No box for Xbox?

It’s been a day over a week since I logged the repair ticket on my Xbox Elite and still no sign of a box being mailed to me to ship it for repairs.

Out of curiosity, I sent a message to @XboxSupport on Twitter and asked how long it usually takes, at the same time as sending a friend an email asking how long it took for him to receive the box.

My friend replied: 2 days.

@XboxSupport replied: In most cases a box is not sent.

Well that certainly explains why I haven’t received one.

I told @XboxSupport that people I know have all received boxes, which is why I have been waiting. They replied: You will want to find a box to safely ship it in and use the shipping label provided. Umm… yeh, I kinda figured that.

I told them I would use the box it came in, and they said: You will want to use a box other than the 360 box and be sure to keep your hard drive and any other accessories.

The box it came in is suitable for buying it in, but not for shipping it in? Not too surprised.

Anyway, when I got home I found a good box that our DVD player came in, and modified the foam supports that it used to suit my Xbox. Samsung sure knows how to pack their hardware.

My Xbox is now packed, labeled as per the UPS instructions, and ready to be sent. We’ll swing by the UPS store on the way home tomorrow and send it on its way.

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• My Xbox Elite - R.I.P. (scottpaterson.org)

How I made someone’s day

I’ve complained about this before. Up until today, I’ve never had the opportunity to confront any of the offenders, other than give them the hairy eyeball.

At around 7:30 this morning I got my chance.

As I approached the median, to turn left across it and into the Esso/Tim Horton’s parking lot, a grey Dodge Neon crept out of the exit, crossing the lane, to make a left turn into the lane that I’m leaving. This is illegal between 7:00am and 9:00am.

I slowed down and stopped on the median, waiting for an opening to continue. She continued to creep across her lane to break the law.

I had no opening, and my chance of finding an opening was diminishing quickly. Why? Because stupid in the Dodge Neon was now blocking the traffic on that side, to make her illegal left turn.

This is the very reason why there are signs indicating NO LEFT TURNS between 7:00am and 9:00am, Monday to Friday. There are two on the median, and one at eye level at the end of the Tim Horton’s drive-thru. You can’t miss them. (This is the location as seen on Google Street View, before the two signs went up on the median; you can see the one sign at the exit from the Esso/Tim Horton’s.)

We were at a stalemate. I couldn’t cross because she was blocking the traffic, which was blocking me, and she couldn’t continue to break the law because I was blocking her.

She then made a really bad decision; she gestured with her hands and mouthed something at me like I was the one at fault. Her window was up, so I couldn’t hear anything she said.

My window was down. I yelled back and pointed at one of the two signs on the median, “Look at the sign! No left turns!”

She gestured again as if to say Pffft… who cares…

The traffic continued to build up. I yelled back, and pointed to her right, “Go that way!”

Seriously, it’s not that difficult. Turn right and then make a legal U-turn where the median breaks 5 seconds down the road.

She mouthed something that looked like “I can’t” and shook her head.

I yelled again, “GO THAT WAY!” I don’t know why I bothered; clearly her Dodge Neon was not capable of turning right. My bad?

Again, she said “I can’t.”

Traffic started to build up behind me. A few cars drove around her, leaving an opening for me, so I continued across.

As I passed her window, I took the opportunity to express my displeasure and yelled, “You’re breaking the fuckin’ law!”

I sincerely hope their day continues to be as bright and cheery as it began. :)

Week 43 - Hot Wheels!

Hot Wheels!, originally uploaded by Twister65.

Another DailyShoot.com entry makes it into my Project 52. That's kinda like cheating... or is it? :)

This one had to do with choosing something that was nostalgic... a childhood sport, game or activity. I chose Hot Wheels because I used to play with them as a kid. It's something I don't see many kids doing these days, at least not in the same way that I did when I was young.

Every spring, someone's parents would receive a truckload of topsoil, or sand, or dirt dumped onto their drive way. For a few days, it became our playground, and we'd build intricate roads and tunnels on this "island" and drive our cars for hours. Kids just don't do that anymore. The don't have the same imagination that we did.

With this entry, I’m also trying a different layout that Flickr’s integration publishes. I think I like the larger photo.

Name change? WTF?

Yep, I changed the name of my blog. And I added a fancy new graphic that took all of two or three minutes to throw together (subject to change). It took longer trying to figure out what code in the blog template forced it to be centered. *sigh*

So now the name matches the domain name.

I recently started digging into my family ancestry and figured that naming it with my own name might make it easier to find, should I ever decided to break off with some family tree stuff here as well.

Incidentally, you can also get here using www.scottpaterson.org. I thought that scottpaterson.org would also work, but apparently it doesn’t. I must have messed it up.

My Xbox Elite – R.I.P.

My 2½ year-old Xbox Elite died on Saturday morning. No, not the RRoD (Red Ring of Death) or the E74 error, both of which every Xbox owner dreads.

I simply wouldn’t power up.

On Friday night while I was playing Red Dead Redemption, I noticed what can only be described as “snowing in the wild west”. Yet, it wasn’t snow. I booted up Blur for a look-see and the symptoms were the same. I continued to play for a ½ hour or so before powering it down for the night.

I searched the web to find that this could be an early indicator of the E74 error, which is basically an overheating GPU.

On Saturday morning, I grabbed my can of compressed air and cleaned the rear grill of the Xbox, in an attempt to help keep it cool when I turned it on. It wasn’t extremely dusty, but it had more than I expected.

After I was done, I hooked it all back up and hit the power button.

Nothing. No lights. Nothing at all.

I checked all connections and still nothing.

As much as I feared the RRoD or E74, either of those would have been a good alternative since both are covered by a 3-year warranty. But dead meant I’d have to pay to get it repaired.

No, I wanted to play games this weekend. So, I went out to Future Shop and picked up one of the newer “Arcade” Xbox models. As basic as they come. For $200 plus tax, I got a new Xbox with a 1-year warranty and another controller. The alternative was be to pay ~$120 and wait 2-3 weeks to ship it to MS and have them ship a refurb back to me.

I decided that I will still get the old one repaired, to keep as a spare and put in the basement for the kid to play. Time will tell if this is a good idea or not.

I logged a ticket on MS’s Xbox site and they sent me an email with a UPS label to print out, and I’m currently waiting for the shipping box to arrive so I can send it to them.

That’s pretty much the whole point of this blog entry – to keep track and see exactly how long the entire process will take.

• Saturday, May 29 – logged the repair request in the afternoon (credit card was required)
• Sunday, May 30 – received an email from UPS containing links to: instructions, the UPS return label to print, and a receipt.

Stayed tuned for more. :)

Week 42 - Yellow Lily

Yellow Lily (42/52)
Originally uploaded by Twister65

For some reason, I thought the yellow lilies in our front flower bed bloomed earlier than this in previous years. I checked photos from previous years and found that they usually bloomed in early June. I guess they're right on time.

There are many buds this year too. More than I've seen in previous years. This is one of the first and actually opened up the following day.

Week 41 - Container

A container
Originally uploaded by Twister65

Yeh, I'm a day late... I was busy socializing on Saturday and then we had fireworks in the evening, and then I had to watch the series finale of LOST. Busy, busy, busy! :)

I originally shot this for Dailyshoot.com, but it really turned out well so I chose it for this week's Project 52 posting.

I fired off about 5 or 6 shots before I ended up with this one. I placed it on my dining table, and the only lighting I had was from the light fixture above the table. I sat it close to one end of the table, and then I sat at the opposite end and almost rested the camera on the table to get the shot.

This container came from St. Maarten while I was on a Caribbean cruise that I won in 1989. I remember arriving on the island with hundreds of other people and we were all making our way toward these large taxis to ride into town for a day of shopping. Before we could get there, locals were lined up ready to sell their wares. I think I paid about $3 or $4 for this. It's cute... and currently holds loose change on my desk. :)