I posted about my Rock Band drum troubles earlier in the week. The good news is that EA was super quick about sending me a new drum kit: second day air at their expense. The bad news is that the new drum set still has the same problems as my old one. I guess I could have gotten another “bad rev,” but I am not going to bother with returning this set. I still have all of the original packaging and will take the whole game back to Target at some point this weekend for a refund.

Oh well … that really sucks, but I have plenty of other 360 games to play.

Nothing like a new car to jumpstart the desire to keep things clean again. I have a kit in the hatch of my MazdaSPEED 3 with a quick auto detailer spray, an interior cleaner spray, two microfiber cleaning cloths, a wheel cleaner spray, a tire cleaner foam, and a dash duster. So, we have the exterior and the dash covered, but what about when I chow down on two “sausage” biscuits from McDonald’s while I am on the road? The biscuits are yum, but they get crumbs everywhere. I wanted a portable vacuum that would allow me to keep the carpet clean while I was away from home.

For $10 before shipping, the ReadiVac 36104 seemed to fit the bill. Even if it was junk, there aren’t a lot of items I can pick up for ten bucks and review for Gibberish. :)
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This is a repost from an Ars Technica thread from Uhlek for those of you who don’t make it over there:

Count the FCC Violations – Watch more free videos

I was super excited when I opened my Rock Band: Special Edition box. The box was huge — weighing in at almost thirty pounds — and jammed to the gills with fun stuff like a drum kit, microphone, and a wired guitar. I put everything together and played a few songs on the guitar before settling down at the drums.

I was stoked at first, but the longer I played Rock Band, the more disappointed I became.
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I buy a lot of stuff. Sometime I buy it because I need it, sometimes because I want it, and sometimes because I think an item is just plain whacky that it deserves a review on Gibberish.

With “Black Friday” kicking off the retail season I thought it might be interesting to go back through some of my old reviews (and future reviews, too) and tag a few products that might make great goodies for the little nerdy geek on your gift list.

I am tempted to turn this category into a year-round kind of thing, in case you need a birthday present, graduation gift, or whatever. I have also considered breaking the items down into subcategories based on price: $25 and less, up to $50, up to $100, and over $100. But for now, let’s keep things simple.

Look for this little icon at the bottom of reviews:

My review about the ThinkGeek caffeine molecule insulated mug got me to thinking. Sure, I slammed the mug because it was thin and didn’t seem to be that great at keeping things warm, but was that assessment because of bias against the build quality?

I liberated a thermometer from work for a few days and tested all the mugs I had. It was time to crown a king among my insulated mugs.
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When Bond showed me his 2004 MINI Cooper S I liked it so much I bought one for myself. While I’m on car four since then, he’s kept his Coop in great shape.

That is, until a deer decided to jump in front of his car on the interstate last weekend.
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I have been too busy playing Rock Band all day to really finish them up :\

More soon, I promise, including a review of Rock Band. There are some things I would have wanted done differently, but it’s a fucking hoot so far.

Happy birthday to my fantastic-o friend Alexa. We worked together, we moved together, and we loved together. You are an awesome person and I admire your tenacity in the face of change and adversity. I know you are not going to be able to read this because you are traveling, but you are still in my thoughts this day.

‘Lo, there do I see my father. ‘Lo, there do I see my mother, and my sisters, and my brothers.
‘Lo, there do I see the line of my people back to the beginning.
‘Lo, they do call to me. They bid me take my place among them.
In the halls of Valhalla where the brave may live
Forever.

I had a pair of sweet surprises yesterday. I opened up a letter from Allstate insurance that stated they overcharged me for insurance on my old Honda Element and sent me a refund check. The amount was minuscule (the money went right into the cash fund in my bug out bag), but hey — free money is free money — and I would have never been none the wiser about the overcharge. Granted, it would have been nice to have never been overcharged at all, but at least Allstate fessed up.

The more pleasant surprise was a letter from the company that has my current Mazda3SPEED auto loan. They reduced my APR by 0.7% for no apparent reason. Why would a bank do that? Preemptive strike against me trying to switch lenders in the future? Who knows, but I appreciated it. The difference amounts to a free car payment. Not bad. :)