Hello 2010 & 2009 Holiday Wrap Up

Yes, BAFW has been on a sort of hiatus while I was on vacation the last couple of weeks of December 2009. What was I doing? Pretty much enjoying some much needed family time. Christmas came and went and it was better than last year. So that's a plus. My wife told me she didn't need to return/exchange a single present I gave her for Christmas, which is a rousing success for me, since in the past I've gotten her things that have left her scratching her head wondering if the gift was really for her.

And don't get me started on what she got me. I won't list everything, but she got me comics, videogames, movies and some other geek-related goodness. That woman knows me well.

After Christmas, we ventured to Las Vegas for the third time this year, but this time, we got comp'ed rooms and we came back without any of our gambling money, but all of our entertainment money was still intact. So, it's not exactly breaking even, but we had a great time there. Set us up with massages at a spa and get us some penny slots and we're in heaven in Sin City.

We didn't stick around for New Year's in Las Vegas. I've done that a couple of times and it's never been great. Just crowded. And drunky. We found our own crowded and drunky spot here in Los Angeles at my wife's friend's work party. Open bar and free food guaranteed our presence. And for the most part, the party was fun, but we did leave before midnight. Why? We felt like it. And we're non-conformists . . . OK, we just got tired and wanted to get back home.

Other than that, not much else happened. I've been back at work (ugh) since Monday of this week, not really loving it, but I realize it's a necessary evil. I should start posting again within the next couple of days. Don't worry, trailers and funny videos will make their way onto BAFW soon enough. 'Til then, later.

The Dangers of Leaving Seller Feedback on Amazon

I did a large chunk of my Christmas 2008 shopping on Amazon.com. For the most part, it was convenient, speedy, and affordable. When I was buying things directly from the company. But one item, the i-Dance Walle, was sold out through Amazon, and I had to purchase it from one of their partner retailers for double what it would have cost if I had bought it directly from the online retailer.

And I was fine with it, because I knew the gift would be loved by the recipient. So, when I got an e-mail from Amazon asking me to rate the transaction, even though I had felt robbed a little, I went ahead and gave this retailer, "Buy 4 Less Shop" a 3 out 5 stars. A neutral review. Which, in retrospect, I'm feeling I was extremely generous with.

Fast forward to today. I open my e-mail, and I get this in my inbox:

Greetings!

Recently I've noticed that you left us neutral feedback for this
order, stating that "The item arrived on time. Not sure why the seller goes by "Buy 4 less" as I had to pay just about double for what this item cost. But whatever, no one else had it." Please understand, that in order for us to be able to provide our customers with great service and convenience of online shopping some items we sell are sold at over retail price. It might look like we making out as bandits on this sale, but please trust me, we do not. Let me explain - Amazon.com charges us 15% of each sale amount, including shipping charges, so all
we received from Amazon.com after fees was $33.90. Actual shipping expense was $5.29, that leaves us with $28.61. Our purchase price was $21, so that leaves $7.61 BEFORE any of our internal expenses and taxes that we have to pay, so that leaves us with nowhere near a double profit.

If we would set our price any less than it was we would be selling at a loss and no business can operate like that. We did everything we promised, delivering your purchase promptly (your purchase was made on 11/29 and delivered on 12/04) and in the condition described.

We really would like to ask you to reconsider your decision and remove the feedback you left for us as it is damaging to our business. We would greatly appreciate if you did. You can do it in one easy step by following this link :

https://www.amazon.com/gp/css/summary/edit

You will find a feedback section two-thirds of the way down the page. To remove feedback, please click on the "Remove" link

Looking forward to hear from you,

XXXXX
Buy 4 Less Shop

You can see my original review in the body of their e-mail. I italicized it for better viewing. This store is pretty much telling me to go back and delete the feedback, because they explained to me why they overcharged me and because the item arrived on time. Everything in the transaction went through fine. That's why I gave them the 3 out of 5 stars. I just wasn't happy with the price that I had to pay, but I'm still entitled to letting people know that even though everything went according to plan, I was a little dissatisfied with the actual price I had to pay. Here's my e-mail response to them:

Thank you for explaining your business practices to me. The review/seller feedback will still stand. It is, after all, my opinion, and I am entitled to it. Furthermore, a neutral review is not a negative review, so please don't make me re-evaluate my opinion again. But it is by your store's own admission that you overcharged me for this product. I understand that "Buy 4 Less" does not like what I said, which is why I'm getting this e-mail, but they have to understand that we live in a free country where anyone can say anything they want so long as it's the truth. And the truth is, you overcharged me to cover your business expenses.

Looking forward to not hearing anything else about this,

Jaime
Neutral Consumer

From now on, I'm only buying shit online from Amazon directly. At least when you give them a review, they don't send you a pussified e-mail asking you to go back and silence yourself because they don't like your opinion of their services. I have no ill-will or bad feelings towards "Buy 4 Less Shop", but because of this e-mail, it's going to further cement my resolution to not buy anything from them ever again.

One last thing before I go. Amazon.com (which has a partnership with Target) had it for $19.99, so you can see, from their excuse: "we would be selling at a loss and no business can operate like that" doesn't really hold any water. Apparently, Amazon.com and Target can operate like this and they're still in business.

BAFW Remebers: XMAS 2008

This would be where I brag about the cool shit I got this past Christmas. Funny thing about this year's festivities: Not a single present was purchased for Christ. He totally gets shafted on his own, alleged, birthday. Anyway, on to the presents.

Movies on DVD:
Planet Terror
Death Proof
Sold Out: A Threevening with Kevin Smith

XBOX 360 Games & Accessories:
Fallout 3
XBOX 360 Chatpad w/headset
XBOX 360 rechargeable battery (black)

Clothing:
Old Navy Hoodie
Sheep Love t-shirt
Another, non-Old Navy, but still adequately cool Hoodie
Around the House Slippers

Reading Material:
Marvel Zombies - Dead Days
Marvel Zombies #2
Breaking Bad News with Cute Animals

Misc & Cash:
Tickets to a Hockey Game (Jan. 9th 2009)
Olive Garden Gift Card
H&M Gift Card
LED Pocket Flashlight
Cash Money from the Parents

I really should have done this Christmas morning, because now, I'm not quite remembering what I got. If I've forgotten anything (dear Wife), it's not because I didn't like it. I'm just too lazy to go check out my presents now, which are dispersed throughout our luxurious, one bedroom, estate.

Ellen & Britney Spread the Xmas Cheer

Britney Spears is looking surprisingly sane and lucid in this video that came from the Ellen DeGeneres Show. I had some advance notice about this from my wife, who watches the show (something in her female genetic makeup just attracts her to this type of television programming). There's not much to see in this if you're looking for a scandal . . . and not much to see if you're looking for humor either. We all know that Aretha and a wreath sound the same . . . but it doesn't make it funny. And the bad singing bit was maybe chuckle-worthy the first time they tried it, but by the 5th and 6th instance of that joke, it was feeling like they were beating a dead horse. But, at least Britney wasn't beating that dead horse with an umbrella while sporting a just shaved head. Silver lining.

Christmas on Mars Trailer

This is not your typical Christmas movie. I hadn't heard of it until today actually. And its not a movie you might have caught in the theaters before it's impending DVD release (which if it didn't release yesterday, should be releasing soon). The movie was made by The Flaming Lips to play in rock concerts over the summer, and now you have the opportunity to check it out if you didn't get to see this band play a live show (which I didn't) this past year. Seriously, you need to find out if that baby will be OK or not.

Post-Christmas Present

Well, Christmas is over. I should be at work, but I thought I'd use up one of the many sick days I hadn't before this year to give myself a little bit of a breather. It also allows me to post the picture below, which is a present to all of you perverts that didn't get what you wanted this year. Enjoy the picture of these Victoria's Secret models in the nude.

Don't ever say I don't get you anything.

Christmas Booty 2007

Ah, another year, another Christmas, and another set of awesome presents from my wife. Just going to do a quick rundown of the presents she got me, because . . . well, I have nothing else to do right now, and I'd like to immortalize it on the interweb.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - She knows how to get my video game geek going. I've been wanting to play this for quite some time now. Everyone on my damn XBOX 360 friends list is playing this, and I felt a little left out. Now I can join them, provided I find the time to actually play the multiplayer online.

13 Bullets by David Wellington - I'm halfway through finishing David Wellington's third zombie novel, "Monster Planet". I had no idea this guy had written anything else. So I was glad to see this book when I was unwrapping my presents. This one is about vampires, which should be interesting. Wellington added some clever ideas into his zombie books, so I'm excited to see what he does with the vampire genre.

Assorted plain t-shirts - I know what you're thinking. Plain t-shirts? What kind of lame gift is that? But it's not. I love plain t-shirts. They're good for layering. And it's hard to find good ones that can survive a couple of goes through the washing/drying process. Finish Line has some good ones that are not too huge, and don't lose too much of their original size when they are washed/dried. And it's one of the only things I actually asked for this Christmas. I got an assortment of colors totaling 5 in all.

Brown Belt - Another lame gift that Jaime is all excited about? Fuck you if you're thinking that. Before today, I owned 1 belt. One. A black one that I've had since 1997. So this belt essentially doubles my belt repertoire. Which is great since I basically have to tuck my shirt into my pants whenever I go to work now. This present gives me the option of either wearing a black belt or a brown belt. I'm excited about it.

Nick Swardson's "Party" CD/DVD - Nick Swardson is a funny motherfucker. I've listened through half of the CD part, and I've giggled myself silly. I recommend you get this if you don't already own it. And there's a bonus DVD with a couple of his comedy specials. A great present.

Dethklok: Deth Album - I've watched all of the "Metalpocalypse" episodes on Adult Swim, and this show is solely responsible for opening my ears to death metal. I had seen this album advertised while watching Adult Swim a few times, but I am anti purchasing CD's, but I'm not anti receiving CD's as presents. So it's great that she actually bought this for me.

Green Sweater - Another one of those gifts that I really should not be all that jazzed about. But, since my new position at the bank requires a "business casual" dress code, sweaters have become a part of my weekly wardrobe choices. I only had 2 or so sweaters before today, so being able to debut another one at work is going to work out for me pretty good.

And now, other stuff from other people.

Christmas Cash - Bless my parents. They know just what I want. Even at the tender age of 28, I still look forward to the money I'll get for Christmas. I won't tell you how much I got, but it's enough to get myself enough to keep the economy going for another few months. Fuck you recession!

Best Buy Gift Card - I don't know how much this is for. It's from my step-sister Celeste and my nephew Everett who are in from New York. I'm not going to call in or go to the website to find out. I want to be surprised. Maybe I'll show up to the register area with a 40" LCD HDTV and the gift card will be enough for it. Chances are . . . it'll probably not be enough. But a man can dream right?

I might have missed something. And I still haven't gotten a present from my brother, which I'm picking up tomorrow. I've got a sneaking suspicion that it might be a gift card for a certain electronics superstore . . .

Merry X-Mas from BAFW

Hey fuckers. Enjoy your Christmas (or Kwanzaa) eve day off. I'll be at work, from 5 AM to 2 PM today, calling you people about your credit cards and why you haven't paid your bills in the last 2 months. Yeah, I thought that would be super fun times too. Thankfully, the bank gives me the day off tomorrow, but I am royally pissed off that it is not even 4:30 AM and I've already posted twice for the day, am about to leave the comfort of home for the next 9 hours, and I didn't really get much sleep last night. Bah fucking humbug.

Opening Weekend Movies - 12/14/2007

Alvin and the Chipmunks - Who really wanted to see a CG version of this rather lame cartoon series from the 80's? If you're saying "me me me!" then you deserve an Acme brand anvil to drop on your head. Shake it off though . . . or die, doesn't really matter to me. If you were asking for this movie to come out, then fuck you. And just what is going on with Jason Lee? He used to be my favorite actor some time ago. Dating all the way to "Mallrats". Sure, he does the Kevin Smith movie occasionally when the big movie studios decide to get their heads out of their asses, but the majority of the projects he gets involved in are kids movies. Didn't he just do the voice for "Underdog"? Sure, he might be making tons of cash while selling out, but I think he needs some sort of intervention.

I Am Legend - Finally, a movie that I've wanted to see for a long time comes out, and it's very likely I will catch this in theaters over the weekend. I don't even care that it's Will Smith that's starring in this. The movie just looks bad ass. This is what BAFW recommends you watch this weekend.

The Perfect Holiday - I get it. It's the holiday season. Christmas movies come out at this time. But I don't have to like it. These things should be relegated to coming out either straight to video or maybe debuting on a lame ass cable TV channel. You know, like Lifetime or WE. Don't go watch this, or any other Christmas themed movie this year. It's just a waste of your valuable dollars and time.

Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem Trailer (For Adults)

I had read somewhere that there was a script for this movie out and about in pre-production some time ago. But, sice the first AVP movie was total ass (thanks Paul W.S. Anderson), I somewhat forgot about it, until a couple of days ago when I saw this. Now, for once, I am actually looking forward to seeing this movie. The trailer has everything you need to hook you in. Plenty of people die, heads explode, bodies are cut in half, and Alien blood totally melts off some guy's face. Awesome. Not a whole lot of big names in this one, but who cares. Since I watch a ton of TV, I did recognize one of the guys from "Rescue Me" (he plays the Shawn Garrity character) and a kid who plays the young version of the fake psychic detective on USA's "Psych" TV show. Other than that, it appears to be a bunch of nobodies, which is fine, since the majority of them won't be making it to the credits. Enjoy the trailer, and check out this movie this Christmas.

Christmas Loot

Christmas speaks to my materialistic side. I don't have a problem getting presents. I love them actually. This year, my wife and I set up a budget so that we wouldn't get into too much trouble with bills and the such. Here's what I got.

Reading Material - She sure knows what I like. She got me all 4 Halo novels and a couple of trade paperback comic books (100 Bullets vol 9 & Fables vol 7). I have already gone through the comic books, because I'm a bit of a nerd. The books I will begin soon.

Viewing Material - Superman Returns (Widescreen), V for Vendetta (Widescreen) and Lucky Number Slevin (Widescreen) DVD's. The first two I had seen, and she got for me because they were comic book movies. The third one is something I wanted to watch but never got around to because of time constraints and/or monetary issues. But, now I have a chance to watch it. It looks good.

Wearing Material - Boxer briefs (cause I like it snug) and crew socks (no tubes for me) and a t-shirt with John Cleese and a famous quote from a Monty Python movie. Some warm gloves were also given to me as part of my stocking stuffer.

High-Tech Toys - An X-Box Live Vision Camera, a wireless 360 Controller with a Play and Charge kit and a 1 Gig USB thumb-drive. Pretty much everything I hinted at for the past couple of months.

Stocking Stuffers - This was my first year of doing stockings . . . and I failed miserably at it. My wife, an accomplished pro at it, did much better. A couple of the things listed above were put in my stocking, but in addition to that, a few pounds (yes . . . pounds/lbs) of chocolate and other candies, a little Buddha organizer and a card game.

So, while I didn't get any flat screen televisions and the such, I think I did pretty well. I got some gift cards and cash/checks from other family members which helped me buy "Gears of War" yesterday. I still have some cash left behind from that. I might go out and buy me a fancy electric razor. They one I have is dying on me. Not sure what else I might buy myself, but I know for sure I'm going to let the malls die down a little before venturing into them. While I like sales, I don't like the crowds that will be swarming consumer establishments around this time of the year.