot traffic it's only oh, 1000 x harder to climb back to the top of the mountain. There's not a lot you can really add to the sparse order of highlighters.

After work I probably would have gone to a pub, but the traffic was almost as bad as when I went in, so I opted to go straight home instead. Tomorrow I get to close. Another even more tedious 8 hours of hearing about nothing ever being good enough for anyone. In the famous words of Ric Flair: "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Now if only I could actually knife edge chop one of those nincompoops before saying that.

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I recently nabbed the Wii version of Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010
I won't really gush about the pros, and cons this late night of insomnia but on the whole I'm really enjoying the game.
For those of you who bought it, and are in dire need of a DIY Hulk Hogan Here is one I made.
It's based off of a formula a gamer called thebudd-master discovered on the PS3 version. I like to give credit where it's due. However it didn't work 100% on the Wii version so I did have to change a few variables slightly.
I also figured seeing how it's supposed to be 2010, I opted to recreate Hogan's 2008 appearance instead of his 1980's scheme or late 90's early 2000's nWo gimmick.
Anyway I posted mine to a Create A Wrestler page seeing how no one seems to have Wii version formulas yet. Just in case they don't put it out, here you go. Enjoy.

Hogan caw i made for svr 2k10 on wii

Here's the formula:

 Head tab

Template 1
Hair 43, option 2, Color custom X 81 Y 38 Shade 15
Shape Head 10, 16, 17
Shape Forehead -20, 32, 50, 0

Face Eyes Type 3, option 2, Color custom X-12 Y 0 Shade -11
Face Eyes Eyelashes Type 1 defaults
Face Eyes Eyebrows Type 1 Brown

Face Mouth Lips Type 13 defaults
Face Mouth Teeth Type 1 defaults

Face Skin Marks/Scars None
Face Skin Texture/Color Type 11, Color custom X 83 Y 6 Shade -25
Face Skin Age 60

Face Shape
Eyebrows -61, 100, 100, -65
Eyes 31, -35, -100, -59, -58, 100, -50
Nose 64, 100, -20, 51, -22, 6, 56, 55
Cheeks 0, 0, -100, -66
Mouth 22, -100, 10, 64, -40, 33, -73
Jaw 87, 100, 79, -25, 100, 100
Ears -15, -13, -61, 4

Facial Hair
Combinations 24 Color custom X 76 Y 31 Shade -13
Mustache 13 Color custom X 71 Y 55 Shade 100 Transparency 20

Makeup Default
Tattoos Default
Face Paint Default
Piercings Default

Body
Body Height 6'7"
Body Type Type 0

Body Type Shape
Neck -20, 20, 30
Chest 65, 40, 50
Shoulders 0, 60, 10
Abdomen -20, 40, 35
Waist 30, 30
Arms 5, 7, 15
Hands 13, 7, 6
Legs 31, 15, 30
Feet 0, 0, 0

Clothing
Headwear
None

Upper Body
None

Lower Body
Wrestling Tights Tights 1
Pattern 6 Color custom X 80 Y 25 Shade 100 Transparency 100 Length 99
Kneepads 5 Color red
Boots & Shoes 2  Option 2 Color custom X 70 Y 75 Shade 35
Belts 10 Color custom X 70 Y 75 Shade 100 Transparency 100

Crowd signs
1 nWo logo
2 I heart WWE logo
3 WWE logo
4 Bow Down

Be sure to remember to make both Ring, and Entrance attire identical before finalizing.

Have fun!

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It somehow only NOW occurred to me that the casual passerby may not get the reference in that last piece I posted.

Well here you go

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W.B.
Written, and Copyright (C)2009 Richard Hossan

No one's buying those alarmist speeches
Everyone sees the strings on your hands, and feet
It's pretty plain to see you've sold us down the river
You're looking more, and more like Wallace Breen

You speak as if the Bill of Rights was a bad thing
You tariff without representation at every turn
Everyone's entitled to the same opinion
You love those Combine bailouts Wallace Breen

Like the character
You think it's all a game
So long as you get your perks
Who cares who gets hurt?

But it will fall apart
If not in this life then the next
'Cause your biggest weakness
Are those who have nothing left to lose

To even your handlers your days are numbered
As your popularity wanes so shall their patience
And even if nefarious schemes succeed you still ought to heed
The tragedy that had befallen Wallace Breen

The more you take away the more defiance
The more you do their will the less reception
The day is coming soon, a century of grief
And your citadel will fall Wallace Breen

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Seeing how I'm farting around this vacation, I stopped in Play N' Trade where I made an astonishing discovery.
They had an Atari 7800! With no power cord. Needless to say I obviously didn't buy it.
However I found something that piqued my interest:

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The RetroMini. I guess it has a surname: -X. Anyway the idea is that since the Hardware patent has run out on the Nintendo Entertainment System, a bunch of small outfits have started making clones. Not to be confused with the piracy systems shown on QVC, and late night infomercials ( That guy went to prison ) the retromini is not designed with several hundred pirated games built in. Instead clones of this nature are designed to play the original cartridges that came out way back when. What struck me as interesting about this one is that it is actually a portable.

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Much like Sega's Nomad

 which was a portable Genesis, this is a portable NES. You can also hook it into a TV set through AV cables, and it does give you an AC adapter for such an occasion. The system works on four AA batteries when you want to use it as a portable. But there are other things in the box.

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The system has an impostor Zapper, and impostor NES jr pads.

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The pads take two AAA batteries. The Zapper takes 3. Why they couldn't all use AA's like the console I don't know.
I can say it was disappointing. But let's move on

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Upon opening the mini you'll see it's laid out pretty nicely. The plastic is a bit on the thin side so it is very lightweight.
This means that while it can hold up to a small child banging on it, I can't recommend you chucking it in frustration if you lose at something. The Gameboys, and DS's are much sturdier playthings. Of course the retromini costs a lot less than those, but still it adds up.

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Here is the NES cartridge slot. It has a dust cover. Above it are spots for AV cables, the power cord, and the On/Off switch

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Underneath you have a headphone jack, and a volume dial. You may not be able to tell in the photo but the middle is a clear plastic. I don't know why they went with it but whatever.

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The weird thing about this clone is the size. The NES game paks (That's what they called the cartridges back in the day) are much larger than the actual console.

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As skeptical as I was about how well the screen would be, it's actually not half bad. It's colorful, there isn't much flicker, and you can see the details in the sprites very nicely. The buttons are very responsive, and it definitely works much, much better than I had anticipated.

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But how would it play on the big screen? Admittedly the pads felt pretty flimsy, as did the handgun. But I had it opened so here's how it went.

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Again, I was pretty shocked, and impressed. The pad is actually one of the more responsive "Fake" pads I've used.
This is especially impressive since most wireless gamepads for games of that era were often times decidedly "Meh"
Just like the console itself, as long as you're not going to be hard on these things they work great.
That said, the omission of controller ports on the clone is a big glaring flaw. If you plan on using this more on the TV than as a portable hand held, then you have to treat these controllers like fine China. If they ever get broken You have no way of playing two player games on your TV set. This is because while the face buttons will still work on the system, you would then have no way of a second player to join in.

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That said Tetris worked flawlessly. But it was time to see if the Charlatan Zapper was indeed a quackerous peripheral.

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Although it came out blurry here you can make out an On/Off switch. This is a nice idea. The plastics again, were a bit flimsy. Still, I wondered how well it would do.

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Again I was mystified that it would work just as well as the original Zapper.
I was just as able to play Duck Hunt as I was when I had first played it in the 80's.
Some of you may be wondering why you're not seeing this on my HD LCD TV as in previous photos I've posted.
Well, Light Gun games were designed around the CRT technology. These games don't work on most LCD, Plasma, LED, or whatever other new TV sets come out. I won't get into a whole CRT vs the world pissing tangent here, but lets just leave it at "Duck Hunt doesn't run on my better set"

In closing up this entry I'll say on the whole the Retromini is pretty cool. It's worth the price of admission for anybody who has ever wanted to legally play NES carts on the go, without having to re buy them in a new format.
It's pretty responsive, and it's even a great system for the curious video game collector. It's one of those spiffy things you can show a friend or coworker, and they'll have a total meltdown over how cool you are, wondering how you always seem to find this stuff. And it is cool. Very cool.
But the missing controller ports are a sticking point. Even more than the recycled plastics. If you'd prefer to have this as a set up on your TV I'd go for the Retro Duo instead. I picked one of those up for a friend who's home was broken into last year. He loves it, and has said it runs about as well as this does.
That system has Super Nintendo Controller ports on it, so if the pad goes south, a trip to a yard sale solves everything.

All of that said I am glad I picked it up. If I were some highfalutin games journalist I'd probably give this an 8 out of 10.
Now these sorts of things go through revisions so it's entirely possible a new version will address these quibbles.
But if you see one in a Play N' Trade or convention give it a look.

One question remains. Does it play DEATHBOTS?


Sadly....yes. Yes it does:

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Next week I'm off. At first I thought I might be off to see a pair of Voxers whom I consider my best friends.
You see I have a vacation (It was actually forced upon me but anyway) but what makes this difficult to pull off
is that my time would be insanely limited. Originally I figured it was a simple plane ticket. And I'd be right except that upon searching, the cheapest round trip ticket (With a few stops) is around $700 which would nearly clean me out.
So I tried looking at alternatives. What if I instead took a Train? Sadly I'd have to first go to Grand Central Station in NYC which is a pain to navigate. I'd be looking at almost as much as a plane ticket, and I'd have a lot of pit stops between NYC, and my destination, plus if I were to get lost during a transfer I'm essentially marooned.
The next option is a bus. The only one I can seem to find (Thus far) is the dreaded Greyhound.
Now this would be okay, except like the Train I'd have to worry about around 4 Transfers. Unlike the Train, I'm not only marooned should I find myself on the wrong bus, but I also wouldn't get my money back. This would also severely impair my time there because instead of 6 hours by plane or 12 by a train the bus would take about two days. Figure I have about 7 days, and it would cut 2 days there, then another 2 back. This leaves me only 3 days of actual vacation.
The final option is to merely Gas the car up, and drive it. I'd spend the least money getting there ($175 in gas x2)
But I'd run into the same problem as the bus. The benefit is I don't have to worry about transfers getting me lost or delaying me, the drawback is I'm royally screwed if I get into an accident or something.
I originally thought driving myself would be about 12hrs. But a double check on both Google Earth, And Mapquest now list the trek as almost 24hrs. 3 days really isn't much.

I really DO wanna see these people I just don't know If it's feasible with only a week.

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It's been a mixed bag lately around here.
Today was surprisingly not a complete waste of time. I managed to get a pretty respectable ratio of customers buying the extras I get bitched about to, and I even made a joke at the DM's expense that he actually laughed about instead of sending me into an even deeper section of poverty.

A couple of days ago though it was a shit storm because I came off of my three days away to find they had scheduled me ten work days in a row. On top of that one of my coworkers was being a lazy douche (What else is new).
So when I was in the middle of setting up a new printer display, and the phone ringed a mere two inches in front of him did he get it? Of course not. Now to be fair another worker from another department was using that one. But literally three steps behind that phone was a *Gasp!* register with *Gasp!* a phone. Did he pick that up? No. Well not until I lost it, and slammed a cardboard tube that came out of the display boxes packaging waste on the ground.
Well, apparently somebody (Presumably the guy in question, I can't be sure) Narced on my outburst, and so I got reamed about it. On top of that they had assumed it had been the ten days when in fact that was not the case (Although yes indeed it sucked) So after getting reamed they posted a floating holiday on my schedule for Saturday, and went more ape shit on me over it.

I haven't been sleeping very well, and I've been having really weird dreams. Two nights ago I dreamed that Whatsername decided to contact me out of the blue (Again) as if nothing had ever happened, asking to hang out.
So I reluctantly went. During our time out I had told her I was tired of being jerked back and forth. I told her I wasn't just some placeholder to fill in between jerkbags she decided she wanted to let treat her like crap until they became bored with her. Yes that was a run on sentence. But this is dreamland here, so cut a guy some slack.
We ended our friendship (Again) before I woke up.

Last night I dreamed that this one girl from work was totally into me, and I had to pretty much destroy her hopes of a future with me because she happens to be 1000 times flakier than any girl (Love interest or otherwise) I've ever known.
Yeah. That bad.
I don't know why I was so assertive, and profoundly bad ass in these dreams. Usually they seem to have nothing to do with boosting my ego or creating alternate universes where I'm cooler than I actually am.

Anyway I'll finish up this post. Another long day in the salt mines tomorrow.

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Well my fortune is running out. Ah well.
I didn't do everything I would have liked these past three days. Somehow I had gotten lucky in that
My last day off last week was Saturday, and they put me off Sunday, and Monday.
I wanted to find time to start typing more work into the document, but other things came up.
I ended up joyriding on Saturday. Sunday I bought the supplies for my Halloween duds. (It's going to be cool. Well
for keyboard jockeying, gamepad breaking dorks like me anyway). Today I spent a big chunk of my day just reflecting on how I can try to glue together the shambles of my self image. It never really recovered from all of the blind hatred foisted upon it for most of it's time on Earth. Not from everyone mind you. My parents, siblings, the sparse relative, and the REAL friends I've had have tried to stick up for it when need be, broken out the peroxide, and actually listened where as most of the world would have probably done the world's smallest violin gag.
But ultimately I have to figure out how to rebuild it, sand it, prime it, paint it, and polyurethane it.
And the how is pretty difficult at times.
That said, I tried a few things differently. I proudly wore my chicks dig scrawny pale dudes novelty shirt
where in the past I felt a lot more like an oxymoron when wearing it. I made it through the day without throwing in the
"Except this one" caveat at the end when people asked about it.
I hunched less. Tried not looking away when talking (Although that one is going to be pretty hard, as I subconciously look away, and don't even realize I'm doing so).
I think the real challenge will come when I get past merely tying up the guy in the projector room in my brain who only likes playing the memories where I fail, and getting to a point where I almost believe I'm cool.
Now mind you I'm not so down on myself I'd walk in front of a bus or hold an infamous historical figure higher on a chart than myself. I realize I'm not the worst.
But I also realize that a lot of people have a hard time wanting to get to know anyone with my problems.
And thanks to that whiny shit they've turned Emotional Hardcore into (Insert Stephen Colbert's Wag of the finger schtick) Now not only do I creep people out for all the wrong reasons, but I get to look like a huge wuss too. And I don't even like that "Music"
But whiny heroin addicted singers not withstanding, It's going to be a lot of falling, getting up, falling.
There's a chance I may never rid myself of this issue. But it's either at least leave the house once in awhile or sleep everyday until my box spring becomes a casket. At least the former there's a chance I could surprise myself. Even if it's just a 0.0000001% chance.

Anyway while trying to figure it out I went to the bank, deposited some dough, and went looking for some gifts. There are a few birthdays coming up. I got my Brother a copy of The Orange Box for his birthday. Hopefully he won't read this only because gift spoilers suck. I don't know what to do for my Sister in Law. Maybe I'll get a Rock Band Country pack. Her, and my Brother really enjoy throwing little get togethers around that game, and it'll be music she actually likes since Steve is more of the Rocker. He was in Two Fisted Law after all.
Lastly I have to get my niece something. Megan is going to be 3, and she's just really starting to enjoy going outside all of the time. Before long that'll get boring, and she'll be older, and doing fun indoors things even on a nice day.
So since she's so into outside I was thinking maybe an inflatable ball pit. I found out they actually make an inexpensive home version of the ball pit. On the other hand maybe that would be a more exciting Christmas present.
I don't know.

After browsing I stopped for a late lunch at Hot Shots. Normally that place is packed, but it was actually pretty dead even for a Monday. But this old guy tending the bar was mostly pretty cool. I had ordered a burger with a Guinness, and he put the digital jukebox on freeplay. Since there was pretty much just me, and one other guy who strolled in later we cranked some Donnas, shot the breeze. I also got two free shots of some high end Sake' which was cool.
Around my second Guinness people started filling in a little more, but it was a total brodeo.
Still it was an okay experience.

After that I came home, caught up on some posts, ate a few bowls of salad, talked to  a few people on aim.
Tomorrow I re enter the fray. Don't know how well I'll do but we'll see how it goes.

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