I was down in Virginia Beach this week for MODSIM to exhibit for work and it was a decent show. Everything was going well and I was “driving safely” home when a truck decided that he needed to swerve in front of me to exit from left lane and kicked up a nice rock into the windshield. As I was driving a university vehicle, I gave them a call and alerted them, but it was a nervewracking drive as the crack was of decent size and was growing slowly as I drove. I tried to think if there was anything to do to stop or slow it, but wasn’t sure what was best. Open window to equalize pressure on both sides? Who knows. Anyways, I drove even more “safely” as I watched it grow millimeter my millimeter over the journey home. I was afraid it would get to point and be undrivable, requiring a tow truck and all that, but luckily it crept slowly enough to make it back and turn it back in.
Monthly Archives: April 2017
Waivering
As part of the constant quest to always be changing things for the sake of changing them, I had to fill out a new form for my conference trip. Apparently driving to VA Beach is about 450 miles round trip and now you need a waiver if you are driving more than 300 miles. Okay. Continue reading Waivering
Minimum Wage
We had a perfect case for replacing people with machines today at McDonalds. They have a bacon clubhouse sandwich that comes as a burger or with grilled or crispy chicken. It has some sort of sauce on it based on the picture so we asked the cashier what came on it. They looked confused for a second and then answered, “Bacon”.
I had to compose myself and ask more specifically about the sauce on it. Both of the cashiers did some really complicated series of calculations and button pressing on their registers before finally saying it was “Big Mac Sauce”. Okay… but wait there’s more.
I said we’d like one of the Bacon clubhouse burgers, just the sandwich, with no sauce. He said okay and proceeded to ask me the following question, “Grilled or Crispy?” I stared blankly and just said, “the burger version”, to which he replied in an affirmative and asked again, “yeah, okay; grilled or crispy.” I repeated it again and he looked like he got it and we proceeded and I asked if he got it right and he said yes.
When I checked the reciept, it was not right and I had to flag a manager to get it fixed before it came out. I didn’t even bother to get the twenty cents difference back. We need to replace these people with machines and let them figure out something better to do for a living. Or maybe I should have just asked for a crispy burger.
Taking a Sheetz
As far as gas stations go, I typically frequent the local Sheetz on the way to work. The gas prices are always decent, it’s on the way to work, and any size soda is only 99 cents. They also had a nice deal with their loyalty card where every ten drinks would net you a free drink. It was a great thing to get a free one every so often. Then they rolled out the ‘bigger, better, sheetzier’ program. Continue reading Taking a Sheetz
Taxing
Like most years, I’ve put off doing taxes until the last moment. I actually thought they were due today, but I guess technically I have until tomorrow. I legitimately had a reason to wait this time, but truth be told I didn’t do anything until last minute despite the excuse. Basically I was waiting on a form from a company I’m involved with and they were late as sin getting it to me. I also think it’s wrong, so I’m waiting to hear back before I send it out. Worse case, I’d get more back if I had to amend it later, but it’s mostly annoying more than anything. Oh well, at least I get money back.
Check yourself
Friendly reminder that if someone you dislike says something that triggers you, it’s probably a good idea to see if someone you do like said it first so you don’t look like an ignorant hypocrite. Ex. Sean Spicer said something that some could argue is true, but people didn’t like; strangely enough Chris Matthews and the NYT both said the same thing years earlier with no I’ll will or fake outrage. Ditto when Ben Carson talked about slaves as immigrants and was lambasted, but on numerous multiple occasions Obama made that same analogy and used almost identical words. You can’t have it both ways.
United, no more.
If you ever want to teach a Master’s class in how to mistreat your customer and react badly to a situation, I’m sure the CEO of United will be available soon and looking for gainful employment. The whole situation is infuriating from a consumer point of view. I know the government has some regulations on how to handle involuntary delays and compensation, but sometimes even those fail to make up for what people might miss if they are kicked. The thing here though is it took place after they seated everyone, was because they needed to put employees on instead, and they used the police to forcefully remove someone who had legitimate reason to not volunteer. All I can say is that United will feel this far beyond the cost of the federally mandated compensation in both their stock price and the inevitable and justified lawsuit. Which is a shame as I’ve never really had any problems flying with them before, but this makes me think differently about them.
Ads or no Ads?
So I have been finding myself using Hulu more and more and contemplating the option to turn off ads that they offer. For the cost, the time savings might be worth it. I like ads and marketing, but it seems like they have amped up frequency and repetition; probably to sell the no-ads option. That said, I noticed a new type of ad making it’s debut, the interactive ad. The recent Mass Effect Andromeda game is giving an interactive offering on console. If you hit the ‘A’ button, it offers you more info and videos about the game. Just what we need, ads that let you see more ads! Sigh. To pay or not to pay?
Spring Sale
I have to give Microsoft credit. I’ve totally bought into digital games with the Xbox One. Finding sales is still not as easy as physical discs and it takes longer sometimes for same level of discount but it’s getting better. You can tell as I have a backlog of games waiting to be played that I bought while on sale. And next week, the spring sale is back, with more bargains! I still have games on my ‘wait and buy when they hit X price’ list so we’ll see if my backlog gets bigger. At some point, one of two things will happen. I’ll catch up or I’ll have everything I eyed at some point in my backlog. Neither is bad news for me as a gamer.
Enter the Gungeon
As Mythic broke up and went its separate ways, a band of developers formed their own small company to create a game. They put hard work and effort and got it done and did fairly well for themselves. Sadly, they signed an exclusivity agreement with Sony at the time so I wasn’t able to support them as I’m a bit of a Xbox guy myself. Thankfully that agreement must have run out as they released it just this week as a play anywhere title for Windows 10 and Xbox One. I immediately saddled up the money and bought it. The game is pretty well made and has a fun premise. It’s basically a dual stick top down shooter with rogue like elements. If you want guns that shoot guns, this is a game for you. Well done guys!