Linkstew

I've only been a member of Amazon Prime for 45 hours (yeah yeah yeah, I only just finally got around to signing up), and I've already placed and received two orders. Basically, wow. This is going to be very dangerous for my checkbook.

Yaroze, my copy of Final Fantasy X is in FedEx's sometimes capable hands! I'll be getting it tomorrow, with superb timing, after my final final, and with only a few other commitments, I'll be able to go home and immerse myself.

To Zanarkand!

(On a related note, here is IGN PS2's review of the game. It's long and kind of poorly edited (in my opinion), but it's very informative without spoiling anything important.)

(This post brought to you by the letters, F, X, and the number 10.)

So it turns out that I was more of an impairment to my playing Super Smash Brothers Melee than the Folklore Archive of Doom was.

Knowing that they would ship separately, I pre-ordered Super Monkey Ball and Super Smash Brothers Melee in the same order back in the middle of October. Super Monkey Ball shipped without a hitch back in early November, and I had it a week and a half before I got my Gamecube.

Super Smash Brothers Melee, on the other hand... It should have shipped on Monday, but I got no word from ebgames. On Tuesday, I woke up to the sound of my roommate playing the copy of Pikmin he'd ordered, so I checked my email but saw no word on Melee. Looking at my order status on ebgames' site, it said my order was "On Hold." A few hours later, I got an email saying that there had been a problem processing my order, and that I should call them to straighten things out.

So I called them, and all I was told was that my card had been declined. This worried me, since I just use my debit card as a credit card, and I was suddenly concerned that maybe many more checks than I'd expected had been cashed and I was out of money. I had them cancel the order so that I could figure out what was wrong. If I was out of money, the game could wait until I got paid on Friday.

I called Bank of America, and after anxiously listening to their Patriot Songs CD for 20 minutes while on hold, I was told "Well, your card is activated, you have money in your account, no other charges were incurred on the same day... I'm not really sure why it was declined... Maybe you mistyped the expiration date?"

So I looked at my receipt, and there, plain as day, was the expiration date listed as "11/01" (as opposed to the correct 11/02). Which explained why Super Monkey Ball shipped fine in November of '01, yet Super Smash Brothers Melee got gummed up in December of '01.

Of course, I was a little taken aback that my Super Monkey Ball order had gone through at all with the incorrect expiration date. Apparently, they only check that the expiration date hasn't passed yet. I always assumed that they used the expiration date as a sort of checksum, to double verify the credit card information. And I wish it were used that way, too.

So I placed a new Super Smash Brothers Melee order on Tuesday night, and it shipped on Wednesday, and I got it on Thursday.

I suppose it's possible that I subconsciously mistyped the expiration date, knowing deep down that I'd be getting this most-wanted game right when I had 80 other things to be doing. And hey, guess what? It sure was effective.

After the yummy sandwich that this weekend was, I got iPod iCe Cream on Monday.

I tend to have ridiculous luck with shipping when it really matters to me. Painfully aware of that, I've been paranoid for the last couple of weeks that something would go wrong with my GameCube shipment.

I was so paranoid, in fact, that I wrote a whole outline for a post that I was going to flesh out tonight or tomorrow night. But um, then something that I hadn't even considered as a possibility happened: I got my GameCube two days before release. And I got my Super Monkey Ball last week, and I've got my Smash Brothers Melee pre-ordered, and my roommate has Pikmin pre-ordered, and really, and everything has gone exactly according to plan.

This is unprecedented for me. I think the shower and the laundry room are just karmic balance.

Whew. So at right around 9, FedEx rang and my roommate's package was downstairs. So I went down and signed for it, and upon returning upstairs and glared at the box I wasn't allowed to open. I checked my tracking information and saw that my package had not yet been delivered, so I decided I'd truck up to the office.

On my way out, I stopped in to check on my laundry, and unsurprisingly, I found it'd need an extra dry cycle: Total cost of clean socks: $5.00

So I walked up to my office quicker than I ever have before. But when I was across from Unit 3, I saw the FedEx truck in front of my office. Now, before you think it was silly of me to try to race the FedEx truck on foot, it's worth noting that different trucks deliver to my office than to my apartment.

Even though the truck pulled away, I continued my frantic walking pace, and when I stepped in the door, I found my package sitting there, waiting for me. I checked the tracking information online, and found that it had been signed for by my manager 3 minutes before I got there. Niice.

Now, though, I'm starving. I haven't had anything to eat in 12 hours, and I've been up that whole time. And um, to save money, I think I'm going to head back home and eat the left over pizza that's in my fridge. And um, besides, I have to get my laundry out of the dryer. Um, yeah, that's it.

Nevermind that I've got to be back by 1, of course. ;-)

So uhm, somehow my shipping magically got converted into FedEx priority overnight, and I didn't pay extra for it! Which is good for me, but bad for my co-worker who did pay extra.

So uhm, my Gamecube was loaded onto a FedEx truck at 8:04 am in Emeryville, "to be delivered today". So was my roommate's. The complicated part is that his is to be delivered to the apartment, while mine is going to my office. So I'm going to hedge my bets on someone being at my office and wait at the apartment for now. Besides, I'm waiting on my Laundry. Of course, this is silly of me, since he just forbade me from opening his package, so really, I should go to work and make sure I get my Gamecube. But if I go to work, then I have a meeting at 1, and I don't want to make 2 extra trips between the office and here today, since I've already made too many trips today. And if I'm at the office, I won't be able to play my Gamecube until I get home after 2 anyway, which is about when my roommate will get home, so...

Ack, so many choices! And the sad thing is, all the choices seem to add up to the same result: No playing is going to happen until after 2 or so.

My roommate's reaction when I told him that my package was on the truck when he stepped out of the bathroom: "Oh no!!! I have a test tomorrow, I can't play it!" Heh.

Oh, and uh, in other news, my iPod also shipped Yesterday (or today, depending on where you are, thanks to interesting properties of the international date line), so I'll probably get it Monday, just in time for a long train ride. And just in time to use it to back up my dad's computer in its capacity as a hard drive.

I just got an email notification from EB Games that my Gamecube bundle has shipped! Woohoo!

But, wait a second... Does that mean that, if I'd paid the extra $20 for next day delivery... I'd have had my Gamecube... tomorrow? ::cries:::

Hmm, does FedEx deliver on Saturdays?

Of course, if you think this is amusing, then it's worth mentioning that EB shipped me my copy of Super Monkey Ball last week, and it's been sitting on my coffee table since then.

The monkeys, they're laughing at me.

So after checking my mail this afternoon, I'm left wondering: Who is Joe Thomas, and why was his Girlfriends LAcatalog delivered to my apartment?

I've been eagerly awaiting Mac OS X 10.1, and today, not only did I get my laptop back, but Apple announced the availability of 10.1, and made lots of neat movies showing off features available, and so on. And all in all, this should have been a very happy Mac day for me. But no. I am left highly frustrated.

Here's a quick review of the facts:

1. Mac OS X 10.1 is announced as being available Saturday, September 29.
2. As a user of Mac OS X 10.0, I have two options to upgrade to 10.1.
3. I can get Mac OS X 10.1 through the "Instant Up-To-Date Program," wherein I physically go to an Apple retail stores or a participating Apple reseller and pick up a completely free OS X 10.1 CD and OS 9.2.1 CD "before through October 31, 2001, or while supplies last."
4. Or, I can participate in the "Mac OS X Up-To-Date program," wherein I mail or fax ("Before December 31, 2001") an order form and proof of purchase to Apple, along with $20, and wait 6-12 weeks for "upgrade install CDs." (By the way, when I got Mac OS 8.0 through the Up-To-Date program, it seriously took them like 8 weeks to deliver the damn CD)

Um. What the fuck? This is the Internet age, and this is an "Internet operating system," and both of these options are so 80s. Here is some specific reasoning:

1. Apple is offering free upgrade CDs without proof of purchase to anyone who physically goes to one of their stores.
2. Apple's Mac OS X Upgrade Page calls the CD you get through the "Instant Up-To-Date Program" an "Upgrade CD", while it calls the CD you get for $20 + Proof of Purchase + 6-12 weeks "10.1 CD (upgrade install)"
3. Based on their names, both CDs will require 10.0 to be installed before 10.1 can be installed.
4. The only thing I'm getting by going for the second option is a Developer Tools CD, which in the past I've been able to freely download.
5. If 10.0 has to be installed before 10.1 can be installed, then Proof of Purchase is not necessary.
6. Apple is giving away free CDs to anyone without proof of purchase.
7. Apple did not inform their resellers of the free CD program, so today, when I called CompUSA and The Scholars Workstation, they said they didn't know if or when they'd have the free CDs. When I picked up my computer from M.A.C., they said they also did not know if, let alone when, they'd have the free CDs.
8. There's no reason that I can't "pay for shipping" and get that free CD shipped to me.

So, this isn't a pretty picture, and I want Mac OS X 10.1 right now. What options do I have?

1. Send in $20, 10.0 Proof of Purchase, and wait patiently 6-12 weeks for something I've been patiently waiting for since March 24th
2. Wait patiently for Apple to send out information to their resellers about how they can get Free CDs, and then wait patiently to find out, and then hope I get there "while supplies last."
3. Pay another $129 to get a full retail copy by some time next week, and pay a harsh price for being an early adopter (and fairly vocal supporter) of 10.0, and be very bitter.
4. Pay $69 to get a full educational copy by some time next week, and pay a slightly less harsh price for being an early adopter (and fairly vocal supporter) of 10.0, and be slightly less bitter.
5. Pirate a CD image and deny Apple of nothing (Free Upgrade CD, remember), thus not making much of a statement while still being illegal, but I'd get it sooner. I'd do this, but I don't have a CD burner.
6. Repeatedly bug the people I know who work at Apple for one of the free upgrade CDs and watch as my emails have so far gone unanswered.
7. Wait for someone I know to get a disc through any of the above methods.

So, possible conclusions regarding Apple's Idiotic upgrade procedures?

1. Apple is trying to get people into retail stores in hopes of getting them to "buy other things while they're there."
2. Apple hopes people get so frustrated with the upgrade options that they buy a whole new copy.
3. Apple hates early adopters and is trying to punish us and make us forsake Apple and become ecks-pee-triates. ;-)

In all seriousness, this is very ridiculous. I want my system upgrade, and I can't get my system upgrade, and I'm left stewing.

What are my plans? Well, I'm still hoping that my Apple friends come through. I'm considering ordering a CD burner tomorrow and having it shipped next day and burn myself a pirated copy of 10.1 before it's "released." I'm going to keep calling the local Mac stores to see if they'll have free CDs. And as a final fallback, a friend ordered a full copy of 10.1 which I'll have access to hopefully by the middle of next week.

But it's released "Saturday, September 29th," so in my mind, that means it should be on my PowerBook on Saturday, September 29th.

Okay, no more talking about myself on this site. Back to my old, safe content. There's no place like home, there's no place like home.

In other news, I got a notice from Amazon today that my Game Boy Advance shipped, which is a good thing. The bad thing is, there's no way I'm going to get it before I take my little vacation to Bakersfield starting on Thursday. Alas, alas! Well, I'll have a present waiting for me when I return, I guess.

This morning I awoke to a gentle rapping on my apartment door. Upon opening my apartment door, there stood a mailman with a package obviously from my mom (obvious because it was in an avon box). So I signed for my roommate's backpack after poking around the table for the pink slip that had been left the day before, because yesterday the mailman apparently couldn't get past the "high security" of my apartment building (if you call the ringer on the door not working and no college student being up before noon "security").

But then it occured to me that today's Sunday. And Easter, if you go in for that sort of thing. It's nice to see the USPS not being useless occasionally, but I guess if you pay $30 to have a package delivered in a timely fashion, you get what you pay for.