Guys, I just flipantly threw $50 at Full Tilt Poker .net to see if I could win some cash last night. I've been playing with the play money and went from 1k to 600k in a few days so I thought i'd give it a shot. I knew it would be completelty different playing for real money. I mean, think about it.. ppl are going to play really tight and not give up a cent, right?

Wrong, these people seem to think that the more money they put in the pot.. the better their hand gets. They push all in when they feel trapped and make mistakes. maybe I'm playing against drunk grannies .. escape convicts.. or small children, but regardless its like taking candy from a baby. I pushed my $50 up to $140 in a matter of 5 hours. that's 90 bucks.

I'm going to keep messing with it until I get all the "bonus money". Basically, when you sign up .. they promise to match the amount that you put in. The catch is that you have to play a ton before the bonuses start showing up. After 5 hours I only got $5 of the $50 they owe me.

I know it's not a TON of money. I've never been a gambler though.. and I'm just hung up on the fact that I'm getting paid to do what I do online for fun.

Well, after my original 360 broke I took advantage of my warranty and they sent me a referbished one. This referbished one got the blinking light error after only 6 months and now they're telling me my warranty has expired. It's going to cost $160 to renew my warranty and have it repaired. It's hard to justify paying another $160 when I'm not sure it will be around next year. I mean, what if this breaks again next year. Then I'll have to pay another $160?! I mean, I can't pay $160 a year for a 360. That means for the first two years you get to rent your 360 for $400. That's $200 a year. Each year after that you get to rent it for $160.

I think I'm going to wait until Christmas before I start this years rental agreement.

I have a tiny hairline fracture in the disk so it won't play in my 360 anymore.  I play a little WOW right now, but I'm kinda getting away from gaming.  My account is going to expire April 28 indefinately.  I play pinball on my puter sometimes.  I just never really got into Gears.. or my Splinter Cell game like I thought I would.  Maybe I'm getting old.  I kinda' wish I would mature out of videogames altogether.  I don't see it happening though.

 I'm kinda in some law trouble.  It involves a bunch of speeding tickets, probation, a misunderstanding, some lost paperwork, and 4 nights I spent in jail starting new years eve.

Here is the scenario.  My huge family all travels to my mother's house for Christmas.  I let my 2 nephews and 2 nieces play my Xbox 360 on Christmas eve, and they broke it somehow!  I had just let my brother borrow it for a whole semester and nothing happened.  My nephew broke the thing in 1 night!  I kinda knew it was going to happen.. they're pretty rough on equipment.  They hit the powerbutton on and off and sometimes push the disk tray in and out on their ps2.  So really it's my own fault for leaving it with them.  

The worst part is that I unplugged everything and went home for a minute to see if I could fix it.  Well, my nephew starts crying while I'm gone and wondering how long it's going to take for him to save up the money to fix it... He cried so hard that his mother was pissed at me when I got back!  I walked in the door and she said, "Now is not the time or place!"  I just laughed because I had no idea what she was talking about.  I told her I just needed to send it for repairs, but I still had to appologize to my nephew! lol.  Funny how some tears can turn everything around on you like that.  He breaks my 360 and somehow everybody is mad at me.

I just get a single red flashing light and the screen says E74.  I tried unplugging the hd and cleaning the cables, but nothing works.  Christmas Eve is the worst possible time to break your gaming console!  Now I've got a brand new GoW game that I haven't even taken the wrapper off of.  I've got time out of school.. and I had just rented Splinter Cell Double Agent.  I called Microsoft and they're sending me a box so that I can ship it to them for repairs.  I guess the whole process should take almost 2 weeks!

sheesh

I can't believe I actually got $150 for a used Xbox on Ebay.  I'm going to miss the old thing.  That's money in the bank for new games!.. er.. I mean Christmas presents for my loved ones.  *cough*

Oh man, there is this guy at LD.  He has lost his mind.  He is sticking Mario's freakin' head on everything!  This manip made me soil myself.

  I think the fact that he is posting them in the most respected imaging union on GS .. and people keep making fun of him and he just keeps pumping them out.  That makes it all even funnier to me.

I don't think he even blinks anymore.. he just takes the first picture he can find and sticks Mario's head on it.  Go to LD and look for Nuclear's Cookout Thread.  He's a rebel man.

My activity is going to be reduced a bit until after the new year. I am getting killed with projects and finals. I have a wood sculpture, 2 papers, and a lesson plan to write in a few days! My brother's birthday, my wife's birthday are this month, Christmas and family in town. I also have to finish installing a huge yard project with 2 waterfals and 3 seperate pond areas for my new mother-in-law. I've got a pottery contract due for a church in 2 weeks... and I'm trying to sculpt a light-house for my sister-in-law for Christmas.. oh yeah.. and I have to make another trophy for my fantasy football league! ..
I'm still going to keep my request thread open in the cutting edge imaging union.. because I get a release from digital design that I can't explain.

Dahui was to be married today.  Alestar was a woman without equal.  He had always felt that a high elf would be the perfect mate.  They were tall, beautiful, and eloquent.

  Alestar was no exception.  She was every bit as tall as Dahui.  Her long torso and slender figure were a sight to behold.

 Dahui had proposed on the docks at sunset 4 months ago, but it seemed like only yesterday.  His family honestly didn't approve of his marriage to a high elf.  The Dunmer always felt that the Altmer were too proud of their appearance and status.  His mother tried to hide her disappointment.  Dahui remembered how she always seemed to have young female dunmer company around whenever he came home to visit.  She would say things like, "Doesn't Sharmain look beautiful?" or "hasn't Drodell grown up to be a fine woman?"

 

Dahui's father was less subtle. At first he outright opposed the wedding.  He said he wouldn't even attend the event.  However, he quickly changed his approach when he saw the tactic would not work.  Instead he would have long talks with his son encouraging him to explore other options.  He would tell stories of his encounters with Altmer and their snobbish lifestyles.

 All that was over now though.   His father and mother had finally given him their consent to marry Alestar.  "Oh how they must love me to be here today." he thought.

 He pushed the thoughts out of his head and finished dressing himself.  It was time to start the ceremony.  He walked out to the ceremonial grounds in his best robes.  They had chosen yellow to symbolize the new sun.  He couldn't believe how many people had come.  The priests began the Chant of Union and the torches all lit simultaneously.  "Huuummmmmmm..  hhHmmmmm.. mmmmmm"  The chant was intoxicating.  Surprisingly loud for 10 priests with their lips closed.  "hhhHmmmmmmmmm   aaaahhhHmmmmmmmm" 

 On the left side of the grounds was all Dunmer and the right side were all Altmer.  It looked more like two small armies than 2 families.  Dunmer never went anywhere without a weapon.  The Altmer knew this so they were armed to the hilt as well.  Dahui found this humorous and couldn't hold back a smile.

It was time for his bride to appear.  Alestar turned the corner holding her father's hand as was the custom.  Her skin was so brilliant and glowing that it made her yellow dress seem dull.  Her train danced in the torchlight as she floated down the eisle.

 She let go of her father’s hands and held close to Dahui's.  He noticed then that she was crying tears of joy.

 The priest read through the rites and chanted a few more lines before asking the elves to commit their lives to each other.  "Do you bind your soul with this female?" he said.  "Yes, she will be my life." Dahui said without hesitation.  "And do you bind your soul with this male?", the priest mumbled dryly... She paused.  No answer.

The priest cleared his throat and a little louder said, "Fair Alester, do you bind your soul with this male?"  No answer.  One woman quietly gasped, and the crowd began to mumble.  Something was terribly wrong.

  "Her face ... are these not tears of joy." Dahui thought.  She leaned foward and whispered so only Dahui could hear, "My father will kill you if we wed today, my love."  Dahui flushed with agony.  Why hadn't he considered her family!?  Had he been so stupid to think that only his parents would have objections?  The Atlmer were a very proud race.  He should have thought of this.  Then Dahui spoke in a loud voice for all to hear, "I would rather die than to live another day knowing that I could never marry you, fair Alester!"  He turned to her father and said, "Does your pride hinder your desire for your daughter's happiness!?"

 The old Altmer unsheathed his sword.  Dahui said, "I cannot fight the father of my soul mate.  What can be gained from that?"

 "My daughter will not marry a filthy red eyed RAT!"  Alestar's father yelled as he pushed the sword hilt all the way through to Dahui's chest.  As he fell he heard Alicia scream, "YES, HE WILL BE MY LIFE!" 

On a day that these elven races should have taken a step toward peace.. many died, and the wall and rifts between them became immeasurably stronger and deeper than ever imagined.

After lot's of interviewing and research I found that I was the 24th person to line up at Best Buy yesterday (friday).  I came straight from school and arrived at 11am with my camping gear.  22 people at the location had already been there since Thursday.  I was disheartened until I found out that the store had 26 consoles to sell.

It was pretty organized.  Tents everywhere.. we even had police officers on duty.  One of them even kept an unofficial list.  This kept people from breaking in line, and allowed us to walk around inside the store.. and go get food without fear.  At this point I was pretty happy.  "Humans aren't too bad" I though.

"In fact, if there is a nuclear war and everything falls apart.. I think we'll all be just fine.  It will be organized and everyone will be able to take care of themselves."

Wrong!  Things started to fall apart rather quickly.  People got mad at others for trying to pitch their tent in front of theirs.  Some people parked their cars near tents so that the exhaust blew on them.  Some guys were booming loud rap music early in the morning.  One guy even had a girl come to meet him... he went to her car .. very close to the curb where we were... and she obviously performed for him. 

Some people accused others of allowing their friends to come and join them in the line.  Some people would leave for a long time and come back to find people telling them that they had lost their spot.  Other guys were drinking outside and the police had to step in.

At 6:30am we started to put away tents and line up.  The store planned to give 26 tickets at 7:45am to customers in line so that there would be no pushing once the doors opened.  As we lined up people had to really assert themselves.  A few guys that had arrived after me would just ease their way in front of me over and over when I was distracted talking to other gamers.  Everytime I turned around I would have to step back in front of them, and they would stand so close that they were brushing up against me.

When the "new people" started lining up behind the campers ... the campers jeered at them and told them to just go home.

Guys, my community is even less happy and pleasant than I thought.  We're like coke bottles.. when we're shaken up.. people see what comes out.  I'm telling you.. if this community gets shaken up a bit more than a PS3 launch.. and it comes down to many people standing in line for food and medicine.. I'm afraid the US will not be a shining example to the world.