McWilliams’ World

My new Pearl VMX Red Sparkle.

You can see more at my Flickr site.

My band – Straight Jack and the Ettes covering “Little Wing”

Man.. I’ve neglected this blog for a while. I’ve been busy with a number of things:

1. Finally finished Oblivion + Shivering Isles. I got all achievements except one in Shivering Isles – don’t feel like going back and getting it either. I had close to 140hrs and over 1100 saves. I really enjoyed the game, but stopped exploring about 80hrs in and just wanted to get it done – so I jumped from point to point. I think I ended up with my character on level 41.
2. Been working on my drums a lot since joining a blues band (working name; Straight Jack and the Ettes). Playing along with the set list, buying PA speakers (JBL EON 15 G2), new parts, new triggers, etc… getting things ready to start playing out. First gig should be Feb 21.
3. Letting my Xbox Live subscription expire and roll back to a Silver account. I just don’t play on-line enough to justify it right now. I have a literal ton of games that I have to play through and multi-player isn’t feasible right now. I’m too competitive and don’t like loosing. Plus I never seem to have enough time to devote to it. (Yes… I know Amazon and others are selling the 12+1mo sub for $30).
4. Been having fun on FaceBook.
5. Life in general has been challenging.

So there you have it. I’d like to think I’m going to pay more attention to the blog here; maybe update the site, but we’ll see.

Just pre-ordered Gears of War 2 at BestBuy.com. Why there? I have some gift certificates from BB that I need to burn plus the last time I used their pickup in store for my pre-order of Ninja Gaiden 2, I managed to score $10 off since they couldn’t get my in-store pickup to me within one minute. So I’m banking a bit on that.

I’m still working off my $1000 in gift cards I got a few months back. I’m pretty much down to nothing. Just enough to cover the last of this year’s video games (Fable 2, Fallout 3, GOW2).

What happens next year? Not sure. I’m tempted to jump back in the freebie scene with some $500 gift cards, but I don’t feel like dealing with the hassle. They’re increasingly hard to finish the offers. Maybe it’s that time to finish the games I have and work the deals as games begin to drop in price three to six months after release.

I’ve known about Live Cashback for a while now but haven’t had a real need to utilize it. I’ve seen 20% and 30% back on eBay purchases.

Well, recently my wife and I decided we’d get a Wii for the family for Christmas (something I was dead set against getting – but if that’s what the family wants – who am I to argue) with our rewards points from our credit card.

So I began my deal hunt. I bounced around from site to site, check the tracker sites and ended up at eBay trying find a new multi-player bundle.

I almost bought a bundle this weekend at Circuit City for $359 (wii, extra controller + nunchuck, charger, + $50 game). I had a “friends and family” coupon for 15% off, but they wouldn’t take the coupon (even through it doesn’t exclude consoles – at least I couldn’t find that clause) plus they didn’t have Wii Play w/controller.

Over at CAG (cheapassgamer.com) they had a thread alerting to the Cashback bonus at eBay being 30%. So I figured I’d do some hunting there.

I managed to find a new Wii + Wii Play w/controller + nunchuck + free shipping for $400. So with 30% cashback I take off $120 making it about $280. Not too bad. However, I know that those eBay sellers are 1. milking the Wii market, 2. Also milking the current cashback promo. Either way, I’m still getting a good deal after all is said and done.

I’m just nervous about blowing $300 on game console that will ultimately get played heavily for a month or so then forgotten about. I have no plans on stocking up on a ton of games and if I do pick up any, they’ll be on the pre-owned market.

As of this morning the seller already shipped (made good on his promise to ship next day) and even sent me the UPS tracking code.

Now to come up with some good Christmas morning drama since this is the only thing the kids will be opening.

Just received a notice from www.externaldriveoffer.com that my free 500gb WD My Book External Hard Drive has been confirmed and that I should expect it within the next 10 weeks.

All I had to do was sign up for a Discover More card and activate it by making a purchase. What did I buy? I bought some cheap 360 games off GameStop.com; The Darkness, Prey, Spider-Man 3, PGR 3. To total was just a smidge over $25 after 16% off (coupon: GAG16). I also qualified me for free shipping since I squeaked over the $25 limit. They probably aren’t the greatest of games but getting four okay games for $25… you can’t go wrong, plus the added gamerscore is also a bonus.