American Family

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:39:00 +0000

diegomcnamara.blogspot.com

Change your bookmarks!

Well, I'm closing this blog and starting a new one. It's been a fun and evolving run, but the topics have veered away from the "babies" and let's face it, the blog is more about me being an ass and less about the family. I'll still be posting family related news, but the newer blog will allow me to talk about a more diverse range of stuff. So it's all good. The new blog is still in production, so I'll be updating links in the coming weeks.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 04:13:00 +0000

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 03:15:00 +0000

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:20:00 +0000

Tina, our oldest cat, is no longer with us.

Unfortunately, after having some serious problems with her eating, we took her to the vet and they found a tumor that was in her head, which was affecting her jaw movement and even pushing her left eye out a little, causing it to bulge out slightly. The vet did not recommend surgery since it was in her head, and her chances of survival were pretty slim, and she would likely starve to death because she was unable to open her jaw. She couldn't eat hardly anything that couldn't be drank, and even then, it was barely anything. She had dropped down to 3 pounds and had stopped grooming herself.

So we had to let her go. The kids were under the impression that she's with the doctor, but that's about it. They tend to forget about things, so I don't reckon we would have to explain that to them.

I'll post a couple photos and videos later of her later.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:12:00 +0000

Not Procrastinating. Not Entirely.

Well, I was going to start rough cutting a whole bunch of footage tonight when I realized that I actually skipped ahead about three weddings. I was wondering why the footage seemed still so familiar. So I was exporting the wedding feature to edit on DVD Studio Pro when I realized that I should probably back up my blog. It has been 3 years, after all. So I went about the Blogger way to do it, and it simply hung up on some error. So I had to do it the good old way, doing it week by week and cutting and pasting. It took a long ass time, and unformatted with odd spaces, it's all in one file. And god, I kid you not, though it is not formatted, it's near a thousand freakin' pages. I have about 780 plus posts, though not all of them text, or quality for that matter, them a lot of words.

Which also got me thinking that maybe it's about time for me to drop the American Baby/Family blog and leave it on the web to mature or something. The posts are getting more personal, less updated, and it's just mostly me being an ass, all negative, and somewhat ruining the spirit of the earlier posts. Such optimism! Such excitement! Such frequency!

Plus, I can't even upload using the new blogger, so it's a little frustrating because the blog is so freakin' huge. But some ideas are running through the head there. Thinking about reformatting (but not editing) the old blog, putting some footnotes or whatever on it, and then just getting it bond on a book. I don't expect anyone to buy it, but at least it'll be around in hard copy for the kids to use it to incriminate me later.

I dunno, I am seriously considering hanging up this blog though. Will keep you updated.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 04:39:00 +0000

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 23:24:00 +0000

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man		75%
Superman		55%
Batman		55%
Hulk		55%
Robin		47%
The Flash		45%
Iron Man		40%
Wonder Woman		37%
Green Lantern		35%
Supergirl		27%
Catwoman		20%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 09:51:00 +0000

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 18:16:00 +0000

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 07:06:00 +0000

Is Capitalism Supposed to Feel So Dirty?

For the few of you who have been keeping track of my Nintendo Wii purchase/reselling plans, a.k.a. Diego's Slow Descent into Capitalism Guilt Hell, I can finally say that it has reached its evil conclusion. After a few days of listing (and relisting) it on Craigslist, someone offered to buy it for $400. We met at a CompUSA, in the rain, and he drove up and called me on my mobile. I told him the merchandise was in the car, and he checked it out, snorted a little sample, gave me 400 bucks out of an envelope, and we parted ways.

So, the first Wii sold on Ebay for about 415 for the Wii and Zelda, and after the evil ebay and listing fees, it was actually only about 80 bucks ahead. This sale was about 150 ahead, minus taxes, which means that though I didn't completely pay off my own Wii system, it certainly took a big chunk of my own expenses.

Was it all worth it? Yes and no. I mean, sure, it took about 230 bucks off my final purchase, and all that was just a little more determination in waking up earlier, waiting in line, and fronting the money. There is a certain rush when you finally get a buyer who will match your price, and it's nice when you feel like the work you've done is paying off.

Then again, there is the anxiety, the guilt, and the feeling like you're doing something that's morally iffy. For the record, no, it's not illegal. It's merchandise scalping of some sort. And really, this is an gaming entertainment console - it's not a necessity, and it's not really something that'll deprive any humankind of any basic needs. It's a luxury item with a promise of fun, and that's about it. It doesn't dispense water, nor can you slaughter it for meat. You could attempt to mate with it, though the risk of electrocution may discourage that. All and all, this is something people can go without. So if someone wanted to pay for it, I shouldn't feel bad for them. After all, I did stand in line, stay informed, and fronted the money for it. I also spent the time researching and listing it, and held on to it for 2 whole months till the peak of Christmas shopping. And if someone wanted to buy it, who the hell am I to stop them? If they have the resources and they willingly reallocate their funds to purchase it, it's their free will.

That said, second guy I didn't feel too bad. He seemed younger than me, and he was driving a pretty nice Mercedes Benz. So, hardware lust has its price. The ebay customer was a little tougher for me, because it was a grandmother with no bidding history, and she wanted to get it for her grandkids. Yeah, you tend to feel a little idiotic and selfish because this grandmother just wanted to make her grandkids happy for Christmas. I can't help but feel like the smoking dealer on the street corner, looking to profit off the opportunity of a shortage. But again, she put the bid in, and won it. I didn't knock on her door.

Yeah, so I'm a lousy profiteer. I can't not feel bad about the whole thing. But the money's going back into my credit card bill (Whee!) because that's where I fronted the money from after all. Whatever extra money from the other sale was gone because our cat decided to get all old on us.

But at least this whole thing is behind me now. I'll probably never be selling anyone drugs or guns in my lifetime, because I'd be way too worried about the people I sell it to, and what they could be doing with the money. Notice I didn't say no about selling sex, due to the fact that it concerns the act of making someone feel good, you know, aside from the slavery/low self-esteem/disrespectful to the body God gave me/whoring overtones.

Of course, if you know me or better yet, if you've seen me, you'd know that I wouldn't/couldn't do that anyway.

Would I ever do anything like this again, you ponder? Ask me when Playstation 4 comes out.

DSC 1882

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 20:39:00 +0000

He looks a bit like Harry Potter in this one. It's either determination in his eyes or he's peeing.

This was at the Children's Museum in Seattle. They had a dressup box.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:38:00 +0000

It's a Wonderful Life

So my wife gets the credit for actually sitting me down and making me watch this Holiday Classic. It's not that I don't want to watch it - I knew it was good for two reasons - Frank Carpa, and Jimmy Stewart. But it's just one of those things that you know that you can put off indefinitely, because you know it's always going to be there, like Gone with the Wind, or some of the other classics.

But anyway, yes, I do like it, and yes, I was crying at the end, even though I actually know how it ends. But it was still a good movie, like these old classics tend to be, when they were written by screenwriters rather than clowns. Less on spectacle and more on story.

We've had a pretty good Christmas season so far, and one of the funner things we did was to give my wife's older daughter a used iMac, along with a digital camera that sucked a little. We're getting the camera thing taken care of, but they really like their computer. It's a notch better than the old iMac I used to have, but it's just right for them right now. It can do photos and music, and though it won't be current enough to run online goodies like trailers and whatnot, it'll do fine for what they need. It was nice to see that they were grateful and happy about their gift, and the grandkids loved their toy as well.

We went to Zoolights at the Point Defiance yesterday, and I forgot the most intregal part of night photography - my tripod. So I don't have many photos of it, just some. The trip was fine, even though the car trips were too long because of Christmas traffic, but I think the best part was the trip home, when the kids were in the back just having a ball with their grandma. I think the kids certainly enjoy my mom, and it was really nice to hear them playing back there.

Well, back to work for me. Lots to do, really behind.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:33:00 +0000

Zoe talks up a storm during dinnertime.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 09:12:00 +0000

The Cute Kids

During lunch today, Zoe and I were talking about something and where it was. I know, it's vague, but go with me on this.

"Is it on your tummy?" I asked.

Zoe lifts up her shirt and looks at me.

"No, it's my bellybutton." she answers.

"Oh."

She pulls down her shirt.

"It's hiding."

Then she covers her eyes.

"1, 2, 3..."

Playing hide and seek with her belly button has to be the funnest game I can think of.

And tonight, we decided to go to "Happy Feet", an animated penguin flick that has a rather heavy dose of environmentalism and scary carnivores, to make up for not going to Zoolights. The kids were pretty good during the whole movie, though Alex had to be reminded time and again that we had to speak quietly during the movie.

Zoe was talking through one of the parts, and I told her that we have to watch the movie and had to be quiet.

She expressed minor whininess and said, "Hey, I talking to Alex. Hey..."

But she was pretty good throughout.

Alex was very much into the movie, and here are a couple spoilers - if you don't intend to find out more about the movie, now is a good time to stop.

So the penguins refers to humans as "aliens", and this is referenced throughout the movie. Anyway, during the third act, some humans fly in on a helicopter and they emerge themselves to the penguins, looking rather like, well, humans.

But Alex sees them and he says, "WOW. ALIENS."

Talk about immersive empathy.

Anyway, this flick is rated PG, and I honestly think that though it isn't a bad movie, it fell a little short for me. I think some of the parts are a little too scary, a little preachy, and really, I wouldn't have minded if the whole movie was about the dancing and singing. I was getting a pretty good vibe off of that. I think I wouldn't have minded if this film had little peril in it, and just had the comedy. But I suppose that would make it more adult-oriented.

And Robin Williams is fine in it, though he can't really voice two characters who interact with each other. There's not enough distinction to really tell them apart. Other than that, there is some dubious racial stereotyping, but maybe I'm reading too much into it. Beautiful film, a nice decision to incorporate real world footage into the animated flick.

Recommended, though for the older kids.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 09:08:00 +0000

Update on Job Thing

My wife got a call from the union today, and I guess they're offering the job back under some conditions. It shouldn't be bittersweet news, but it kinda is. I think we had hoped to cut off this chapter and hopefully begin a new one, but in the end, it'll be nice to have that security again. But it was like being jolted twice, once out of routine and then back into it. She meets with them tomorrow to discuss some details.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 06:13:00 +0000

Shafted by the Man

Perhaps it's a really good thing that I'm not with Freddy's anymore, because it would be awkward and infuriating to work for a company that has this stupid rule. This is common knowledge if you've worked for the company, but nonetheless a number of people still fall victim to it.

If you're a checker, and you make the mistake of returning a written check back to a customer, you're instantly terminated. Never mind that it was an accident, or that none of that money actually went in your pocket, or you don't even know the lucky bloke who just got his check back. It's instant termination. Regardless of the amount of the check, or the number of times you've done it.

Well, chalk up my wife as the latest notch in this stupid rule.

Okay, she's technically suspended, which is their pansy ass way of saying they're too indecisive to tell her that. But we're not really holding our breath on this on, and she's reeling from it kinda hard. I mean, she's dedicated 19 years to this company, and they're accusing her of god knows what. And the amount of the check? 60 bucks or so. That's it. One bloke drove a forklift into a water pipe at work, and it was 20 thousand dollars of merchandise ruined, and he kept his job. Hell, I accidently broke some idiot's tailgate handle, and she fleeced us with some phony claim for a 400 dollar handle, and I never missed a day of work. But an honest mistake of returning one's check? Out the door you go, bub.

I don't know why they still have this stupid rule, because any employee of this company who's worked for more than a couple years will know, there are better, more efficient, more productive, more rewarding ways to steal from the company than returning a stupid ass check. In fact, word is one of the tills was short 600 bucks and no one is accountable. Money can be shorted, and nothing happens. But god, you return a check and you're gone.

I'm pissed at the company.

Anyway, our plan right now is that I'm applying for something full time again, even though I haven't completely caught up with weddings. It's more important I find something first because then she can find a job that goes around my hours, instead of me having to stick with some part time crap because my wife has another part time job with irregular hours.

Financially, we're doing okay for now. Thankfully we're not going to be kicked out because of rent, but at the same time, our bills will pile and wedding seasons' not exactly on fire right now. I spent the whole day applying for a couple editing jobs, hopefully I'll at least score an interview. In the meantime, we're boycotting the store because after 19 years of service, this company does not earn another dime off us because it does not recognize the true value of its employees.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 04:05:00 +0000

It's sad and impulsive and a luxury item, but we got this for ourselves about a week ago.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 03:31:00 +0000

James Kim

I talk about it on my other website, Chipper Report, but there's just a few more things that I didn't mention about it.

It has been pretty much on my mind for the past few days, and I was pretty bummed about hearing that he didn't make it yesterday - but it also got me to thinking about my own life. How it doesn't take a high-risk job or sport to have your life cut short. Fate doesn't really care if you're Steve Irwin or James Kim, if you have children or a loving wife. When it's your time to go, that's it.

Oh one hand, it reminds me that yeah, working out everyday and eating right all the time can't stop the inevitable, so just enjoy life. But I guess the other thing is that I've thought about my own life, and how I need to leave my legacy. Otherwise I would just have died a videographer, which isn't much to remember by. It reignites my purpose to do a film by 30, so after this year's weddings are caught up, I really gotta start writing again.

Sigh. And I keep checking the news, as if something else might change.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:39:00 +0000

Got my new Canon scanner today, and in addition to being a better scanner for my business for doing photo montages and whatnot, I can finally work on archiving old photos for myself, and working on my Mom's much belated birthday photo montage. Unfortunately, the first two albums I sifted through mostly had photos of me. But I think it's all interesting, so I'll bore you guys with some of them.

Only in the seventies can a little boy get away with that. I'm not sure if the outfit is pink or red, but I used to think that it was my outfit that was making the rhino in the background get riled up. Today I discovered that my Dad had written in the back of the photo, "Who's the adorable little fellow?" or something like that. Fellow, he says.

This was during a birthday party, probably when I was 4 or 5. I specifically remember that I was trying to launch one of the little egg fellows and hoping that the photo would catch the egg in midair. I think it was one of the first birthdays that I remember, because I remember we got a lot of toys, including a bike that you pumped air into that made it go. The table behind my head sorta has an interesting story. I think it's that table anyway. Once someone was babysitting my brother and I and I hid under that table while my brother hid under the kitchen table. She freaked out and it was the last time she watched us.

My 2nd birthday. A picture of us when we were still a foursome. And that's my Dad, whom I haven't seen in 16 years or so, and have contacted briefly when Alex was born. You'll notice two cakes because my brother and I have birthdays only three days apart. For a long time we just shared a cake, or maybe it's after that that we shared a cake. And again with the pink outfit.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:10:00 +0000

The Wii has this avatar creation thingy that doesn't work with anything yet other than Wii Sports, but already we've got our family up. I look like I have a receding hairline, but that's the closest to my haircut as it gets.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 11:18:00 +0000

Days Like This

Every once in a while, one of those "clown" days just happen. Neither terrible nor great, just unusual, and a little more drama than I can handle. Days like this when I feel like everything spiraling in one direction while I'm looking the other way.

As some of you might know, we got hit a little harder than usual with the weather this week, some big ass cloud with a cold demeanor came along and dumped a measly 2-3 inches of snow, maybe, and then made it all problematic by freezing it all up. Back in Bellingham where I used to be, there is significantly more snow to contend with, so much so that a lot of people are stranded where they're at. But here, not so much. Well, depends on where you are, I suppose. A lot of people, including my wife, didn't go to work because it was difficult getting anywhere on these frozen roads.

But anyway, I suppose it started yesterday, when I decided that it might be fun to go to Bellevue Square. We headed out at around rush hour, but found ourselves in a parking lot situation on the road. After about 15 minutes of not budging, we just went to the local mall instead, watching the snow fall on the mall's outside Christmas tree. In one instance, Alex wandered inside the tree and I was shouting for him, not realizing that it was actually a photo booth with a Santa in there. Anyway, Alex was just so impressed with the whole deal - he kept saying, "Santa gave me a candy cane!" for a good portion of the evening.

When I watched the news later and realized that many people were still trying to get home, or that their cars were abandoned on the freeways, and that they were still on the interstate that I was trying to get on to go to the mall, I felt a little stupid. Like I was the one running into the burning building because I wanted a nap.

So, the snow froze, and we were out today, no biggie. The vet had called and mentioned that our cat, Tina, was doing pretty good, but the medication would have to be skipped because we had reached the limit that I had set. Well, I asked my wife to call in and ask how much the amoxicillin would cost, and it turns out it was just 15 dollars. So the vet was just assuming that we bought a sickly cat in to be checked out, only to leave without the medication that would help her be normal again. Anyway, after the 500 dollar limit, $15 is really not the issue. So yeah, we're smarting from that bill, along with my business taxes. Another 500 plus there. 1,000 in the hole in two days.

Anyway, Tina's doing okay, despite the lack of concern from one of her owners who showed a lot of indifference when she was informed (albeit incorrectly) that Tina could possibly be put down. I guess there are more important things to tend to, like Thanksgiving dinner with her father. Oh wait...

Back to the clown day, Alex and Zoe were doing fine, enjoying their snow day and playing with snow, and my wife and I had a rather brutal snow fight, whereby we didn't just lob snowballs at each other, we threw it at each other's faces. I popped some snow at her face and when she looked up, her glasses were white with snow, and they were on the inside of her glasses. Yeah, I felt like a jerk. She got me back. But then I got her back again. I think I might have damaged some nerves on her face too.

But yeah, Alex woke up kinda upset, and he was crying for a bit, so I tried to hug him and comfort him for a bit. But he was crying unusually harder than normal, so I was a little worried.

What's wrong, I ask.

Brgughhhhh, he answered.

So while my wife cleaned him up, I did the sheets and we had to tell Zoe to stay off the bed. He felt better afterwards, laughing and whatnot, especially after we gave him a freezer pop. Later on, he had some water and up it went again, all over the carpet.

"Not again!" he said.

So we cleaned him up again, and once again, he didn't have a fever, or dizziness, or any other symptoms, he just felt better afterward. I said to my wife, "Maybe it's me. Everytime he sees me he throws up."

We decided to try something lighter for dinner, but sure enough, we saw dinner again. We gave him a little water, but that was it. Nothing else for tonight.

Yeah, I had to steam clean the carpet tonight.

Oh well, maybe tomorrow will be better. Or at least cheaper.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 06:50:00 +0000

Things Rising from the Dead

Well, not really, but I'm no longer witty anymore, so it'll have to do.

Stumbled upon my old blog, The Procrastinator Triumphant. I was pretty sure I had killed the blog, but I guess nothing's really dead when it comes to the internet. I read a little bit of it and I was like, impressed. The vocabulary! The vulgarity! The blantant lack of respect! Crazy. It was kinda a nice reminder that everything changes, no matter how similar and boring you might think it is.

Well, that's enough penny philsophy.

So the "Love" album came out today, and I am quite curious and a little disappointed in a way. I'm listening to the preview on the Beatles.com website, and some of it sounds quite the same, and some of it just seems wonky. Like Number 9 from the White Album just broke free and tried to infest the rest of the albums. It's a strange remix/reworking, not really what I expected. I think when I think remix, I think of Fatboy Slim and other kinds of DJs just putting in beats and souping it up. The remix seems different and yet, very much the same. No word on whether or not I'll be getting it. Don't know how I feel about it.

So as promised, the thing about the Wii.

I think it's really something for the company to reinvent itself. I think in a lot of ways, Nintendo is like Apple - a formerly very strong company that's having to fight for its life, and realizing that the best thing going for the company is its innovation. Instead of pimping out their next-gen console with micro-processors and Blu-Ray madness, it decided to go back to basics, and do something different. Does it pay off? So far, yes and no. The games are certainly different in their feel - you seriously couldn't sit down for hours playing like you would some other games, because fatigue does set it when you're swinging, twitching, jerking and extending your appendages to do what you need to do in the game. I think that the launch games are okay, but definitely there needs to be more games to gauge. And half of the features like internet, the Virtual Console, Wii News and Weather are still offline, so it's really tough to tell. Some of the other games might have online capability, but I don't like a lot of the other games, so I'll have to keep waiting for one.

Like I said, I welcome the new control scheme, though there has been a number of times I'd really just like to relax my arms and sit down. But it's fairly difficult to do so since there's so much require movement. Shooting games like Red Steel doesn't fair too terribly well when you're sitting because there isn't enough room, and it's tough to pretend to shoot from the hip.

The lack of CD/DVD drive is a little weird, not that I need one, but hey, it would be cool. The Photo Channel is nice, having the ability to preview your SD photos, but then again, it doesn't read the movies from my Minolta. It'll help when I need to show my recent photos, but by no means anything more than that. And they really should have done the photo-editing more justice by making it more open ended, like Mario Paint. It gives you a lips stamp and a star stamp, which really should be replaced with a keyboard or fonts.

All and all, it still comes back down to gameplay I suppose. There's still something to be said about a standard controller and console whereby I don't have to stand or fling my arms around to be entertained. But Wii is a great party machine, a good console for a household with stagnant kids, and generally a happy little machine.

Doesn't play Gears of War, but hey. I don't have 600 bucks either.

Sorry, 1,200 bucks, if you want to get your hands on one.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 02:48:00 +0000

This is for Dansen's request to post some Wii photos.

My wife playing Rayman. It should be noted that most of the time when we're playing the Wii, we're usually standing. You don't have to, but it helps get into it.

Where it's located in the entertainment center. It's actually small enough to place vertically on a shelf, surprisingly.

Everything I got, except Zelda, which I'm selling. Just not that much into Zelda.

To compare, the Wii next to a standard DVD case. It's really not much thicker either, I think I read that it was 3 DVD cases thick.

Wii!

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:42:00 +0000

Wii Timeline

Never thought I would be one of those folks who camp out overnight for a console launch, but since I've been obsessing about it for months, I thought I might as well get one. Now we had two preorders which we were planning to put on ebay, but we decided to get one for ourselves with the possible profit from the sale of both Wiis.

Anywho, I had a wedding yesterday, an eight hour gig that ended at 9:30pm, so I thought I'd try for the midnight launch at Freddy's. But getting there, I had the feeling that it wasn't going to happen, because the line was already from one end of the building to the other. I approached the last guy in line and he was the 120th, and since I knew there were only going to be 90 Wiis, I told them good luck and went home.

Now despite my educated guess that I will probably be within the 99th customer range if I went to Target at 2 or 3 in the morning, I couldn't relax and my headache wasn't getting better, so I decided to head over to Target at 12:30am, some 7 and a half hours before the store was to open, and camp out there. I wore flannel jammie pants under my jeans, a t-shirt, a fleece sweatshirt, and two jackets, a baseball cap, and packed a sleeping bag, my laptop, some magazines, and a folding chair and headed over to Target.

When I got there, the line had grown slightly since I swung by two hours before, so I staked out my spot, and got comfy. I tried reading, but the words weren't making a whole lot of sense since my headache was still kicking my butt. But here's the approximate timeline.

Got there. Found out that there were a few people there who were in other lines at other places. The guy in front of me had been at Toys R Us for 2 to 3 hours and he was just 2 people short of getting a ticket. He headed over to Target immediately without packing for the over night. There were canopies, tents, sleeping bags and lawn chairs strewn out. Mostly guys, some girls who just showed up to offer support, snacks, and sleeping bags.

One of the guys at the front of the line, a husky looking dude, was pretty livid. He insisted on counting off each person because the line that he was line grew and bumped him out of candidancy for a Wii. I was number 47. He told everyone that if anyone tried to jump in line, to let him know, since him and his friend were bouncers.

Meanwhile, a couple of teenagers, sharky looking dealers that crept with intention and greed, come on and decided to try to sell their Wii to us. They didn't have it in hand, but they were telling us that they would sell it for $350, a hundred dollar profit.

Nobody bit, everyone seemed to be in the long haul. However, at some point the guy in front of me had offered $325 for it, because the two sharks came back and told him that someone at the front of the line had offered $360 for it, and if he wanted to match it. The guy passed, and the two sharks went back to their cars, and left. Thing is, nobody offered any money up front. Like I said, sharks. I think I was surprised that these two kids were such hustlers.

It was almost a whole hour before someone got behind me. He said hi and I said, "Hello."

"No?"

"No, I said, Hello."

This was a party of four, a dad, a lady, and a ten year old girl, and they were each wanting to get one each. I highly doubt using your children to get a console seems rather dubious. But hey. Whatever. The poor little girl had to sleep had to endure the cold wind and temps in a sleeping bag, and the chairs were toppling on her for a while too.

I space out after a while, I decided not to worry about the laptop in my bag and put it back in the trunk. I got into the sleeping bag because my butt was freezing, since that was the direction the wind was blowing. So I sat in the chair with the sleeping bag up to my nose, and my hood up. I probably looked a little odd, this clump with glasses looking out. I wasn't sleepy, but I was spacey, so I just closed my eyes and focused on the music. It's nice when once in a while, you don't worry about your playlist, and you just listen to the song. I like to isolate certain instruments, and listen to the different sounds in a song sometimes.

The trickle of people slow down and the guy in front of me attempts to sleep, despite his vocal paranoia of beetles climbing on him. He didn't have a sleeping bag, but a blanket and a hooded sweatshirt. The guys up front were hardcore, staying awake and gabbing about games and whatnot. A gaggle of them clutched onto their Nintendo DS-es, though I suspect many gave up after a while because their fingers couldn't withstand the cold.

I space out for a while, and then time passes. Sometimes I open my eyes, staring into the parking lot, and guiltily enjoying the nothingness of nothing. I decided after a while that if I pull the sleeping bag over my head, it was actually kinda comfy. Note that throughout the whole night, I was sitting in my chair. Didn't want to lay on the cold ground.

At around five the crowd slowly grew, and I decided that now was a good time to start a movie, so I put in "V for Vendetta." At around six, Target employees came around and roused everyone up, and told us to get into a straight line and to clean up the sleeping bags and lawn chairs. We did, so that we could wait in line while standing up in the cold without our blankets. They came around occasionally to answer questions, and hand out popcorn. There were many hopefuls thinking they might open early, but really no such luck. I put my stuff away, and now had to stand and wait for two hours. My chair decided that it wasn't going to accomodate my fat ass anymore, so it broke.

At 7, adding insult to injury, a trickle turned into rain. I was figeting all over, bouncing on the spot because I was tired, rocking out, cold, and I had needed to pee since 2 am. Finally, they announced that they were letting 30 in at a time, and I felt no remorse for the 100 and up customer who didn't get a Wii because, well, they didn't commit. Anyway, they went home, and we went in the store, where the campers were plunking down money for the system.

My grand total was 498 and some change, and I tried not to wince too much, reminding myself that I was going to get a return on them later.

And I went home, and passed out on the bed.

Impressions of the Wii Later.

diegomcnamara@gmail.com (Diego) — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 10:57:00 +0000

I've been to so many wedding receptions that play this (including the one I'm working on) that it's laid eggs in my head. It's not a bad song, but it really shouldn't be this catchy.