December 2007 Archives

I'm sure everyone knows that you are entitled to, by law, one free credit report per year. What I did not know, is that you can request that free credit report online at https://www.annualcreditreport.com I was able to get both my Experian, and Equifax reports right away. Transunion says I already have an account with them and I have to call them to reset my password. I think they are just being difficult.

I highly recommend looking at all three, there was a vast difference between my equifax and experian reports in terms of former addresses. You can even dispute somethings online, though it seems very limited. I was able to dispute 2 incorrect former addresses but not the other 3.

The Trailer for the Dark Knight is up. It looks cool, but somehow I am underwhelmed by the trailer. I can't believe that's Heath Ledger as Joker.

Speaking of movies we went to see Juno this weekend, I highly recommend it. Very funny, and actually a comedy, unlike Little Miss Sunshine, which was touted as a comedy but is more like a Drama with some funny parts.

Oh and just to keep with the Movie theme, Simpsons and Blade Runner:the Final Cut both came out on DVD today.

Well only 6 weeks after the guy smashed both our Cars, I finally got the insurance settlement. It was a hue pain in teh ass to try and deal with it all and I'm glad its done with. Still waiting for the title on the pathfinder that replaced the X-Terra, when I went to pick it up from the dealer they had simply changed the name on the title from the former owner to me. Which means it still had a lien on it from the original owner. I'm glad I saw that and made them fix it. I can't even imagine how much trouble it would be to get a lien removed for a loan that wasn't even mine.

I don't know you are a fan of turn based games, I've liked them for quite a while. Civilization is the king if this genre. My favorite was always Master of Magic. Ever since Real Time Strategy games like Warcraft and Starcraft, turn based game haven't gotten a lot of attention. I found a neat little independent turn based game on the web the other day. Armageddon Empires is a strategy wargame set in a post apocalypse world. Its hugely addictive. It plays like a cross between Risk and Magic the Gathering. You make a Card Deck which contains your army units, bases, heroes, and equipment. You play these cards by gathering various resources during gameplay. The ultimate goal being total domination of your enemies of course.

What really impressed me about the game, besides the fact it's really fun, is the level of professionalism. I've bought many commercial games which have huge bugs, insufficient manuals, and little to no web support. Here's an independently developed game that has an excellent website, a full complete manual (a MUST for a strategy game), and no bugs as far as I can tell. The website has tutorials, a FAQ, and example cards decks. The developer is even working on a free expansion to the game.

I highly recommend giving it a try, well if you like turn based computer wargames anyway. I realize it's a niche market.

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the Arby's 5 for X Dollars sandwich deal that they have. I think it may spring up during the holidays (it's going on right now.) Back when I was in college, which was ohhh about 15 years ago, the deal was 5 for $5. Pretty clever marketing scheme really, at least for college students. I and many other friends subsisted on these sandwiches. As I was driving to work today I noticed that Arby's is again running this special, except the price is now 5 for $6.95. So there you have it, the rate of inflation (of Arby's Sandwiches at least.) is 1.95 over 15 years. That's a 39% increase. So there you have it consumer inflation tracked by a roast beef sandwich.

Calorie Counter took the nutritional information from the various fast food websites and compared them. All I have to say is Dear God what is Dairy Queen putting in their fries! Chilli/Cheese fries from Sonic look healthy by comparison. MMM Chilli cheese fries.......

Things are finally starting to work themselves out. After 2 weeks of talking to people on the phone the first bank to hold my car note sent the second bank a lien release and they fedexed it to me. So now I can go get a new title for the now totaled X-Terra and get my money out of the insurance company. Sheesh it's already been a month. I'm not sure what happened to the lien release that the first bank was supposed to send me. It'll probably show up in my mail sometime nest year.

University of Dallas also admitted that yes it was okay for me to take my Masters Capstone early. Rather than wait almost a year for their scheduling of the one course I need to make it back around. So I should be done with my masters degree by Summer 08! Whew.

Not much went on this weekend, we put up the Christmas tree and I played a lot of Mass Effect. Which is a great game BTW, if you're into Console RPGs. There are a few things they coudl have done better but overall one of the best XBOX 360 games I've played.