ThinkingSkull.com

I’m all for automation of certain tasks. I prefer paying bills online, and I much prefer ATM machines (the free ones, if possible) than wait on a bank teller to do the same thing. But I always thought I’d be able to walk into a post office, drop a few coins or dollar bill into a vending machine, and purchase just ONE shiny stamp to mail a letter.

And I would be wrong. Apparently, single stamps are no longer available for purchase unless you want a book of 20, and even these must be purchased through a new ATM-looking metal behemoth with integrated weight scales. Be sure to bring your letters and such with you, otherwise you’ll have to over-guess your postage, too. The only apparent alternative is to wait until the post office opens and ensure you’ve done your own research before standing in line to request a stamp. Nice job, guys… one more reason to avoid the post office.

While my low-standing car can’t get out of our neighborhood without potentially flooding out, “Fickle Fay” finally picked a direction and is starting to move away (and become someone else’s problem). Still not a hurricane, Tropical Storm Fay is defying all attempts to predict her and re-writing the books on how everything they thought about what a storm might do was utterly wrong this time.

As for now, we’re inside, dry, stocked up, and the power is still on here. This is also the first day I’ve had to actually call out EVER at my day job, so I hope they know I don’t take it lightly that I couldn’t risk my only vehicle or myself to get to work today.

Technically, it may never actually become a hurricane before it gets here, but a slow-moving storm battering a city with sustained 65 mph winds isn’t nothing (yes, that’s a double-negative, and yes, I meant that exactly how I wrote it. Prudes!) Everyone I know of is fueled up, stocked, and ready for a few rainy days, so this is our equivalent to a light northern snow; fix a few downed power lines, kids get a day or two off from school, but we tend to stack sand bags down here rather than strew salt on the road. Oh yeah, and those tornado thingies…

Just got back from GenCon 2008 (on the nickel of Talisman Studios) to help friends get their game stuff going. I also have a bunch of pictures for all to see.

That said, I’ve learned a few things that I think others would like to know for next year.

1. 20-oz sodas are $1.80 at the store inside the Hyatt rather than $3.00 everywhere else.
2. The CVS Pharmacies within walking distance of the con run out of stuff quick, so load up early.
3. “The Alcatraz” restaurant has potato salad that will make you say, “Wow!”
4. It’s perfectly safe to walk around downtown Indianapolis at 4:00am, but you won’t find anything to do at the con unless there’s a hotel or bar party someplace.
5. The airport sucks, but the all-new airport should be open by next year.
6. There’s a $7 shuttle called “The Green Line” that runs from the airport to the convention center every 15-20 minutes, which is cheaper than a $25 one-way cab ride.
7. The three hotels directly connected to the convention center by skyways are the Hyatt, the Marriott, and the Westin, which keeps you out of any bad weather and makes it infinitely easier to move things to and from your room.
8. Finally, I have it on the best authority that the convention center coffee tastes like ass.

Hope this helps future GenCon attendees!

Once upon a time, the title itself was intended to be a double entendre. I named and described myself as a “thinking skull” while at the same time mused about shadowy subjects and ideas. And yeesh… so much has changed in my life in relatively little time since then.

A little over four years ago, I started this blog with the post Welcome to the new ‘Lair’ on the insistence of a few friends who kept asking what I was up to other than MovieCrypt.com. In the last year, I’ve been a lot more proactive here (I kept a New Year’s resolution!) and intend to keep doing so.

There was another post I wrote call Googling the Skull where I lamented that my simple two-word domain name couldn’t get a foothold in the global directory. Guess what? Four years later, searching for the words “thinking” and “skull” place ThinkingSkull.com organically at the top of the first page in Google (try it!) Still think time on the Internet isn’t more valuable than search engine optimization or paid placement?

And so, in retrospect, I pledge to be more creative and enjoy the shadowy side of life to the fullest. After all, before God said, “Let there be light,” darkness was upon the face of the deep. Doesn’t that imply that it was here FIRST? The night time is the right time!

Does anyone else have this much trouble with getting deliveries from UPS?

I order little things I cannot get anywhere else from Amazon.com. If I can wait at all, I order it Super-Saver, and I love to do this because it usually gets here pretty quick, it’s cheap, and (assuming it’s something small) they put it right in my mailbox. But whenever I want something sooner or bigger, it comes via UPS, which requires a signature and they don’t deliver on Saturdays (let alone Sundays).

If you’re not home, they leave a slip for you to sign. Well, as I have to WORK FOR A LIVING, I’m NEVER “at home” when they want to deliver it, which is always in the middle of the afternoon or so. I’ve asked them to deliver it before I go to work or after (which is within their delivery hours) or asked to provide a no-signature-required option without signing for each one a day after I wanted it. And get this: it’s pointless for me to ask for two-day deliver because it always takes a third day to get my package, which is about the same time it takes via regular mail. Apparently, nobody checks for special requirements (I was told this when I called), special times, or signature requirements unless your phone number is on the shipping info before throwing my mailer on a truck and dashing down the street.

Speaking of streets, every day when I leave for work, there’s a UPS truck parked at the end of my street delivering to the doctor’s offices there, which is a mere 100 feet from my doorstep! Why can’t they put my package on THAT forsaken truck?! Hell, I’ll walk to the end of the street and pick it myself if he or she can’t spare the gas or exercise. Lastly, my only other remaining option is to drive over 30 miles round trip (Jacksonville, Florida is pretty spread out) to their main depot on the West Side through end-of-day traffic before they close their counter.

“What can Brown do for me today?” How about providing some better f****** options for people who work during the day?