So I got one of these as a gift, and I decided to look at the terms and conditions.  I was not aware that they would basically try to make money off various fees, so everyone that has one of these....BEWARE.  Mine happens to be from Bancorp, and is pretty much verbatim from the Cardholder agreement.

First there is an activation fee. 

There are no fees charged to you, the cardholder, when using the prepaid giftcard to purchase goods and services....ok.  But here's what follows.  Activation fee: The table sets forth the maximum Activation fee per Prepaid Giftcard paid by the purchaser at time of purchase. 

$25 giftcard (GC) $4.95
$50 GC $5.95
$100 GC $6.95
$200 GC $7.95
Variable Denomination GC $4.95

Second there is a service fee.

A Service Fee of $2.50 per month beginning with the seventh month from the day of activation will be applied in the remaining balance except where otherwise required to comply with, or prohibited by, applicable law.  This fee will not be charged once the balance of the Prepaid GC reaches $0.00.

What????  So let me get this straight.  As the purchaser, I will be assessed an activation fee to use my card?  Say I get a $25 gift card.  20% of my gift will be eaten by an activation fee!  The percentages decrease with increasing amounts, but if I don't spend larger amounts within 7 months, then the Issuer starts taking services fees out!

Ok, just spend it all you say?  Well, here's the next part.

Overuse/Overspending
Each time you use your Prepaid Giftcard, you authorize us to reduce the value available in your Prepaid Giftcard Account by the amount of the transaction and any applicable fees (see above).  Transactions that exceed the remaining Prepaid Giftcard balance are prohibited and should be declined at the POS (point of service). 

This suggests that if you don't buy the exact amount on your card, then your purchase will be declined. 

But....you must find a merchant willing to conduct a split transaction, where you would use the GC as partial payment for goods and services and paying the remainder of the balance with another form of legal tender.  Not all merchants allow split transactions, and some of those that do, may require payment for the remaining balance in cash.  If you fail to inform the merchant  that you would like to complete a split transaction prior to swiping your GC, your prepaid GC will likely be declined.

Wow.  This is too much work to use a debit card giftcard.  Sure, if the merchant is willing to conduct a split transaction, then the purchase will go more smoothly.  All you got to say is, take what's on the card and the remainder I'll pay by credit card.  But this might not work for every place you might use a debit GC.  On principle though, getting charged the activation fee just blows my mind.  I WILL NEVER PURCHASE A DEBIT GIFTCARD.  If I do purchase giftcards, they will be store specific.  These generally do not have expiration dates, or fees, or anything else attached to them that makes spending complicated.

Shame on you Bancorp, and the rest of the banking industry for cashing in on fees.  I understand that you may want to make money off POS transactions, but on giftcards???  Come on. 

With all the brew-ha-ha about Brandon Marshall of the Broncos, and the departed Jay Cutler, I've got to wonder....

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU COMPLAINING ABOUT?

You are getting paid to play a game, and you would be so bold to demand a trade because you don't fit in?  Gimme a break.  I don't think I'll ever make more than 100k a year, but you, who make millions, whine and bitch because your feelings got hurt?  Really??  You should be glad that you get to play on a team, playing a game that you love. 

And this is why I detest Cutler.  He may end up being a great QB, but he has got a serious attitude problem.  Get over yourself, and start playing like a team leader and not like a sissy who just had biggest wedgie of his life. 

I was late to a social gathering the other night.  I had double booked my 5 o'clock time slot with a racquetball match.  I have been known to blog about mundane topics like R-ball games and video games, and to properly make them mundane a significant amount of time needs to be spent.  But that's not what made me late, after all, it was a pretty ordinary game.  My kill shot was a bit off, and I'm still not pleased with my backhand shot.  I was pleased however, with the feel of new strings on my 2nd racquet.  I finally broke the strings on my 1st racquet a couple weeks ago.  Anyways....to the point of the post.

I saw Once with a group of friends.  I gave it some time to marinate, but looking back at the film, I don't see what the point of the movie was.  I suppose it has something to do with really doing what was in your heart....at least for the musician.  There were some cute parts to the film, but overall, it was rather pedestrian in the flow of the movie....afterall most of it was a pied.  I was a bit miffed by the female character though.  In my opinion she did quite a bit of leading on.  I mean, it was set up to be that way almost.  Lonely heartbroken guy meets quirky flower girl.  I won't spoil the rest of the movie with details, but I'll just say that it had some common elements with 500 days of Summer....

...Just not as brazen.  Here was a female character you could hate, at least some people thought so.  The underlying theme here was about love and fate.  For one person, there really was THE ONE destined to meet and live happily, while the other thought such a thing was pure nonesense.  As in Once, the female character leads the male character into a relationship, if that's what you can call it.  If....that's what she could call it.  In the end, she could have been less of a ass, but no...continued to plunge daggers into the guy's heart.  Something to effect of "we are great friends."  Yeah ok.  Whatever that means after all crap she pulled.  You just felt really sorry for the guy from Third Rock (not to be confused with Thirty Rock), and the fact that he was willing to do it all over again.  Anyhow, it wasn't so much that you could hate Zooey's character, just that she was completely tactless.

The movie does bring up some interesting questions though.  So what about fate?  Does fate play a role in love?  Or...is it just purely coincidental?

Enough already.

First you screwed the Packers over with that tearful goodbye.  Did you really think that they would take you back after you said you'd retire??  You put them in an untenable situation.  Then you screwed the Jets over by faltering at the end of the season.  Old bones you say?  Let's say you made some bad decisions on some passes.  What is the coach going to say to you?  You're freakin Brett Favre.  You would just shrug it off.

Now you're going to play for the Vikings????  I know that you don't want to just get back at the Packers but COME ON!  Make up your damn mind about things for once.  You know, I wouldn't have a problem with you playing, but to keep changing your mind only tarnishes your reputation.  And you have a tear in your shoulder?  When do you think that will blow up? 

Enough Favre. 

Everyone knows I like to game.  RPGs (role playing games) are my favorites D&D among them.  But that's not the point of this post.  I've never played the Sims.  I've played other simulations such as Sim City, Sim Farm, Sim Ant, and Railroad Tycoon, but not the Sims, where you basically control people and simulate lives.  Since I've never played the game, I do not know the nuances, so experienced players will have to correct me if I am wrong.

I've thought about this a bit and how it may or may not relate to God.  On the surface, there is a certain determinism.  You control the actions your characters and develop them through time.  You have an end goal in how you want your character to develop and move them appropriately.  The classical view of the omniscient God is somewhat similar.  There is a grand plan (though we fail to grasp it), and we are guided by God into decisions that ultimately bring us to our purpose in life because God is timeless.  God is able to see time all at once, and fashion a plan out of nothing (ex nihilo) if need be.  Beyond this, the similarities start to breakdown.  In the Sims, we indeed control everything, our characters bend to our will and do not develop contrary to our wishes.  Assuming that you believe in free-will, humans are able to make decisions contrary to will of God. 

But do we really if there is a predetermined plan for us?  Yes we do make decisions and are genuinely offerred a different choice at each junture in a decision making moment.  But is our will really free if as Christians we are to conform our will to what God wants?  Is God a Master puppeteer that while allowing us to move along, ultimately holds the strings to our lives?  While most people would disagree that God acts as a Puppeteer, it doesn't miss the mark by much if the classical ominscent God holds.  In the Sims, we would be akin to a classical God, though I don't really think that God is all that interested when I go to the bathroom.  Curious though, is there anything that God programs as "automatic" processes, such as going to the bathroom that doesn't require God's attention???? 

If the Christian God indeed has a plan for all of us, and not just some of us, then what purpose do non-Christians have?  Are they mere test subjects for Christians to act goodly toward (not to be be confused with godly)?  Is the good Muslim or good Hindu damned to hell because he or she does not believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior?  Hypothetically, let's say a Muslim does everything that Jesus tells him to do in the Bible, but does not believe Jesus to be divine (as Muslims do).  How is God's plan for this Muslim radically different than a Christian who does the same deeds, yet confesses Jesus as Lord and Savior?  Can one accept the good deeds done by non-Christians but then readily claim they go to hell?  Does the Bible contain all there is know about how to lead one's life, that it is absoulte?  If so, it would appear that Christians should have ALL the answers.  But do they?

It has been argued that no....Christians do not have all the answers.
http://www.chicagotemple.org/sermons/2009_8_02.php
Furthermore, as the world changes, Christianity must also evolve.  The issue at stake, however, seems to be that Christianity doesn't want to evolve.  It remains too rooted in Original Sin, Atonement, and Judgement.  Orthodoxy (the right way to believe) reigns supreme as does Sola Scriptura and Sola Fida.  While understandabe since these concepts were a part of Christianity's Jewish heritage, are these traditional concepts the best that Christianity has to offer?    Vatican II would argue otherwise, as does the Good Samaratin.  I observe that we Christians sometimes get dangerously close to Pharaseeism (if that's a word).  Too often we follow the Letter of the Law and not the Spirit of the Law.  Christians trade what the Jews had in the Torah for the Bible.

So, does God predetermine our fates, giving us a written Guide that if followed, automatically gives us salvation?  Is the Bible some type of "software" that runs our lives on autopilot without a need for God's attention?  What happens if there are I/O errors or corruptions in the code?  I would argue that no, our fates are not predetermined.  God gave us a mind to deal with I/O errors and corruptions in code, that the Holy Spirit, which Tertullian worked so hard to include in the Godhead, is immanant in ALL of us, giving us the ability to add human experience to our understanding of how God works in the world.

Think about this.  If God were controlling us in video game-like fashion, why is God frustrated by our actions? 

So after the softball game today, I went to Hawkeyes for some beer and grub.  It was empty.  There were a few people around, but no one was really eating anything.  This was at 10PM.  The special was a $4 pint of 312....not much of a special considering a regular pint of something else would have been $5.  Then again maybe this place charges $6.  Not a good start to the night if that's the best drink special they have.  I looked through the menu and didn't find anything particularly appealing, but Hawkeye's isn't gourment food or anything like that.  I remembered that one of my friends liked the buffalo chicken wrap, so I decided to try the buffalo chicken quesidilla as an alternative.  I got my beer pretty quickly....but the food.

I waited, and waited....must have been at least 25 minutes.  I'm the ONLY one inside the entire bar that has ordered any food.  Everyone else has only drinks.  Why did it take so long for the food to get done?  The server was nice enough, but she didn't stop by once in that 25 minute stretch.  She wasn't all that busy either.  Sure, I wasn't pounding down my beer, but at the very least she could have stopped to see if I needed anything else.

I finally got my food, only to be disappointed.  The chicken was not deep fried as she claimed.  It was obviously breaded chicken with buffalo sauce on top.  It was a good amount of food amd hot, but not at all crispy like it should have been.  Mega demerits on this one.  The only thing I'm really waiting for and it's not what I expected.  I don't think I'm going to go to Hawkeyes again....unless it's for some drinks....from time to time.  There always is Drum and the Monkey nearby.  Maybe they won't disappoint?

So there is was a yahoo news item that showed the distaste of a recent EA marketing ploy.  Within the article was another EA stunt that hired fake Christians against a game titled Dante's Inferno.  Here's the link.

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/ea-hires-fake-christians-to-protest-own-video-game/1323928

The funny thing is, it's not that far of an exaggeration for some Christians.  Take for instance the old pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons.  I remember people saying it was the devil's game.  You virtually killed people.....basically did whatever your imagination allowed you to do.  I actually knew someone who had to give up D & D in order to get married.  Small price to pay if he wanted to get married, but really?  Chances are a lot of D & D was more like the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCge-g1MO3A&videos=SRYrxsbCUEk&playnext_from=TL&playnext=1

ok...maybe...not...quite like that, but hardly anything Satanic....unless you wanted to.  Problem is, we only hear about the negatives of video game playing.  If someone goes on a shooting spree and people find out that they were playing violent video games, they immediately associated the two together.  Yet, here is a fake group that is trying to prevent people from playing a violent video game and people are crying foul.  Is it because Christians are really not this way?  That they are not carried away by their interpretations of the Bible?

What about Christians who forbid dancing, drinking, sex before marriage, rock and roll music, playing card games, etc.?  What do Christians do with Matthew 5:21-28?  If mere thinking about adultry is equivlent to already committing adultry.  That being angry is liable to judgement?  Now, in these passages, the word sin is not used, but it most certainly can be inferred.  The question then is:

If I virtually sin in gameplay (kill, steal, etc), have I sinned before God?  This isn't a simple question.  Already a Japanese man has been arrested for virtually killing a wife in an online game!  If the simplistic definition of sin is whatever is contrary to God's will, have I sinned during gameplay?  Does God will that I not play violent video games?  Hmmm....what about those "innocent" koopa troopas and goombas?  Mario and Luigi certainly had their fill of stomping on them and bringing the fiery wrath of God upon being transformed into beings of fire themselves.  Oh right....they were trying to save the princess....except when the princess turns out to be like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEsS6M5mBjQ

I don't think that playing violent video games is sinning.  Most people I think would agree, but let's not hold some kind of double standard decrying the violence of video games and then decry the prevention of playing violent video games.  Sure, the latter was made up.......though......not by much.

I finally caved.  After years of not caring what the "experts" said, I bought Fantasy Football editions of Sports Illustrated and ESPN magazine.  Originally I didn't intend to buy them, but I was at Borders for a bit and the magazines caught my eye.  I thought, well....why not, if not just this year.  I'm actually tired of losing and just making the playoffs and then getting stomped.  Maybe this year will be different.

Probably not.

But at least the magazines provide some information to sift through while on the crapper.

I've got to be feeling my age or something.  In efforts to stay back the deteriorating effects of aging, I've taken to listening to younger generation music.  Not that there is anything inherently wrong with that, but I didn't really think my music appreciation would include the likes of Paramore and The Cab, both from Fueled by Ramen Records.  Fall Out Boy is next on my list.  From some of the samples of Folie a Deux, I think I'll get it.

Then I decided to take a look back at my older music.  I hadn't listened to Blood Sweat and Tears or Kansas (other than Dust or Carry on Wayward Son) in a long time, and I've got to say that I've missed it.  While the new music is certainly full of energy (good workout music), it just doesn't have the same musicianship.  I tend to like music that has a strong bass line that moves.  It doesn't have to be a bass line from "What is Hip," but something that makes it distinctive from just a supportive role in music.

That said, I've also added some progressive rock and blues.  Dream Theater and Steve Ray Vaughn come to mind as my newest additions.  DT can be overwhelming at times though.  I am intrigued by their A Change of Seasons album though.   

To UPS:
Again...you do not fail to disappoint.  Friday was the second day of getting your sticky note on my door.  I saw that you were going to try to deliver it again for the third and final time between 10:30AM and 2PM.  Curious.  WHAT IN THE 9 HELLS MAKES YOU THINK THAT I'M GOING TO BE THERE?  If I wasn't there there the first time, nor the second time, why would I be there a third time?  Third time is the delivery charm?  Sorry, but I don't routinely take the middle part of my day off so that I can wait by the door pining for your arrival.  Don't you rotate delivery times so that you increase the chances of finding me at home?

In the past, I've taken your sticky note to central receiving and picked up my package the same day.  I took the courtesy to call ahead so that you'll have my package ready.  What do I find at your location but pure pandemonium!  It's 9PM and there's 20 people waiting to get their packages.  There's one hipster who's been waiting 1.5 hours for his package, and he had to leave without it.  There are others waiting just as long, shaking their heads at your incompetence.  You justify your tardiness by saying delivery trucks have until 9PM to return to the facility.  Pathetic.  My ticket says that you tried to deliver up to 2PM, and I bet that others have similar tickets.  What were you doing between 2-9PM that could cause packages to be "missing?"

Then you have the audacity to tell me that I requested will-call pickup service instead of same-day pickup service?  You know full well that my package has already been pulled since I "requested" will-call, but now you tell me that since I didn't call before the cutoff time of  7PM, that I need come back on Monday?  So much for letting you know ahead of time that I'll be dropping by.  Incidentally, there is nothing on your sticky note that says anything about same-day pickup or cutoff times, so how the hell was I supposed to know?

Oh....wait....your note says:
Deliveries cannot be scheduled for set times.  Should this time range be inconvenient, go to ups.com and enter the InfoNotice number below in the Track Packages & Freight box to make alternate delivery arrangements before the final attempt is made.

Is this your "I told you so?"  That I was supposed to make my inconvenience a little less inconvenient?  That instead of waiting potentially 3 hours for my package, you want me to come to your place to pick a package you can't reliable deliver?  What's your job again?  Cause now I'm getting all confused as to what you actually do when your dry-erase buddy comes on TV.  I thought you were a shipping company who's job is to deliver package.  You thought you could assuage my anger by putting some finer print in your sticky?  Wrong.  You just got me angrier. 

What can Brown do for you?  How about getting my package to me in a timely, efficient manner?  If I do need to pick up a package instead, don't make me come cross-town to get it.  And above all.  Don't piss the customer off.  Is that what they teach you in business school these days?  To piss customers off?  Cause if you continue your shenanigans, I'll show you what'll be brown the next time I come visit you with your sticky note.