Nerd Camping

Go to Steve's Blog for an alternate version, but here's the REAL story.

Joe and I were mall-walking, when suddenly my toes froze and started falling off. I couldn't walk any further, so we had to stay where we were -- in front of Office Depot.

Luckily, we had all this stuff with us:

So began the Nerd Camping.

We ate wholesome food (There's a picture of corn on the back! It has to be good for you!) and did math exercises for fun!

Yes, that is a computer and 22" monitor in a tent. No, those aren't cheetos.

Steve Dawg Son Boi, a famous rap star, walked by for no apparent reason, saw how much fun we were having, and crashed the party.

A bum came along looking for cans in the shopping carts. We asked him to join us.

Steve Dawg Son Boi gave us some entertainment.

Steve Dawg Son Boi wouldn't stop entertaining us, despite being kindly asked not to.

10 hours in, the nerd party was still going. Tyler played a game called "Memorize the IPs" while I played Air-COD4.

Joe played the "Visualize the Algorithms" game.

Around 4:30, we looked outside our tent to find a huge line. The brilliant mob was lining up across the drive-lane rather than wrapping around the building on the sidewalk.

The line turned out to be for Best Buy (visible in the distance), where Steve Dawg Son Boi was scheduled to have a concert. We were under the Office Depot awning seen in the foreground.

Eventually Office Depot opened and we went in for no reason. The guy in the black baseball hat was upset to find out he was in the wrong place to hear the Steve Dawg Son Boi concert.

An hour later we somehow walked out with laptops.

Like we said last year... Never again.

Long Stupid Laptop Rant

I bought a laptop on eBay about 2 months ago.
This laptop. --->
It was advertised as New, Sealed in Box, with Window Vista Ultimate. I received the laptop after about a month, but I didn't mind the wait since I got such a good deal.

That is, until I opened it. The laptop's one year warranty expires in 5 months. It's complete with chips and dents, a delicious smokey smell, and Windows Vista Ultimate...with no COA. WHAT A DEAL!

It was already past the seller's "7 day return policy", and they had seemed like decent and reasonable people (they claimed they didn't know much about laptops, thought is was new enough to list as new in the box since is had a box, and apologized), so I emailed them asking for the COA. ( I figured I'd sell the copy of Ultimate to make up for the laptop being used, since it also has a copy of Premium on it. It would still be a good deal that way.)

after many sevral emails that went something liek this they said no and that i am asking to mcuh for what i paid and that this ain't the swapmeet and i must have lost my mind so why am i asking for that stuff kind of things like that ok.

That wasn't getting me anywhere, so I opened a PayPal dispute. After another couple weeks of them not cooperating, oddly enough, they escalated the dispute to a claim (meaning that PayPal decides who wins). They also were kind enough to leave me my first negative feedback out of 600 positives. The PayPal claim is still being reviewed by their super special specialists.

In the meantime, I listed a different laptop on eBay to sell. It sold within a day! This wonderful buyer was "702iamascammer702" named Elvis Presely, living in Las Vegas. No big deal, right? I've dealt with scammers before....just report 'em and let eBay take care of everything. Well, it was no big deal until I noticed something...the wonderful seller in the story above just happened to be "rachiele702" and live in Las Vegas.

WHAT A COINCIDENCE!

Of course, nothing could be proved, so all I got back was my eBay "final-value-fees" for the laptop I listed, and 702iamascammer702 & rachiele702 are still allowed to lurk in the dark alleys of eBay.

Last night I listed the laptop again.

It sold this morning! YAY!

Take a guess at the buyer...

702iamascammer702!
They've already left negative feedback claiming I sent them "a laptop with no COA and is pirated!"

EBAY IS AWESOME!