Worn out Headphones

I actually think this is a first...not quite sure what this actually says about me, but this, in all my long life (thus far) is the first pair of headphones that I have managed to wear out...

I've seen many, many pairs of headphones come to a premature end *violently*...I've *lost* plenty of them, I've even killed a few pairs trying to re-purpose them (the last set that went in the bin were going to be soldered to phono plugs so I could play my xbox without disturbing Flyingpops), but this is the first pair that has lasted long enough to, through continual use, (they are the pair that have lived with my PSP since I discarded the pair that came with it back in 2006) I have actually worn out...

They have served me so faithfully and for so many years that (oddly) I can't quite bring myself to throw them away...

Off the Grid...

...just to bring you up to date, someone has trodden on our tubes (or something) and our internets have got all clogged up at home...naughty cable provider (Virgin) can't get an engineer out to us until *Thursday* (bleugh!!!), so updates (especially by Flyingpops) to all the various social media services we are hopelessly addicted to may be rather limited...

Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death

Wah... :(

It's been happening for a while now, slump down onto my bean bag and poke the power button anticipating a nice bit of batarang action around Gotham City or perhaps throwing a few chain lightning bolts around Stonehelm and instead of the boot up routine three of the little lights around the power button flash annoyingly at me in a dismal red...I tut and hit it twice again to turn it off and back on and after a heartbeat the greens merrily cycle and the Xbox starts up normally (happy mayhem and evil cackling then commencing)...but Saturday last saw the end of my goon bashing and the suspension of my channeling the awesome power of mother nature...after at least twenty attempts, my pout getting bigger and bigger as my crest fell I was finally forced to accept that my Xbox had finally and fatally succombed to the infamous "Red Ring of Death"...

After an uncomfortable half an hour (trying to keep Thomas happy while) struggling to remember what ancient email account I twinned to my gamertag (and what the password was), I finally managed to register my xbox (about 4 years late), and wincing as I submitted my repair request (on a screen showing in a familiar red colour the words "Warranty Expired") to Microsoft in anticipation of a large bill...What popped up on the receipt page was both a shock and a very pleasant surprise - the amount they were going to charge me for the repair was (*gasp*) 0.00 GBP.

From there on, things only continued to improve (yes, odd I know, considering this post is about a broken gaming console) the email that arrived shortly afterwards told me to box up the Xbox not in it's original packaging (for some reason probably to do with dishonest appropriation with the intent to permanently deprive the original owner) slap on a return label (also sent on an email) and call UPS to arrange for (wait for it) FREE SHIPPING to the Xbox hospital for poorly consoles (which is in Frankfurt, just in case you were wondering)!

It turns out that Microsoft has taken this issue so seriously that in 2006 they put aside One Beeeeeeeeelion Dollars to combat the problem (or just enough for either $100 worth of shipping and repairs for every single Xbox 360 ever made, or to completely replace 1 in 3)...

Cherry on the top? My next door neighbour is going to stay with his Gran for half term and she has a Wii, so he's not using his Xbox... ;)

The Fall and Rise of my Nokia N73 Headphones

So, my (semi-hated) headphones for my Nokia N73 finally gave up the ghost...and not in a terribly peaceful way either...early last week I was rushing for my train (minor delays on the tube, caused by the usual congestion) came haring up the escalator at London Bridge, glanced up at the clock to see if I was going to make it, and in that split second two girls cut past me (from left to right) almost whacking me in the chest with an oversize rucksack causing me to twist to avoid them...however, I didn't quite make it...a stupidly positioned umbrella stuffed into one of the rucksack pockets had managed to loop around my headphone cables!

Everything sort of went into slow motion (one of those "NooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOO!" moments) as I reached (in slow motion) to try (in vain) to untangle the wires, they suddenly flexed and became taught, my head leaning in towards the rucksack to try and minimise the damage, but it was too little, too late, both earphones flew out, followed by the neck strap snapping in half at it's (designed) break point (like those clever controllers for the original Xbox) and finally the connector at the bottom of the phone was torn out, flicking the whole thing up into the air behind the rest of the flaying cables, spinning a few feet (as it lost energy) in the direction of the vanishing vandals...I skidded to a halt next it it, snatching it up from the floor, my indignant gaze boring a hole into their bulging, receding backsides...but when I plugged it back in the right headphone didn't work any more...

Luckily though, as I told my tale of woe in the office (yes, I had moaned quite a lot about those headphones, but it's actually really nice to listen to music when navigating the crowds on the tube), the guy that sits next to me (Olly) said he had a set of brand new ones in his loft that he had never even used...this morning they were coiled up on my desk...thanks Olly! ;)

Soup Don't Work

Hehe...looks like the copy editors have been visiting our floor's office kitchen, helping to fix the terrible use of English..."Soup don't work" indeed...they need to get to work on this one too... ;)