Category: x-personal

Random and intermittent postings about life, the universe, etc..

Friday Five: Video Games

Courtesy of

1. Do you prefer to play games on a console or PC?
Tough call. I have a Wii, and I immensely enjoy the few games I do have for it, but I probably spend more gaming time on the computer.

2. What is your all-time favourite game? (No answer too embarrassing)
The Secret of Monkey Island. Hands down.

3. Which game has been the most disappointing?
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast

4. Are there any upcoming games that you’re excited to try?
Doctor Who: Worlds in Time

5. If you could design a computer game, what kind would it be (platform, racing, shoot-out, etc.) and what would it be about?
I’ve had an idea for an educational puzzle-based MMO that I think has potential.

Inefficiencies in the federal government

Despite the seriousness of the title, this is mostly me ranting.

So apparently, earlier in the year, the Department of Education decided to transition handling Direct Loans (that’s federal student loans) directly from their website to a new site set up especially for the purpose. Now, I set up Autopay from my checking account as soon as my deferral period was over and the only communication I’ve received from the DoE in all that time as an annual form for my taxes.

So what do I get in today’s mail, which I don’t see until 8pm? A bill for my October loan repayment. Dated the 14th, mailed the 24th, and arrived the 28th. WTF?! Scanning the notice I see that I’m being directed to a new website, www.myedaccount.com/. Since this is different than the previous website I’m a bit suspicious, so I go looking around online. And I find this, and this, and this. It turns out that yes, the federal government really did move websites. Yes, they really did make a mess of the transition. And yes, all auto-pay information was supposed to transfer over but lots of people are reporting it didn’t.

Now, I get the idea of streamlining your web services, and keeping a huge part like loans away from the rest of the site to keep things separate, but for cripes sake you’ve got to do a better job of it. My Auto-pay info didn’t transfer over, I had to re-enter my credit union info. And now I’ve got to hope that I can actually get through to a human being to see if I’ve been reported as late or not.

Current Mood: 😡annoyed

I made a userhead (mostly)

Oh this is cool. I became aware a couple weeks ago of the new community and finally decided to enter (apparently it’s a contest, but I’m not sure because it seems mostly aimed at the Russian userbase) with the scuba diver head I made last year on a whim. (That image is hosted on new ScrapBook, so I fully expect it to break at some point in the near future.)
When I got home from Mercyhurst a bit ago I had two notifications waiting for me – 1) I won, and 2) I got my userhead as a gift. They altered the shirt back to standard LJ-head blue, but that’s alright. It’s a bit blurry too, but there’s already a patch to fix the width of the userheads.

Current Mood: 🙂pleased