I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to read, but here are the lastest games froma visit to GameStop. Hopefully in this next week or so, I can get to f.y.e. and pick up some non-sport games. At this point, my addiction is too great to turn down any Xbox game I don't already have.

• $0.00..........Madden NFL 06
• $0.00..........NBA 2K6
• $0.00..........MVPBaseball 2005
• $2.69..........MVP 2006 NCAA Baseball
• $6.29..........FIFA Soccer 2006
• $11.69........FIFA Soccer 2007
• $2.69..........Red Card 2003

So, some of you may have noticed that have been online here virtually not at all for the past week. This is because I recently got a job! I've been working 7 AM to 3 PM this week, so when I get home, I just want to sit on the couch and relax. Over the summer, a lot of the time I spent online was when my parents weren't home, and this past week, Mom, Dad and I have been riding together to work to save gas since we all work the same shift. Next week, I'll be riding with Dad as my mother will be on a slightly different schedule.

Anyway, more details about my job. I recently was hired at Lewistown Hospital here in Lewistown (shocker...). I've put in several applications there, and was excited to hear that I had an interview. I nailed the interview (or at least I want to believe I did) and I was hired as a part-time Switchboard Operator. This means that I answer the phones for all the people calling in on the main trunk line of the hospital. Which is a lot. Add to that all of the internal requests for paging doctors. And requests for Security and Maintenance. And handling the Consent Forms, Pharmacy Charges and other miscellaneous paper work. There is a lot of responsibility with the job, but I'm actually having some fun with it. I've had three days of training so far, and it's amazing how many of the extensions that I've memorized already.

As a part-time position, it'll mostly be 3 PM to 11 PM and 11 PM to 7 AM shifts, but that's fine. There's a shift differential for 2nd and 3rd shifts, so that works out fine for me. During training, I'm working three to four days a week, but once training is over, it'll be two to three days. The problem with this is that I'm working partially to cover the student loans that have now entered repayment. The total for loans comes out to about $600 a month. Which is a large part of the reason that I'm still living at home. If I work only two or three days a week, I'm not sure how much of the loans I'll be able to pay, which puts more pressure on my parents. They've been great so far, letting me bum around the house during the grace period, but it depresses me to make them pay for some of my loans. The good thing about paying so much per month on the loans is that in 10 years, they'll all be paid off. Hopefully, before long, I might be able to go full-time or something.

On the games side of things, I finally started playing some more. I recently finished playing through Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge on the Normal setting and played through partway of a second time, enough to upgrade all of the planes. For some reason, I think my favorite plane is probably the Pirana. I'm going to start working on a review, probably, though it won't cover the online component. I finally popped in Urban Chaos: Riot Response, about which I've heard a lot of good things. I played the first level a couple of times, and it was pretty solid, pretty fun. I'm looking forward to sinking more time into it. However, there may be some trouble with that. I've had a copy of Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & IIfor probably almost two years, but I've never been able to play it as I haven't ever gotten Xbox Live on my Xbox. Friday night, a friend copied an account to my harddrive, and I've started playing PSO. Ah, so much fun. I'm currently running a RAmar, just to get back into it (I used to play with a couple of friends a couple of years ago).

So, that's most of what's up with me, and if you've read all of this, I'm impressed. You have my thanks.

I finished the game around a week ago, but I just got around to writing the review. Anyway, my user review of Voodoo Vince is now posted online. The game Voodoo Vince and my review of Voodoo Vince.

I do have some other good news, but I'm going to wait a little bit until I know for suer how it's going to turn out. My car is still being a pain in the ass: the entire fuel lines need to be replaced, the gas tanks needs painted and rehung, the power window motors also need replaced.

Please leave any comments about the review or anthing else.

Thanks!

Anyone who actually reads my blogs is probably tired of hearing about the games I get, but it makes me feel good to add games to my collection and brag about it, lol. I'm still getting some games just for buffering my collection, but also, the stores around me are getting fairly well picked over. I need to go to Selinsgrove to check out the f.y.e. there. It's a special clearance store, and they have great deals on new Xbox games. But, my parents are starting to get more and more upset at the amount of money I'm spending on games. Student loans are due, and I don't yet have a job...

• $6.29.......NBA 2K7
• $5.39.......NBA Live 2007
• $0.00.......FIFA Soccer 2003
• $5.39.......FIFA World Cup 2006
• $0.00.......World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International
• $7.19.......Metal Slug 3
• $0.00.......Powerdrome
• $0.00.......Defender

Hmm. My last blog got even fewer comments than usual... Oh well.

I just posted my review of Malice for the Xbox. The game Malice and my review of Malice.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on in my life. Job applications and getting my car up and running.

Please leave any comments about the review or anthing else.

Thanks!

For the first time in about a month, I went to GameStops again! My parents and paternal grandmother and Iwent down to Harrisburg on Saturdayin order to attend a viewing and funeral for her late brother-in-law. So, since we were the whole way down there, my parents relented and allowed me to stop into a few GameStops. I had called the stores on Friday to make sure that they still had original Xbox games, and I wrote down the addresses. Then, after leaving the church where the services were held, I pulled them up on the GPS and led my parents there. I went to two different stores a couple of miles apart and got some games I wanted, as well as a couple more to buffer the collection. Oh, and they're still doing the Buy 2 Get 2 Free Xbox game deal. It's awesome...

The buffers:

• $1.79.......World Championship Poker
• $0.00.......NCAA Football 2007
• $0.89.......Xbox Music Mixer
• $0.00.......World Series of Poker
• $0.00.......World Series Baseball 2K3
• $8.99.......World Soccer Winning Eleven 9
• $4.49.......Madden NFL 2007
• $0.00.......NHL Rivals 2004
• $0.00.......College Hoops 2K6

The good ones:

• $0.00.......Quantum Redshift
• $17.99.....Ninja Gaiden Black
• $11.69.....AirForce Delta Storm
• $11.69.....Dynasty Warriors 5
• $5.39.......Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel

As I've said before, I fully intend to play through my entire Xbox collection... eventually. And, I've just recently decided to attempt to obtain a copy of every Xbox game that was released in North America. Yay. Damn my collector-ness.

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to be motivated and write reviews of Total Overdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico as well as Malice. It might have been too long for me to write an accurate review for Rogue Trooper, but I might try it. And, hopefully, I'll have Voodoo Vince finished before long so I can play Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.

Alright, enough for now. Best wishes to all!

I know, I know. I need to start having something different for blogs soon, or I'll lose the few people who are actually interested in my blogs. Also, I know that many of you will realize that I'm blowing though an extremely large amount of money lately, and I still don't have a job. I'm not completely sure how my game addiction, student loans and savings account will work out together...

Anywhere, the heart of this post:

• $0.00...........NBA Jam
• $0.89...........World Series Baseball
• $0.89...........MVP Baseball 2003
• $1.79...........NHL Hitz 2003
• $1.79...........ESPN MLS ExtraTime 2002
• $8.99...........Eragon
• $7.19...........SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom
• $7.19...........Samurai Shodown V
• $0.00...........GunGriffon: Allied Strike
• $0.00...........Xyanide
• $16.19.........Scarface: The World Is Yours
• $0.00...........Red Ninja: End of Honor

Oh, and if anyone is interested, a couple of days ago, I posted a review of Legacy of Kain: Defiance for Xbox.

So, yeah. I have an addiction. No arguments. But GameStop is doing Buy 2 Get 2 Free on the used XBox games. How can I turn that down? Despite that, I managed to drop $100 bucks overall on the following games. Not completely a good idea, seeing as how I have $600 a month to pay on student loans and no job as of yet. The future is lookinga mite week, but I go Thursday to try my driver's test for the third time. If I can parallel park, I've got it beat. And then I can start looking for a job that I'll be able to go to.

As usual, thanks for any comments you people leave!

• $2.69.......ESPN Major League Baseball
• $4.49.......College Hoops 2K7
• $4.49.......NBA Live 2006
• $4.49.......NBA Ballers: Phenom
• $2.69.......NBA Street Vol. 2
• $0.00.......NFL Street Vol. 2
• $0.00.......NFL Head Coach
• $0.00.......NASCAR Thunder 2003
• $0.00.......ESPN NHL Hockey
• $2.69.......NCAA College Basketball 2K3
• $0.89.......NCAA Football 2003
• $1.79.......NCAA March Madness 2004
• $0.00.......NCAA March Madness 2005
• $0.89.......NCAA March Madness 2006
• $0.89.......Madden NFL 2005
• $4.49.......Group S Challenge
• $2.69.......Ford Racing 3
• $0.00.......Reservoir Dogs
• $0.00.......BlowOut
• $0.00.......Metal Slug 4 & Metal Slug 5
• $0.00.......Tron 2.0: Killer App
• $8.99.......The Godfather
• $0.00.......Stacked
• $8.99.......Dead or Alive Ultimate
• $13.49......Moto GP Ultimate Racing Technology
• $8.99.......The Simpsons: Road Rage
• $8.99.......Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3
• $0.00.......Capcom Fighting Evolution
• $0.00.......Pirates of the Caribbean
• $8.99.......Total Overdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico

This past weekend, my parents and I went on a vacation that was surprisingly relaxing. Though it's difficult for me to admit it, my mother has family in West Virginia. We left about 4 A.M. on Saturday and stopped at a few places on the way there. We got back this morning (Wednesday) at 2 A.M. or so. Most of the time, we sat around a campfire and talked. I also read a book (The Book of Fate by Brad Metzler) which I haven't done for too long. We spent some time driving around down there and if you've never ridden West Viriginia roads, you should basically envision a roller coaster. Side-to-side and up-and-down all over the place.

Anyway, on the way home, my parents graciously let me stop at a GameStop on the way home. Luckily in was in a mall (I had found it via the GPS), and there was also an f.y.e. store in the mall. It's a good thing, too. The GameStop had about a total of 20 games for Xbox and no more. I did find out that apparently they are trying very hard to eliminate the XBox stock, as the games were Buy 2 Get 2 Free. I did get a good haul at the f.y.e., though. The pre-owned games were buy 2 get 1 at 50% off. Not all that great, but it helped.

• $7.19_____Vexx (Factory Sealed)
• $7.19_____The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (Factory Sealed)
• $3.59_____Shadow Ops: Red Mercury
• $2.69_____SeaBlade
• $1.34_____Future Tactics: Uprising (Factory Sealed)
• $4.49_____Malice
• $8.99_____Juiced
• $8.99_____Cold War
• $4.49_____Panzer Dragoon Orta

Yes, I have an addiction. and I have added more games to my collection. I went to a different GameStop than usual, and I found some games that I didn't have. Buy 2 Get 1 Free can be good and bad... But I did finally find a copy of Black.

• $0.00_____Xbox Exhibition Disc Volume 5
• $0.89_____ESPN NBA 2K5
• $0.89_____Madden NFL 2003
• $0.00_____Madden NFL 2004
• $0.89_____Triple Play 2002
• $0.89_____NFL 2K2
• $0.00_____NBA Live 2002
• $0.89_____NBA Inside Drive 2002
• $0.89_____NBA 2K3
• $0.00_____NCAA Football 2004
• $0.89_____NCAA Football 2005
• $0.89_____NFL 2K3
• $0.00_____MVP Baseball 2004
• $1.79_____ESPN College Hoops 2K5
• $1.79_____NBA Live 2005
• $0.00_____High Heat Baseball 2004
• $1.79_____ESPN NBA Basketball
• $1.79_____ESPN NFL Football
• $0.00_____Outlaw Volleyball
• $3.59_____XGRA: Extreme-G Racing Association
• $4.49_____State of Emergency
• $0.00_____Burnout Revenge
• $16.19____Destroy All Humans! 2
• $16.19____Black

Yesterday, my parents and I drove to Muncy, PA for a tool sale, and afterwards, we met a friend for supper while we were up in that area. Fortunately and unfortunately, my parents indulged my addiction for more Xbox games, understanding that the places to find them are currently dwindling. Two of the three GameStops I visited and one of the two f.y.e.'s didn't have any Xbox games what so ever. At the Lycoming Mall, the f.y.e. had some good games that I had to pick up, especially since they were doing a buy 2 get 1 50% off. Not as good of a deal as GameStop's buy 2 get 1 free, but not too bad.

• $7.19..........Headhunter: Redemption
• $7.19..........Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon
• $2.24..........Cold Fear

Then, we found that there were a couple GS's in Bloomsburg (GPS is awesome) and I went to one of them while my parents went through Wal-Mart. I hit pay dirt in GameStop. I started buying some sports game to up the contents of my collection, too.

• $0.00..........NBA Ballers
• $0.89..........NBA Live 2004
• $0.00..........NBA Live 2003
• $0.89..........NCAA Football 2005/Top Spin
• $0.89..........NFL Fever 2003
• $0.00..........NFL Fever 2002
• $0.89..........Madden NFL 2005
• $0.89..........ESPN NFL 2K5
• $2.69..........Phantom Crash
• $0.00..........Aeon Flux
• $2.69..........Links 2004
• $5.39..........Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
• $8.99..........Urban Chaos: Riot Response

We've been having some problems here at home, and right now my mother isn't really talking to either my father or myself. My dad and I spent the last two nights at his mother's, working on replacing a light that didn't work and fixing one of her doors so that she could actually use it. Meanwhile, my mother is pissed because my dad and I apparently don't do anything around the house. So, last night when we were leaving my grandmother's I called to see if she wanted us to pick anything up for supper on the way home. We talked and she then hung up on me. I told my father that the [insert favored curse word here] hung up on me and that I would be making a beeline to the liquor cabinent when we got home.

And I tried a concoction. 40% vodka, 40% Ocean Spray Raspberry Cranberry, 20% Diet A&W Root Beer. The proportions might need to be played with a bit as I was far too angry to worry about how much of what was being put in. It might be a bit lighter on the Root Beer... It was pretty good and I got a decent buzz for a while. It takes a lot of alcohol to get me buzzed. The one night this summer, I had three Mind-Erasers (awesome drink) and didn't feel any effects.

So, currently, I'm looking up the directions for a gin & tonic. I don't have any tonic water. Only Seltzer and Club Soda.

I hope everyone else is having a better time than I am.

Peace.

Yesterday, my father and I spent an hour and a half laying cement. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. We hadn't put any down for about a year, and because of Labor Day, Lowe's was having a sale on bags of Quik-Crete. In total, we used 16 80-pound bags. Which comes out to 1280 pounds of cement (dry weight), plus all of the weight from the added water. We poured about a 3' by 12' expanse, I think, about 5 inches deep. Last time, my mother helped, and it made things simpler: I hauled the cement, my mother made it in the mixer and my father laid it. Yesterday, I made it and hauled most of the loads, which meant things moved more slowly, and my father had more down time between loads. By the time Mom got home from work, Dad was smoothing up the finish on the top, which made her happy, because she had had a bad day at work and seeing that we had done something helped her to feel better.

When we were done with that, it was time for supper. Earlier this year, my father had purchased a propane-fueled smoker from Walmart when it was on sale. He didn't go to work yesterday because he worked the three-day weekend, so he prepared some pork ribs and a pack of hot dogs on the smoker. When we got back from going to farmer's market and the library in the early afternoon, he had put on the hot dogs, and by the time we were finished leveling up the stones in the form for the cement, the hotdogs were done. So we pulled six out and sat down at the picnic table with some bread, mustard and ketchup. We were joined shortly by a couple of our cats, of course. Anyway, when we were done with the cement, and done cleaning up, Dad pulled the ribs out of the smoker. I'm not sure what all spices and flavors he used in the dry rub, but after seven hours in the smoker with three batches of hickory chips for the smoke, the meat practically fell off the bones. I'm not much of a rib person, but it was pretty awesome. We also had some white corn that we had gotten at farmer's market, when was a perfect accessory for the meal. My parents and I enjoyed the meal tremendously, and our three cats did as well, though I don't think they got as much meat as they wanted to...

So, if anyone makes it through all that, kudos to you, and thanks for reading!

On the 18th, my mother took off work and did some shopping. It was her birthday, and she needed a break from where she works and from dad and I. Which is perfectly understandable. While she was out and about, she found a GameStop that still sells Xbox games. So, she called me and asked if there were any games that I was really looking for. I gave her a couple of names, and none of them were there. Then, she started reading off some of the games that were there. Lo and behold, they had a copy of Rogue Trooper with a great box and manual. I've been looking for this game since it came out, and I've never ever seena copy. And, they were doing a buy two get one free deal. I was thinking of f.y.e. (see previous blog), and told her to get four games, because f.y.e. had been doing buy three get one free.

I'm not completely thrilled with the haul, but I guess Rogue Trooper makes it all worth it.

• Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix...............$0.00
• Shadow the Hedgehog...................................$12.99
• Superman Returns...........................................$8.99
• Rogue Trooper..................................................$14.99

Hello. I have another game purchase update already. I had two $10 gift cards from Christmas. And, I had purchased a membership to f.y.e. nearly a year ago. I wanted to make sure to use as much of the discount before the membership expires, because I'm not going to renew it. Anyway, there was a great collection of new Xbox games, and they were all 50% off the lowest stickered price. Which resulted in really good prices.

Again, a lot of the games I get don't have the best reviews, but most of them I've heard are fun, and that's what matters to me.

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.........$4.50
GunValkyrie......................................................$4.50
Red Dead Revolver........................................$4.50
Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space...........$4.50
Nightcaster.......................................................$2.25
Godzilla: Save the Earth.................................$2.25
Dark Summit....................................................$2.25
Unreal II: The Awakening...............................$2.25
New Legends...................................................$1.35
Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers.........$2.25
Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter.............................$2.25
Scaler.................................................................$3.60

And, again, I went back to GameStop on 31 July. The premise of my return was to return three games that didn't work. At my previous visit to the store, I bought The Warriors, Raze's Hell and King Kong. I've had the games for a while, but the discs kept giving me DDE messages. So, I pulled a bait-and-switch. I feel kind of bad, but with the volume I purchase, I can't really check all of the games that I buy when I get them. So, here are the newest purchases:

Xbox Exhibition Disc Volume 2............$0.64
Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis.................$1.94
Def Jam Fight for NY..............................$8.44
Spider-Man..............................................$3.24

Some of you may remember that I mentioned I gota free $50 gift card for GameStop for filling out surveys. Well, yesterday (Tuesday) I put it to what I thought was good use. I got 11 games for a total of $48.80. Between the 25% off XBox games and accessories and my Edge card, I got some pretty good deals. I also incorporated the scores of the games for reference. And, just a note, some of the games listed below didn't get great reviews, but I'd heard that many of them were just fun to play, and that's my main focus in my gaming:

Nightmare Before Christmas...................6.4..........$8.44
Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams.................7.9..........$6.49
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...................6.5..........$6.49
Toxic Grind....................................................3.0..........$2.59
Minority Report: Everybody Runs.............4.1..........$2.59
Blinx: The Time Sweeper..........................6.3..........$3.24
James Cameron's Dark Angel.................3.8..........$3.24
I-Ninja.............................................................7.5..........$3.24
Spider-Man 2................................................7.2..........$3.24
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance..................8.7..........$3.24
Robotech: Battlecry.....................................6.8..........$3.24

I finally have good news that I've wanted to share, but I've had to wait for verification. I just got a free $50 gift card for GameStop! There's a website called u talk back, and now I can vouch for it. It's a site that does consumer surveys and so forth. I've watch a couple new television shows and filled out questionnaires about how I liked it and how to make it better. I've also done quick surveys about what beverages I drinkmost often. I really have to recommend it. It took several months for me to get the required points, but there wasn't anything really that difficult, and I would have just been messing around online anyway.

There was something else, but I don't remember what it was... I got a new phone a month ago. A Sony Ericsson W760a. About two months ago, I got a Sig Sauer Mosquito (semi-automatic .22 long rifle caliber pistol).

I went to GameStop for the first time in a while yesterday. 25% off all Xbox stuff, thank you very much. Plus the 10% discount from my Edge card. I got some really good games.

• The Matrix: Path of Neo..............................................$5.84
• Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure...........$4.54
• Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix.............................$11.69
• Need for Speed: Carbon.............................................$12.99
• Raze's Hell................................................................$3.24
• Starsky and Hutch......................................................$1.94

First of all, thank you to the GameSpot staff members who worked hard to get all of the points attributed to those who voted (myself included). The chance that any of them will see this blog post is minimal, but the thought is still there.

On to other things. I had attended a Writers Insitute for a couple of weeks, so I am now officially unemployed with currently no future job prospects. And, I am currently without a driver's lisence, so that makes it a bit difficult to apply for a job when I live about five miles outside of the nearest town.

Anyway, my summer reading list at this point was recently increased as I was cleaning some things up in my room. To be more accurate, I was cleaning some shelves off so that I could put all of my Xbox game boxes on the shelf. It looks pretty awesome now, 120+ boxes lining the shelves. However, I now have to box all of the books that I took off of the shelves. I stumbled across some books that I read several years ago, and before I box them up, I want to read through them. The entire list of books to read is as follows (though this is only to get me started):

• EverWorld I: Search for Senna
• EverWorld II: Land of Loss
• EverWorld III: Enter the Enchanted
• EverWorld IV: Realm of the Reaper
• EverWorld V: Discover the Destroyer
• EverWorld VI: Fear the Fantastic
• EverWorld VII: Gateway to the Gods
• EverWorld VIII: Brave the Betrayal
• EverWorld IX: Inside the Illusion
• EverWorld X: Understand the Unknown
• EverWorld XI: Mystify the Magician
• EverWorld XII: Entertain the End
• Star Wars: Death Star
• Star Wars: Order 66
• Halo: Contact Harvest

Well, that's about it for now. I have to get some things done and get things organized. I really need to get my life in order and get a job. Loans are going to be brutal...