Canderous and Cade's Crazy Cantina: a shiny new fanfiction social thread!

TrakNar, can you take up any annoying habits to run them out? Such as smoking cigarettes (if they are non-smokers), playing muzak very loudly, biting your toenails, coughing non-stop, turning off cable/internet/phone claiming that you must have forgot to pay the bill and the office won't be open until Monday, turn the heat up either very high or very low, or take up whistling nonstop (my son does this to me).

 

Smoking is not permitted, and my mom smokes. I'm just telling them to their faces to get the hell out and being a jerk.

 

I have been watching Black Friday videos. It is like the Hunger Games except you don't get food but cheap electronics.

"I volunteer as tribute!"





Well, my new Windows 8 laptop stopped working. It won't even boot up.

 

WINDOWS 8 is evil I tell you! Evil! That makes me wonder if the laptop I had with 8 didn't have a faulty hard-drive, I wonder if it was actually windows 8.

So, Black Friday has come to Canada in the past few years. The mall in town is having some Black Friday event thing tonight. I'm not going but my mother and sister are. It probably won't be nearly as crazy as Black Friday in the US, but there will still be tons of people. I'm just going to stay home, do some studying (story of my next week) and maybe take advantage of some online Black Friday deals. This morning I found my sister a $199 bracelet for $26. Yeah. And I only had to pay $7 for shipping. I hope she likes it, but if she doesn't, I really won't care.

 

"Doorbuster Deals" eh? Apparently they're not being facetious.

This compilation reminds me strongly of how a zombie apocalypse would unfold with today's current standard of fast, somewhat clever zombies with that herd mentality. Baa baa, customer sheeple...

 

I wonder how many people are getting these great bargains only to resell them before Christmas on eBay?

 

Ranted and raved and yelled at my brother about his inconsiderate wife. He plans to leave soon.

 

This does always kill me, apparently it's okay to be up in arms about some people working holidays and not others. Though granted, when I went into the medical field I knew I would have to work holidays and I'm fine with that. You know what happens; my family/friends work around it. This year I worked the night before Thanksgiving and my roommates decided that we'd have a late dinner because I didn't want them to have to do all the cooking and me just eat since I'd be asleep for at least part of the day. When I was at home with my family, we'd do Thanksgiving or Christmas a day or so before or a day or so after, it really isn't that big of a deal. I work Christmas eve and Christmas this year, so my roommates and I will do something the day after. I'll do Christmas with my family whenever I can go home, which probably won't be until the end of January or February.


I've never done Black Friday and I never will. People are insane, nothing that Wal-Mart or the mall sells is worth that much to me. Usually, you can get just as good a deal on line from the comfort of your own home.

 

I almost went with my sister and mother Black friday shopping, but I decided not to and I'm glad I didn't. They said it was crazy, but not worth it. One store my brothers like had like 80% off, so they bought a ton of stuff there, but that was it.

I feel like a horrible student. I should be spending all weekend studying and working on my last paper (and I did spend most of today studying), but tomorrow I am going to get nothing done because I'm going to an artisan fair with my grandmother and then we are having our huge family christmas party on my mom's side. We usually do this on christmas, but my grandparents are going away to help out a cousin who is having a rough time, so we are having it tomorrow. It shall be a fun time of folk music and liver-destroying. And then sunday I shall be fairly hung-over but we are putting up the christmas tree and making chilli. I think it might be a week of energy drinks come monday.

 

Those people disgust me. There's no other word for it than disgust. I bet that nearly everyone there won't even want any of the stuff they bought.

Ask him to get something from a shop, then put his stuff in a bin bag and lock the door with the bag outside.

 

Oooh, what moosemousse said. That would be deliciously evil!

 

My brother left. My mom is leaving tomorrow. I finally have some semblance of peace.

First thing's first... Write up a copy of the rules to give to my brother to give to his wife. Monday I'll be contacting my housing case manager and explaining what happened and ways to correct and prevent that in the future. I'll also talk to my landlord about changing my door code because my brother knows it.

 

Well, since my Windows 8 laptop was under manufacture's warranty Best Buy just gave me a new computer. I swear I get the same Geek Squad dude every time. He is going to start thinking I break my computer just so I can see him.

I hate Windows 8 so much that I was ready to say, "Just give me my money back!" Unfortunately, I couldn't get my money back for my Windows 8 Office. I swear if Windows gives me any crap about reinstalling their software on the new computer I will be really irritated. I pay for all my programs legally, so I should get some respect when my computer crashes and I have to reinstall. I just know I am going to get a message saying, "That keycode has already been used." They gave me a hard time with my first laptop that lasted two weeks. I finally got it working but they originally told me I was out of luck. So sorry, we can't help you. Then they wonder why people pirate their products.

 

Yeah, let's hope they don't give you the runaround again.

And you're right, piracy is much more a customer service issue than it is some sort of high-profit theft operation. When you put out software and don't support it properly, or if it's crap, people are going to go ahead and help themselves to it and in all likelyhood, fix the program for you. Adobe programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premier, etc.) are among the most pirated programs out there that I'm aware of, but that's because the full versions are so gosh darn expensive. But Adobe don't lock up their programs tighter than Fort Knox, because a lot of people actually do buy their product (I paid $300 for Photoshop 7 ten years ago and never regretted it) because it's good and they support it and there's a healthy third-party development for it.

MS Office, however, it just gets put out in the cold. And they wonder why so many folks pirate it, or else use the open-source alternatives instead. Same with video games; they only get seriously pirated when they're crap, or decent but horrifically buggy.

 

I don't pay full price for Photoshop. I always get the student version which is exactly the same as the regular version. If you go to the Academicsuperstore you just have to give them a copy of your current class load or your ID card and you can but products up to 90% off. I have two sons that are students so I have them buy the stuff officially. I think PS is normally some astronomical price and I got it for 80% off or something like that. I don't mind paying a one or two hundred dollars for the program, but not a thousand or so.

 

I'm not going to buy Photoshop anymore. They've changed it to a subscription model where you no longer buy an actual copy of the software, but a monthly/yearly subscription allowing you to use it. And if you don't live in one of the "main" countries in the world then your only option is to subscribe to the full Adobe package, which is ridiculously expensive and unnecessary when all you need is Photoshop. So... yeah. Not gonna do that. I have CS2 and that'll just have to do.

I think it's beyond stupid when companies go "you already installed this on another computer so you can't install it on your new one even though the old one broke straight away. You'll just have to buy it again." That's a bit like saying I need to buy all new furniture if I'm moving house because I don't have permission to use it in the new house. It's stupid. I mean, little wonder that people pirate, right? Not to mention that pirated software/games tend to be easier to install and run, these days.

And it's not impossible to figure out a way to make it work. They did it with Minecraft - you buy an account, and then you can play on any computer, any amount of worlds, etc. I don't mind paying for that because I know I won't get screwed over.

 

Precisely, Iverna. That's why Steam has been such a wildly successful platform. You get an account, buy a game with that account, and it goes with you everywhere. It's a low-down dirty shame that Adobe decided to basically screw everyone over, turning their suite into the equivalent of an extremely expensive MMORPG of a creativity tool.

Jedi_Lover: That was indeed the educational version I got back then, the actual full version was about $700.

 

My apartment is empty. Everyone has gone.

HERMIT MODE ENGAGED

 

The prices for photoshop are crazy, which is why I've never learned to use it. I'm sure I could do it, but I'm not paying that much for something I wouldn't use all that often.

Glad everyone is gone Trak! I know that can be stressful!

 

My last laptop came with Photoshop, it was fun to play around with, but unless you NEED it for work or school, I wouldn't tell anyone to buy it, even at a discounted price.

Trak, can I become a hermit with you? My next 7 days are filled with study groups, exams, and this ONE STUPID PAPER I JUST WANT TO GET DONE! And it's at least -20C every day for the next week. With the windchill, it feels like -30C. I just want to curl up in a ball and hibernate.

 

I've got more family drama lined up, so I'm going to be as reclusive as possible. Well, except for Sundays. I need to go to rehearsal for the Christmas play, and I've been cast as the narrator. I started practicing my dramatic baritone, which will be great to use.

 

Google a program called GIMP. It's basically open-source Photoshop, but without some of the bells and whistles of the full version(s). As for actually using it, the only real hump in the learning curve is working with layers. Once you've mastered that, you're pretty much golden for most applications (save possibly digital painting).

 

Okay, I got the new computer up and running and only a minor run around with microsoft. They gave me a 50 number code to push into my phone and I must have been pushing the buttons wrong or not fast enough, so they transferred me to a person who sorta speaks English. I then read to her the 50 number code and then she connected me to an automated voice who told me a 50 number activation code. I made sure not to tell them I got a computer replacement. That was the problem last time. I said, "My computer broke and I was given a new one so I now have to reinstall my programs." Then I was told I couldn't activate it on a different computer, even though I just bought the stupid program a couple weeks ago and I could prove my original computer had a manufacturer defect. This time I said my computer crashed and I got it fixed and now I have to reinstall my programs. They didn't give me any angst about that.

I still haven't figured out getting my purchased virus protection on, but I have two months of free virus protection so I am not going to sweat it right now. Now I have to get my Carbonite put back on.

EDIT: I got a microsoft gift card from Best Buy but nobody know how to redeem it. I called microsoft support. I have been transferred seven times in the last two hours. I am not sure how much more battery my phone has. I had to send them three screen shots to prove that the button they said should be there isn't actually there. I told them that I need my account changed from Business to Home since I am retired. I said I bet a business account can't redeem gift cards.

Two hours and forty minutes later the lady, after conferring with…I don't know…a dozen people said, "I think the problem may be that it is listed as a business account."

Oh…I wanted to get sarcastic. "Ya think?" The first 90 minutes consisted of me trying to get the account changed. The tech guys gave up and said the store can do a work-around. The rest of the time was the attempt at the work around. I said, "You guys have my email address, my phone numbers and have access to my account. Just change it, redeem my gift certificate and let me know when that is done. This is way too long to screw around. The gift certificate isn't for much, but if I don't get the account changed who knows what else will be screwed up.

 

Stay classy, Microsoft.

And throwing out my two credits on free image programs...

If all you plan to do is basic editing, I suggest Paint.NET. I use it for scanning and basic editing. Photoshop Elements comes into play for art, as I got it bundled with my tablet. But, Paint.NET is free, easy to use, and the GUI doesn't have as steep a learning curve as GIMP.

 

Alright, do any hunters or country folk know what ran across my front yard? Because I think they were looking at me in the upper right hand corner. Those really look like the reflection of two pair of eyes. There is nothing but forest over there.