Unload: Part II

I unloaded my Microsoft XBox. I traded it in for store credit at Exile on Main Street in downtown Champaign. Not surprisingly, the system and the plethora of games I traded in only netted myself $45. I was hoping for something just a bit higher, but at the same time that system is old. Plus, the games I turned in were not sought after by most gamers. Oh well.

The reason why I decided to get rid of the XBox is because I realized I really didn't want to play the games for that system. I realized, not too long after I hooked it up, that I should have sold that system plus games, at the yard sale. Maybe I would have received more money if I did that. I know that I wouldn't have been able to sell that system plus games on Amazon and expected to net myself any worthwhile profits.

Another reason is because...I already own too many fucking systems. Before the yard sale, I had game for 10 systems: Nintendo DS, GBA, Cube, 64, NES, PS2, PS1, XBox, DreamCast, Saturn. Do I have time to play all those games for all those systems? No. I do, however, like owning games, which now that I think about it, is pretty weird. Yes, I do have some nice rarities, but I wonder if I will win those games. They sure do look nice on my shelf, though.

Of course I'll miss those sweet games I don't own anymore. Jet Set Radio Future just oozed style and creativity. And love. Finding a game with creativity, style, and love is so rare nowadays I honestly wonder if gamers will realize what they will loose as the video game medium goes into the future. There are simply too many first-person shooters on the retail shelves that they crowd out anything that is not FPS. Almost all games are focus-group-fucked just to make them as broadly appealing -- and boring and uncreative -- as possible simply so a game company can maximize his investment. So sad. I also would have liked to have gotten deeper into Dai Senryaku VII, but that game was just so deep and complicated it would have swallowed all of my time. I already have grid-based tactical RPGs for my PS2 I simply had to thin the heard. Sorry, "Big Strategy."

The main reason I finally decided to unload my XBox is because I do plan on buying the PS3slim when that is released sometime soon. The rumors are running wild about a sexy, sleek Playstation 3 soon to be released on October 1. If/When that happens, I definitely pick one up. I didn't want to support an eleventh system. That would be crazy, right? Now I'll see if Sony decides to knock $50 off the price of that system. Time will tell...and hopefully soon.

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banks recently

On Tuesday I closed my old Busey Bank bank account, and I opened a new one with First Federal Savings Bank. While I was working at Busey, the employees would get a sheet of the rates that all the banks in the C-U area were offering and charging on accounts and loans. FF consistently had the highest yielding APYs on its money-market checking accounts, CDs, and other interest-bearing account types. Busey Bank was in the bottom half. Maybe that bank was in the lower third. I really don't remember.

I also closed my one of my CDs I had with Navy Federal Credit Union, since it entered its roll-over period. It was my goal to have both of my CDs mature at the same time. That was not the situation; They would have matured three months apart. Ultimately, I wanted to combine those CDs into one big one and continue to reinvest that until I really needed the cash. Since my $3000 variable rate CD matures next March, I'll just combine the left-overs from this CD I closed a few months ago with the current one into one CD with a shorter roll-over cycle.

(Now all I need is a fucking job so I can set up direct deposit into my Navy Fed account. That is a pipe dream.)

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unload

I can always tell when I'm feeling depressed. During these times, I don't feel like uploading my LJ. I think it is because I feel that there is "nothing going on in my life" that feels like being documented. There was a few incidences I came here to type something, but then I talked myself out of it because those respective posts would have felt like useless filler. When I update, I like to talk about things that mean something to me. I don't want to update my journal just for the sake of updating my journal.

It has been one month, and things happen. Good things. Bad things. Mediocre things. Things. I think my overwhelming indifference to just about everything concerns me the most.

Since I have a more-than-filler thing to talk about: This passing weekend was pretty good for Kevin and for me. We had our yard sale -- the yard sale that I was planning since August of last year. It went off without a hitch for all parties involved.

I knew that the things we wanted to unload wouldn't amount to a sizable yard sale, so I tasked the help from my friends and neighbors to help in our cause. Ben H. had his deceased mother's belongings he had to unload. Lady Ray donated her unwanted clothes from her household -- most of which belonged to her daughter; She simply outgrew them.

So, the yard sale encompassed the possessions of four people: Kevin, Lady Ray, Ben, and I. I decided to get rid of the books I read and no longer wanted, and the DVDs and video games I would no longer watch or play. Totally, I made back $289. The yard sale had a total of approximately $900. Poor Kevin only made $59 off of his possessions he was selling in the sale.

From yardsale2009

From yardsale2009

From yardsale2009

From yardsale2009

From yardsale2009

From yardsale2009

From yardsale2009

The only thing that bothers me is the fact I got hustled by the people I was supposed to hustle! I mean, I was hoping to sell my used, but well taken care of, video game systems for twice for what they went for. I guess Mexican immigrants know how to haggle.

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