So it's the 3rd of July and my work's graciously given me the day off. To top that off, my paycheck actually hit my bank account on time even with the holiday strangeness and I decided to take the day to pick up a part of my SMT collection that I recently sold. Considering today is episode 100 of the Endurance Run, it seemed like Persona 4 was as good of a get as any as not having it has been making me itch to play it again.
So I took a risk, hit Gamestop's website and checked to see where the game was available and it gave me two locations. One had the game new, and one had the game new and used so I called the one that had the game new and used, made sure it was there, and then plotted out the trip on the wonderful Utah Transit Authority so I could head over there and pick it up. Problem was that UTA's site was busted so I used Google Transit to plot it for me, got the directions and times, and took my 3 year old (who loves buses and trains) to get it.
After paying a bill and missing the first bus, I decided to hit the train station and pick up the bus there for the backup set of times and that's where everything went to hell. The monitors displayed that Friday the 3rd and Saturday the 4th, the buses would run on Sunday schedules. Now I'm not sure if Google Transit is taking that into consideration so I decide to fly blind into the other location and hope that Gamestop's website is correct that they have it in stock. Train into a station two stops away and a bus ride over to the west side of Salt Lake to Valley Fair Mall, not my preferred place to go.
It's not that Valley Fair Mall isn't nice (it's not, but that's beside the point) but I worked there for years and have seen my share of issues including a firefight that broke out in the parking lot just outside of a tournament that I was running. My father taught me to stay out of harm's way, and I didn't like bringing the three year old there, but that'd be the least of my worries. The MAX bus across wasn't running because today's "Sunday". The 15m bus that would take me there was now running every hour because today's "Sunday" and when the bus was supposed to get there, it didn't. So I waited... and waited... and 15m later it finally arrived, people pouring out of the bus and then almost 50 disgruntled people pouring into the bus. Three bicycles, four strollers (including my own), and someone who looked like they weren't able to walk and was being carried around by three guys. I don't event want to imagine what the deal with that girl was...
So we get there and less than two miles away from the station there's ISSUES. The bus driver pulls over and begins calling and a few minutes later UTA trucks show up and pop the back of the bus to find out we just broke down. Nice deal with 90 degree heat and an overcrowded bus. Fortunately we're less than a mile away from the UTA bus staging area so they call out another bus, but we all had to get out while he took the bus SLOWLY back to the terminal. Of course the three people carrying the chick who looks like she can barely walk dump her right outside the door forcing people to gingerly step around them because, you know, there's not another 20 people who need to get out.
Huge credit by the way to the bus driver, you can tell that he's fuming pissed, considering his radio didn't work and the bus was overheating, but he stayed professional and pleasant the entire time, if he showed that frustration in a more overt way it could have been chaos. Nice job of keeping his cool and making a bad situation stay bad instead of getting worse.
Ten minutes later the next bus comes and we all begin the process of getting back on the bus. At this point I want to break this girl's arms too so she's a complete invalid. Something about her and her three friends are just setting my teeth on edge. I guess it's a good thing since an old friend boards and we talk about old times and new. He's been travelling and playing with a band and we talked about their tour bus breaking down in TN and that he'd happy to be back. We finally get there and I hit the next nightmare. The roads by the mall are torn to shreds for "construction"... more like "deconstruction" and cars are flying by paying little attention to the traffic signals. I finally get across the street and head into the mall.
And then it dawns on me. I'm going to get there, and the horror stories I hear about Gamestop's website will come to fruition. I sigh, hope that the Game Pedler will have a copy if Gamespot doesn't and head in. It's gutted, but it's there and I pick it up. I hand the Edge card I had with some trade in credit and find out later that the one I was looking for was hidden behind my old UDE judge card. At this point I don't care, it's still $10 off what I paid for it the first time, and at $29.99, I pick it off and go on my way.
Back through the deconstruction and I can tell, my son's getting tired, hungry, and thirsty. We'd be back home right now if not for this nightmare. My son's definately better behaved than the other kid of approximate age (I'm going to say he was 3 as well) however, who is in the middle of a raging fight with his mom about bubble gum. My son watches in horror and amazement and looks up at me. I shake my head and he does what he normally does when presented with a situation like this, stands behind me and deathgrips my legs. I check the time on my transfer and things aren't looking good so I call UTA to find out when the next bus is supposed to be here (thanks for not having a schedule posted at the stop) and find out it's going to arrive... 4 minutes after the transfer expires.
You've got to be kidding me.
A different bus arrives though and is going to take me one train station closer and get me there faster, so we jump on, hit a timely connect with the train, and now pizza's cooking. Wait... no, pizza's done. Chi and Cora are watching Noggin, and Persona 4 is back on my shelf, where the damn thing belongs.
One SMT game back in the collection, six more to go until it's back to where it should be. And with all of that the one thing that sticks out in my head?
Damn, my friend's band shared a stage with Ozzy Osborne. That's ridiculous. He's still the Prince of F****** Darkness, just ask Sharon.
Wow, not a complaint about Gamestop for once?!
So it's the 3rd of July and my work's graciously given me the day off. To top that off, my paycheck actually hit my bank account on time even with the holiday strangeness and I decided to take the day to pick up a part of my SMT collection that I recently sold. Considering today is episode 100 of the Endurance Run, it seemed like Persona 4 was as good of a get as any as not having it has been making me itch to play it again.
So I took a risk, hit Gamestop's website and checked to see where the game was available and it gave me two locations. One had the game new, and one had the game new and used so I called the one that had the game new and used, made sure it was there, and then plotted out the trip on the wonderful Utah Transit Authority so I could head over there and pick it up. Problem was that UTA's site was busted so I used Google Transit to plot it for me, got the directions and times, and took my 3 year old (who loves buses and trains) to get it.
After paying a bill and missing the first bus, I decided to hit the train station and pick up the bus there for the backup set of times and that's where everything went to hell. The monitors displayed that Friday the 3rd and Saturday the 4th, the buses would run on Sunday schedules. Now I'm not sure if Google Transit is taking that into consideration so I decide to fly blind into the other location and hope that Gamestop's website is correct that they have it in stock. Train into a station two stops away and a bus ride over to the west side of Salt Lake to Valley Fair Mall, not my preferred place to go.
It's not that Valley Fair Mall isn't nice (it's not, but that's beside the point) but I worked there for years and have seen my share of issues including a firefight that broke out in the parking lot just outside of a tournament that I was running. My father taught me to stay out of harm's way, and I didn't like bringing the three year old there, but that'd be the least of my worries. The MAX bus across wasn't running because today's "Sunday". The 15m bus that would take me there was now running every hour because today's "Sunday" and when the bus was supposed to get there, it didn't. So I waited... and waited... and 15m later it finally arrived, people pouring out of the bus and then almost 50 disgruntled people pouring into the bus. Three bicycles, four strollers (including my own), and someone who looked like they weren't able to walk and was being carried around by three guys. I don't event want to imagine what the deal with that girl was...
So we get there and less than two miles away from the station there's ISSUES. The bus driver pulls over and begins calling and a few minutes later UTA trucks show up and pop the back of the bus to find out we just broke down. Nice deal with 90 degree heat and an overcrowded bus. Fortunately we're less than a mile away from the UTA bus staging area so they call out another bus, but we all had to get out while he took the bus SLOWLY back to the terminal. Of course the three people carrying the chick who looks like she can barely walk dump her right outside the door forcing people to gingerly step around them because, you know, there's not another 20 people who need to get out.
Huge credit by the way to the bus driver, you can tell that he's fuming pissed, considering his radio didn't work and the bus was overheating, but he stayed professional and pleasant the entire time, if he showed that frustration in a more overt way it could have been chaos. Nice job of keeping his cool and making a bad situation stay bad instead of getting worse.
Ten minutes later the next bus comes and we all begin the process of getting back on the bus. At this point I want to break this girl's arms too so she's a complete invalid. Something about her and her three friends are just setting my teeth on edge. I guess it's a good thing since an old friend boards and we talk about old times and new. He's been travelling and playing with a band and we talked about their tour bus breaking down in TN and that he'd happy to be back. We finally get there and I hit the next nightmare. The roads by the mall are torn to shreds for "construction"... more like "deconstruction" and cars are flying by paying little attention to the traffic signals. I finally get across the street and head into the mall.
And then it dawns on me. I'm going to get there, and the horror stories I hear about Gamestop's website will come to fruition. I sigh, hope that the Game Pedler will have a copy if Gamespot doesn't and head in. It's gutted, but it's there and I pick it up. I hand the Edge card I had with some trade in credit and find out later that the one I was looking for was hidden behind my old UDE judge card. At this point I don't care, it's still $10 off what I paid for it the first time, and at $29.99, I pick it off and go on my way.
Back through the deconstruction and I can tell, my son's getting tired, hungry, and thirsty. We'd be back home right now if not for this nightmare. My son's definately better behaved than the other kid of approximate age (I'm going to say he was 3 as well) however, who is in the middle of a raging fight with his mom about bubble gum. My son watches in horror and amazement and looks up at me. I shake my head and he does what he normally does when presented with a situation like this, stands behind me and deathgrips my legs. I check the time on my transfer and things aren't looking good so I call UTA to find out when the next bus is supposed to be here (thanks for not having a schedule posted at the stop) and find out it's going to arrive... 4 minutes after the transfer expires.
You've got to be kidding me.
A different bus arrives though and is going to take me one train station closer and get me there faster, so we jump on, hit a timely connect with the train, and now pizza's cooking. Wait... no, pizza's done. Chi and Cora are watching Noggin, and Persona 4 is back on my shelf, where the damn thing belongs.
One SMT game back in the collection, six more to go until it's back to where it should be. And with all of that the one thing that sticks out in my head?
Damn, my friend's band shared a stage with Ozzy Osborne. That's ridiculous. He's still the Prince of F****** Darkness, just ask Sharon.
Please Log In to post.
Log in to comment