Heroes & Zeroes

I thought today was going good, but I'm technically wrong. School was pretty good; pretty short as well. We went to Sci-Fi City (a gaming/comic book store) for class today. We played a few games: Domaine, Guillotine, and Munchkin Bites. Domaine is a pretty cool game; it's a lot like Settlers. I'm pretty sure I've played Guillotine before, and I like it. It's a fairly short game, though, and not much fun with only two players. I think it's safe to say, I don't like Munchkin. Yeah, some of their cards are funny, but the gameplay sucks. Else my classmates don't know all the rules, and I don't feel like playing Rules Lawyer. I managed to get to level 9 as soon as possible (8 rounds) and from there, I kept bobbing from 8 to 9 until I got screwed and dropped to 6. Yeah ... our class is fairly aggressive. We had a creepy employee helping us get into these games, because we haven't seen most of them before. Well, my table of three had gone six rounds into the game when he ditched one of my friends onto my table. So he hopped in mid-way, but at least he didn't win. Instead, the guy that I pwnd in Guillotine won, and I'm glad for him. He's my silent teammate in charge of half the game. He's smart and really knows his stuff. He just doesn't express his mind very easily. Maybe that's why none of us thought he'd win. Else it was because he put a curse on my other friend so he couldn't interrupt the battle. I was the only one to prevent the win (since one guy up and folded). I managed to turn it from a 28-4 win to a 30-21 ... yeah, I managed to give him a +2 in there. But that's not my fault, because he got +4 for fighting Undead, but I had given the monster Undead for a +5. So ... that was still a +1 net for the monster. You have to admit, raising the monster 17 points is fairly impressive, considering I didn't have any +10 to monster level cards. *shrug* I approve of the outcome. I was glad it was finally over. It was like beating a dead horse.

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Del has that orientation tomorrow, so we went to Wal-Mart so he could get a haircut and new shoes. On the way, he tried cashing a money order. Well, the 7-Eleven didn't want to accept it, so we agreed to deposit it in my account and he could use my credit card. Here's where I get penalties to my Intelligence. I can remember my 12 digit account number, but not my 4 digit PIN number. Also, I may or may not be able to use my credit card at an ATM. Let's just say, I tried. I didn't think I had enough money in my checking account to withdraw the $100 for Del, so I tried pulling it out of the ATM on my credit card. Well I was wrong on the first PIN number and the second try. So we left the bank figuring we could just neglect the ATM (as our plan was earlier). Between the bank and Wal-Mart, I remembered my PIN, or at least I think I did. I really don't know what my PIN is or if I can even use it for my credit card. Intelligence: 3. (It'd probably go under Wisdom, but I have such a low Wisdom score, I don't know the difference ... or I just don't care.) We grab some McDonald's at Wal-Mart (charged to my credit card) and head to the ATM to try out the PIN. Nope, said Bank Error. We were so close too. Maybe it doesn't really check the PIN until you try hit OK to withdraw. *shrug* Again, we settle on charging his expenses. So I pay for his haircut (on credit), get film developed (credit (story below)), get groceries, and meet back up with him in the shoe department. Poor, poor T-Bone. Well after we get the groceries rang through, I attempt to charge the $140 to my card as well. Yeah, it failed. CMS Error: Requires Override. Override beyond Wal-Mart's control. So I paid on my debit card (which I was pretty certain I would go under). And then we went to the tobacco counter to buy some cancer sticks. (Yes, I literally asked the cashier for cancer sticks. I should have asked for extra cancer in them. (Del smokes ... outdoors.)) I pay with credit and it goes through. I figured I just couldn't make purchases of over $100, though I couldn't think of why at the time. So we return home and I check my bank accounts. My checking account had $200 in it at the start of the day, so I could have withdrew for Del. Surprisingly, Wal-Mart's $140 was also on the statement. I figured it would take them a few days for that. My credit card, however, showed no activity (and now I'm worried). Shortly after arriving home, I receive an automated phone call from Fraud Protection. Apparently my credit card may be on hold for fraud. I am quite certain, at this time, that it's because I failed at the ATM three times. Still, I'm slightly worried. The automated message told me to go to www.myfraudprotection.com. I haven't yet, but I don't trust that site. The url looks nothing like a Bank of America site (www.bankofamerica.com). And the automaton told me to have my credit card number handy. Yeah, I know a fraud agency wouldn't be able to do much without my card, but this could be a fraud itself. They have my phone number and now want my credit card number. Dum dum dum!!! As long as they don't need my expiration date or PIN, I'll be good. So ... if my credit card is on hold, what happens to the hair cut, film, McDonald's, and cigarette charges? If I get charge for "bouncing" a credit card, someone will have to die (story below: Jack).

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I don't know how to operate a camera. It's not as simple as point and shoot. Apparently you also need to use the flash. I'm lazy, so it seems most of my pictures did not use the flash. As a result, most of my pictures didn't come out. Out of 24 exposures, only 18 were actually printed. Without the flash, 6 didn't come out well, and another 2 were wasted on the ceiling. The picture of my laptop is probably scrap as well, so maybe 9 photos were good. And I was hoping the roll had more pictures from home on it, but apparently not. I have some of the AMC management, some of Chill and his brother, a classmate, my jedi costume, and then all the wasted ones. I should probably try taking some good photos with the remainder of my current roll, so I won't feel so bad. Worst photographer ever.

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My computer hates me. It takes a while for the Windows system to finish booting. The desktop will become operational, but not the taskbar. I might want to put more icons on my desktop because of this; that way I don't have to wait for the start menu. Also, Trillian (my AIM agent) is inoperable. I don't know why, but it just refuses to connect. So ... I might be reinstalling Trillian and my anti-virus software.

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One of my favorite webcomics, Penny Arcade, has recently posted a rant about their encounter with Jack Thompson. At the bottom of that rant is a link to this article. I'm pretty sure the man is insane.