Thurston Blogging

This can't be good, or another broken XBOX 360

Over the weekend, I received an e-mail from Microsoft that my XBOX 360 has been repaired.  The XBOX had been shipped via UPS and, according to the tracking information, it will arrive at the Thurston Compound on the 27th of June.  I checked the UPS Website this afternoon, and noticed a status that I was not familiar with:

So, now I'm faced with the following questions:

1. Who should I be mad at Microsoft or UPS?
2. Will I receive my XBOX 360?
3. If I do, when?
4. What shape will it be in?
5. If it's damaged, how do I handle that?
6. When will I be able to play Call of Duty 4 again?

I'm assuming a looter grabbed it, and is playing Sonic on my XBOX 360 right now.  To read more on the train derailment, click this link.  Thanks to Obs for being Johnny-on-the-Spot with the article.

Fondue? More like Fun-Don't!

Fondue is for people with excess time and money to waste.  Yesterday, I went to The Melting Pot with a group of co-workers for a Going Away celebration.  Our reservation was for 5:00 PM, and we didn't leave until nearly 9:00 PM.  That's nearly four hours of cooking your own food.

I should say that, the food that I did have was good.  The first course was a spicy cheese, which you could dip chips, veggies and apple slices into.  My next course was a mango salad, with Caribbean flair.  The main course was a variety of meats - shrimp, jerk chicken, filet mignon, and some squash-filled ravioli to cook in the fondue pots, with a variety of other veggies.  I don't know if I was full, but I sure was tired of having to cook each bite for two minutes, transferring it off of the skewer, onto the plate, re-loading the skewer for the next bite and finding the appropriate dipping sauce.

Then there was a long pause.

Finally, the dessert (not desert) course came.  Chocolate, which you can dip fruit, or rice-crispy treats in, or drizzle over cheesecake.  Tasty, but again a lot of damn work.  All the while, you are positioning your skewer in a community pot with other jamokes, trying to make sure your food doesn't fall off of the skewer and into the void.

Meanwhile, I'm sitting next to a colleague who was acting like a caged animal.  He literally could not handle  being in that yuppie-scum place one more moment. 

These guys also have issues with fondue, for completely different reasons.

Air Supply - Making Bad Music out of Nothing at All

Well, I am embarrassed to admit this, but I have a secret.  It's quite provocative, but I believe in being open and honest.  I have Air Supply in my iPod.  And I listened to it, and what's more - I didn't hate it.  Here they are, making crappy videos out of nothing at all.

The Red Ring of Death

XBOX 360 - R.I.P.  My second XBOX 360 has now died.  Last weekend, I decided to play Grand Theft Auto IV while Sharon was shopping and Aud was sleeping.  Instead, I was greeted with a red ring on the front panel of the 360.

My first XBOX died, and was out of warranty.  Luckily, I bought that with my American Express card, which offers an extended warranty on electronics.  So, they replaced it.  Now, this XBOX is also out of warranty, but Microsoft covers this particular, and widely know defect, for an additional three years.

So, I wait for the box to ship my defunct gaming console back to Microsoft.  In the meantime, we have the Nintendo Wii to occupy my time.

Let them Eat Cupcakes

Sharon made cupcakes today, complete with home-made frosting.  So, I've had two cupcakes today.  Cupcakes make for a great dessert in my lunch.   There was never a good way to transport a cupcake in my lunch.

Until now.

Much like Han Solo being frozen in carbonite, this shield protects my beloved cupcake from being destroyed by a frozen meal or applesauce container.