DammerWillTowelU and then DammerWillBuyANewOne

So I took a half day today and decided to watch a movie and nap. I had gotten in the first 5 minutes of Porky's when Daymonster sent me a message online. I was confused because it said "u suck", and I figured Puyo must have taken part in a little identity theft. Needless to say, I was a little excited that maybe I could get some online vid play in. Unfortunately, my 360 decided to RROD on me. Considering it would cost me $99 to fix the damn thing through the Microsoft return service (my 3 year replacement warranty ran out a month ago believe it or not) I decided to try the towel trick...to no avail. It probably would have only lasted a week anyway. So, I'll probably have to buy a new one now. The real question is whether I go after an Elite or an Arcade. I don't think I need an Elite, and would probably get along quite well with an Arcade. All I really need is my hard drive methinks. Thoughts?

Big Weekend for the Daymonster

This weekend has left the Daymonster tired and full of news. Warning: this post is essentially one long rant.

First, I have my Xbox back. I had to drive about an hour south east of Chicago to some UPS warehouse to receive it. The helpful UPS person on the phone told me to come to the warehouse with a government issued photo ID and picking up the package would be no problem. So after I get my cable hooked up on Friday I got into my car and drove down to the UPS location. Luckily the cable guy came early in the specified 4 hour block so I could drive to the warehouse with plenty of time.

I find the large brown building and proceed to what I think is the entrance for customer pick up. It's a nice glass door with a big UPS batch on the front and wooden paneling on the walls and desk. This door was locked, and after I mouthed through the glass that I was looking for "customer pickup" the angry lady behind the desk rolled her eyes and thumbed in the direction to my left.

I walked to my left and turned the corner of this shitty gravel parking lot area with a small window less metal door. I opened the door to see probably 75 people in a 15'x15' demanding their packages. I stand in like for a good 15 minutes until I get up to the counter and hand the lady my government issued identification card, thinking I am almost out of the woods.

"Sorry, this doesn't have your correct address on it, I can't give you the package."

"Of course it doesn't have the same address on it, I don't fucking live at the address it was trying to be delivered to. That's why I am here, if I lived where it was being sent I would just get it there."

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't release it to you unless you have a piece of mail that has your name on it and this address. Do you have that?"

"Uhhh, yeah, I have that. It's that big fucking box right behind you with my Xbox in it. That's a piece of mail with my name and address on it."

"Well, sorry sir, that doesn't count. We have these procedures to insure people don't steal other peoples packages"

"Good plan, UPS. I am another person with the same exact name (that isn't exactly common) as the real recipient, who is willing to show a valid drivers license, sign for a package in front of multiple video cameras. I also happen to know the 800 digit tracking number, the contents of the package, and have the slip that the UPS driver left. Which I also made sure the real recipient of the package wouldn't get on the first day it was delivered so I could come down to this hell hole and steal it."


So to make a long story a bit shorter, I realized I had 2 hours until the UPS pickup place closed. So I sped home as fast as I could, brought a shoe box full of old mail, sports illustrated swimsuit issue, three NetFlix movies, my old check book and my cable bill and made it back to the UPS warehouse with 5 minutes to spare.

The funny thing is when I set down the shoe box full of shit, they didn't even bother to look at it. They just handed me the Xbox. So there you have it, if you wanna steal someones UPS package, make a big stink, go out to your car, find some random papers and throw them down on the counter.

Back to the cable/internet issue. The cable dude was supposed to come on Friday between 4 and 8. After arguing with the people at the cable company telling them that I can set up the modem and cable box my self and all they need to do is sent the juices to my apartment, they assured me that a technician for 50 dollars had to come out to my apartment. I decided I would have everything set up perfectly and when the cable guy came out I would show him, tell him he had nothing to do and that I refused to pay the 50 bucks.

So I set up everything and decided to see if it was working. (as I just plugged in my TV to the wall when I first moved in and no channels showed up, which is why I then called RCN - My Cable Company) With the modem and DVR hooked up I was getting all of the channels and my internet was running fast. I picked up the cell phone to call RCN and cancel the appointment with the technician. As I started to dial the number I got a call from the cable guy, he was outside.

So I ran downstairs to let him up, when I saw he was carrying a cable box and a modem... Did he not know I already had the equipment? I was debating beating him up the stairs unplugging my cable box and hiding it, thinking I could get a free second box. But my conscience got the better of me and I let him know that I already had the equipment. He told me that in his hand held it said I didn't have any and he then scanned the equipment and updated my account. He then reset the signal and a bunch of other random shit.

I could have had free TV and internet if I just would have hooked everything up earlier. But, on the good news I tested out my connection with multiple games of Halo and COD4... NO LAG... yet.

In other news I purchased a bowling ball on Saturday. It's called the Ebonite Mega X Super Hook. I don't know shit about bowling balls but it was the most expensive one Dick's Sporting Goods had. I'm not a big fan of the color but I do like the dull finish.

Dammer, here are the specs:
15 Lbs 4 oz (I assume the 4 oz. gets drilled out when they due my custom finger holes)
There was some other shit about it being top weighted or something. I dunno.

If you haven't played this game yet, I suggest you try. It's pretty difficult but once you figure out what you gotta do it gets a bit easier. If you need help, watch this or read this.

So I am pretty much all moved in to my new apartment, there is a lot more room and has plenty of beers in the fridge. Who wants to come visit?

Random Babbling from The Daymonster

There hasn't been a lot of good news here lately. Besides SB's new house, things for the Daymonster haven't been looking that good.

Liriano might not make it back in the rotation as early as previously expected. Which really sucks because he was one of my keepers on my fantasy team.

It's been about 45 days since I last saw my beautiful xbox. After about 4 weeks at the repair center they just decided to send me a brand new one. Which sounds great but why did it take them 4 fuckin' weeks to figure that out. Plus when I retrieve my gamertag I will only be able to access all the games and stuff I have downloaded when the xbox is online. But the good news is, it is being delivered today, the bad news is, of course, I don't live where it is being delivered to. Tonight I am going to go to my old place, grab the little note from UPS and try to pick it up at the UPS warehouse.

Also, I have gone about 6 days without cable or internet. It's been hell. Luckily the cable dude is coming to flip the switch for me tonight. He will be there sometime between 5-8pm, and since I work until 5pm, I can guarantee that is exactly when the dude will be there. I guess I shouldn't say dude, but I find it hard to believe that there are any female cable men out there, I mean they are called cable guys or cable men not cable ladies. It's science.

In theory, I could have my xbox and functioning internet this weekend. With the COD4 maps out, and the Halo maps soon to follow, things could be looking better.

Also, SB, you probably already know this but when you looked at your new house did you check to see if there were closets. That is a mistake I made, my new apartment has no closets. There are some things that look like closets when the door is shut but they all have things like water heaters in side or are way to small to actually put anything in them. I don't own any dressers or anything like that so this has caused a problem.

As you can tell if you have made it this far, this post is one that is incoherent and practically unreadable. Partly because I don't really have that much to say, and partly because I am so excited to get my xbox and internet up and running.

Also, any KofC members interested in coming to Chicago to watch the Twins play the White Sox next week? If you don't have two words for you... come'on.

Welcome Back

Hey everybody, it's Monday morning and I am ridiculously tired. After going to Cub Foods at like 5 in the morning on Friday I never recovered any sleep all weekend. I had a great time Friday night and I wish there could have been more KofCers in attendance. But seeing Eternal and SB was a good start.

Also, my sister, who has not bowled more than 5 times in her life, bowled a 189 on Saturday night, in the 7th frame she had this as her score: X / X X X X X. I was impressed. Dammer, Tilla, just out of curiosity, what's your average score?

It's been over 33 days since I last saw my beautiful black xbox. And according to xbox.com, it's still at the service center, which means even if it left today it won't be at my apartment until after I move. So, looks like I will not be getting my xbox back. Bummer. Luckily my PSP and God of War is keeping me occupied for the time being.

Since I am so tired, I am not going to post too much. However I am interested in what everyone did for their Easter weekend, so please share with the rest of us in the comments section. Here are a couple links to get you through the day.

If you want to get your TV, Xbox, PS3, cell phone or any other device colored, this site seems to do a pretty good job of it. You can buy the system directly from them, or send in your old one. Play around with the different color schemes for the Xbox, it's pretty cool.

COD4 is no a MLG game and their pro ladder starts March 31st. Once I get my new internet I would be down to give it a whirl. If you ever wondered how the MLG online ladders work, here is the LONG rule list for the COD4 ladder.

Another Top 10 list from MLG, I haven't seen it yet since my internet is on the fritz, but I imagine it's gotta be pretty good. I guess this one isn't the high pros, it's made up of user submitted footage.

As far as Halo is concerned, the third map in the legendary pack will be revealed tomorrow and the actual maps go on sale on April 15th. Also the Heroic pack will become free late tonight (like 4am CT). That should be good as more people will have them now and we can start playing them on Team Slayer. [Read the latest Bungie update here.]

That's about it. I am bummed I didn't get to see some of you guys this weekend, we gotta plan something soon.

Xbox Support Rant: Part 2 (maybe 3)

It's been 20 days since I had my Xbox. And the good news is it has finally reached the service center, the bad news is I will be moving in about 2 weeks. Well moving isn't really bad news, the bad news is once I move I don't think I will ever get my Xbox. Even if it did come before , I wouldn't be able to get it because it requires a signature. Unless it comes sometime this weekend (which is extremely unlikely) I will not be able to sign for it even on the remaining Saturdays because I will be in MN next weekend and will be moving the weekend after that.

Now, I know what you are thinking. "Daymonster, didn't you call Xbox Support and get your address changed a couple weeks ago?"

Yes, I did, at least I thought I did.

Like you should have already known, shortly after I sent the Xbox in the box they supplied I called Xbox Support and told them my situation and how I would need to change the shipping address to my work address. After about 45 minutes on the phone and giving them every piece of information they could ask for I finally proved I owned a broken 360 and got my address changed.

Call me paranoid but I didn't exactly trust the support people on the other end of the phone. So yesterday I called again to verify that they had the correct address. I talked to Richard, which was for sure a made-up name, I told him my situation and asked if he could read me the address that my Xbox would be sent to when it was finished being fixed. He read me my work address back to me.

This is what I think Richard looked like. Look at his smug face.

Awesome, it really worked I am going to get my Xbox fairly soon. But wait, then he tells me that they can't ship it to that address even though the last person I talked to said they could. I was told that even though it could be updated on their computers there is no way they could get that information to the service center.

I asked him why the other person said it shouldn't be a problem and he said that person lied to me. I then asked him how did I know he wasn't lying to me. He assured me he wasn't. I then asked how do they know what is wrong with the Xbox when they get the package at the Service Center. He said they look up the information one the computer using the ticket number. And I asked when I called and said what was not working on the Xbox originally how did you enter that information in to the computer. And he said he entered it in with the ticket number. So I asked if they could see the new address that was entered with the ticket number. He asked if he could put me on hold and ask his supervisor.

25 minutes later of various Xbox game themes. Richard comes back on the phone.

"No, they can't see that."

He told me my only option was to call UPS and have them deliver it to a different address. I asked him how could I do that, and he told me he didn't know for sure but I would need the tracking number. So, I asked for the tracking number and he told me they don't have one yet because they haven't input the shipping information yet. Why the fuck can't they change the address then?

I also find it hard to believe that I can just call up UPS and have them change the address mid-transit. I have now come to realize that I will never get my Xbox back. Which is frustrating because all Josey needs to do is put it outside his front door with an angry note on it and he gets results.

Top 10 Halo Kills

It feels good to be back. After 3 days of observing intercity kids at a public school, I can now post and read the blog during the day. And in other good news I just saw that my Xbox finally made it to the service department. Hopefully I'll have it back within 2-3 weeks. Also, I am posting this video.

This is not that new but it's still pretty cool to see some of these kills.

Xbox Customer Support can S my D

So I just got off the phone with Xbox customer support to change the address to my work address so someone at work can sign for it. And that took about 30 minutes to do, apparently giving the Serial Number of the Xbox, the Reference number of the request, giving my address, phone number and credit card information wasn't enough for them to believe it was me.

But that's not the worst part. I put in this request about a week ago and according to UPS my empty cardboard box should be at my apartment tonight. I think it is bullshit that an empty box takes 7 days to get to my apartment. I checked the UPS shipper at my building and an empty box (less than 1 lb) would cost about 4 dollars to ship ground. If it was 3 day it would be about $4.45 and if it was 2 day it would be about $5.50. Now I realize that a dollar or two would add up after a while, but fuck that. They shouldn't have every Xbox fail within the first year.

Now if that was all it was; two weeks to get my Xbox back it wouldn't be a big deal. But they said I should expect it to take 3 whole weeks (15 business days) once the Xbox gets to the service department before it would be fixed and then it would be shipped ground it back to me. There is no way in hell that it takes 3 weeks to fix the problem, it means that they are so backed up from every Xbox failing that it will likely sit in a warehouse while other Xboxs that were sent in 20 days ago get fixed. Why don't they hire some more high school kids to speed up the fucking process. Bill, stop worrying about Malaria and World Hunger and fix my fucking Xbox!

So that means, 1 week to get the empty box, 1 week to send it back, 3 weeks to get it fixed, and another week to get it sent back, if I am lucky. For a grand total of 6 weeks. Does that seem ridiculous to anyone else? Tilla, Dammer, others, did it really take 1.5 months to get your Xbox back (and I am not counting the week it sits by your mail box in front of your apartment).

I am looking at flying to MN one of these weekends. Is there any weekend that is better than others? Let me know.

On a good note: my ebay auction is into profit territory. It's a good thing that my Xbox is broken otherwise I totally would have opened the packages.

RROD and New Maps

I always thought it could never happen to me. I just bought mine a few months ago, it's elite, Microsoft got it's shit together. But then it happened. I got a bad case of the Red Ring of Death. I was playing COD4 with Tilla and my Xbox froze twice in a row. I asked Tilla what happened to his right before it went dead and he said it took a while after it started freezing. I believed him but, he was wrong.


This is the last image I have of my xbox working. Believe me, there were about 15 noobs coming around that corner and I was about to mow 'em down. My current Xbox Repair Status is "Waiting for Device at Service Center" man these next few weeks are going to suck. I am thinking about buying a 360 core system for the meantime, or possibly buying another PS3 (because my brother-in-law has my other one). It really sucks because I just started Netflix again and now I can't watch them. I mean I guess I could watch them from my computer hooked to my TV or even on my laptop but still, it's annoying.

I called Xbox Support and I talked to this dude that assured me the empty box is on it's way. He told me to take down a tracking number and do a few things with it. First he said write it on a piece of paper with the letters "SR" in front of the alphanumeric string of characters and tape that to the Xbox, he also said to write that same number below the address when I send it back. It didn't say this anywhere on the website and I was wondering if anyone did this and if it really help expedite the process?

Josey did you get your Xbox back yet? Tilla, what about you? It's really messed up that almost half of the KofC have been struck by this deadly disease.

Dammer's Brother (Maestro, I believe) sent this article from the WSJ about online gaming for money. It looks pretty sweet and once I get my 360 up and running again (God Dammit, it make s me mad just thinking about it.) we should start owning nubs for cash.


Also Bungie released information on one of the three maps from the Legendary Map Pack. There are a few images of the new map titled "Ghost Town" formally "OK Corral" the map looks pretty cool, but then again so did the other three from the Heroic Map Pack and they were kinda lame. Here is the link, tell me what you think.

RROD Information and Blog Vandalism?

Microsoft defines the Red Ring of Death (RROD) as "three lights on the Ring of Light (RoL) flash red on the front of your Xbox 360 console. The upper-right quadrant light is the only light that does not flash red." Read the offical support definition here and the first step of trouble shooting. (I'll let you in on the secret, you are supposed to restart the xbox and hope.)


If that doesn't work (and of course it won't) Team Xbox has the the best resource for RROD in my opinion. Read about the process here.

If you want a short term fix you can do the towel wrapping procedure (you essentially wrap it in towels, turn it on and heat up the machine so the solder re-melts and re-forms the connection) this might work for a couple days but it will eventually go back to the RROD and may void the warranty.

Once you decide you want to send it back go to Xbox Support sight here. And click on "Repair Console" on the right side of the page. You need to log in or register at xbox.com if you haven't.

Also, who changed the colors and format of the site? I am all about change and updating the sight but don't make it look shitty. Everyone knows the Times New Roman font is for school papers not for Clan Blogs. My guess is that it was Josey but I could be wrong.

Since we have been playing other games and not just Halo (COD4, Rockband, etc.) We could create a new title logo. I'll try to make a couple and we can vote on them. What do you guys think?

EDIT: I decided to just go ahead and change it because the red and blue was pissing me off. This is what I came up with. Let me know if you hate it or like it or any other ideas you might have.

RROD - Update (Dammer is Back in the Game)

I don't intend to obscure the influx of new posts, but I've been meaning to post this since last week.



As you are all aware I was boxless for approximately 4 weeks time, with frustration mounting every time I couldn't play vids, watch DVD's or stream music from my computer. Tilla graciously supplied a haven for this XBox refugee to take out his frustrations, but it was still not enough. When you have a deep emotional connection with something, it is hard to function in your daily life. I struggled at work, I was undesirably grumpy most days (reminiscent of an Unky who can't get his daily donut ration). However this is where the story takes a turn for the good.

This last Wednesday I was getting myself ready to spread KofC goodwill and help a coworker lay down sod at his newly acquired house. I figured this would be a good publicity stunt for the masses to look at, and I would also acquire free pizza and beer out of the deal. All told it was a win-win situation. However as I was about to leave, I heard the familiar buzz of someone wanting me to let them into my apartment building. I of course didn't ask who it was through the intercom and just assumed I wasn't going to let in a random thief/murderer/kidnapper, and so I let them in. I politely waited to see if the person would come up to my door, with the hopes of the UPS man in the back of my mind the whole time. When I heard the knock on my door I peered through the peephole and lo and behold the UPS man had arrived bearing with him a box containing a new XBox 360 for me to kill nubs with. Now to the non-KofC member this may seem like a regular ordinary occurence, but when I think back this is what it felt like when I opened the door.



And so after struggling through hours of laying sod, followed by a third place finish at bar trivia, I was finally able to rush home for some Halloween evening Halo play with esteemed KofC harbinger of death Josey Wales. Once again the RROD is vanquished, and peace is restored to what was a very sad and frustrating 360-less existence.

Red Ring of Death Strikes Again

As some of you may know, my XBOX went MIA as of two days ago. 3 red lights have killed the poor thing. Unfortunately neither Gamestop, Target, nor Walmart carried the Core 360 and a quick fix. I am forced to go with a 4 week hiatus and send it in for repairs/replacement. In the meantime however I will play at Tilla's if possible and I plan on purchasing a new TV this coming weekend. On a related topic I am here at home this weekend and plan on celebrating the end of my initial job training Friday night/Saturday if anyone wants to partake. Yesterday/Today at work I made a SAWEET LineRider (8 hours of paid work spent on frivolous activities mind you) that I hope to upload sometime tomorrow if I can find where it is saved, I will give instructions obviously. Until then keep making 10 year olds cry after you hump their corpse.

If you get bored feel free to imagine these guys on the next Guitar Hero (cause they are). Be sure to hit the 3:00 mark.