Not sure why I started thinking about eBay tonight. I haven't bought anything from eBay in years. Then I thought back to the two and only two times I've sold something on eBay.
Back in the summer of 2004, I sold two invitations to participate in the Gmail beta program. I think I had ten invitations at the time and I didn't know what to do with them. Then I read somewhere that people were selling these things online. Since I didn't even have to ship these invitations, I thought it would be a no hassle sale.
I put up one invitation for bidding and I wound up making about $20 of profit from the sale. Excited, I put another one up for bid. That invitation didn't barely made my minimum bid and I believe I made $5 from that. I stopped putting up invitations after that.
So the week I chose to take some vacation (where I sat on my ass at home), Rick Mercer of Canadian TV fame, came to visit the video game studio where I work.
The above video shows what he did while he was visiting. Though the segment doesn't include it, he apparently partook in beer and cake with the rest of the Black Box crew. I wish I could have had a beer with Rick Mercer.
It's difficult to fathom but in about six months, I will have been blogging for eight years. I started this blog just weeks before I went to grad school, not knowing who the hell would be reading it. I'm estimating I met most of my loyal readers after 2002, those people coming mostly from grad school and the games industry (post-grad school). The rest are probably former classmates from my younger days and those I toiled in QA with.
Well, I've been thinking about this for a few days but I believe it's time for this blog to get a bit of a make-over. I'm still using a blog template that I selected in 2002. I changed the colour scheme about three years ago but the template hasn't changed cosmetically aside from that. Technology doesn't stand still however. In seven years, a lot of neat little blog widgets have been developed but since my template is so old, it can't support them. I did a minor refit a while ago to get a proper commenting system working but that was mostly a patch than a total redesign.
It's a shame that work is taking up so much of my time but I am now casually looking at new, state-of-the-art blog templates. My intention is to pick a few that I like and hopefully involve you, my loyal readers, in the selection process. This won't be a quick procedure but I do hope you'll keep reading in the meantime.
Tony Hawk has made very few public comments on the Skate game franchise, which I'm proud to work on. Digg.com interviewed Tony last week and one of questions posed to him was "Have you played EA's Skate? If so, what did you think of it?"
Tony answered the question in the video above. I think you can interpret his answer in a few ways but here's my take on it. He was first and foremost, polite and professional with his answer which I expected. He seems like a genuinely nice guy so nothing new here. He also described our game as "cool" and "unique". I suppose that's a good thing to hear from the man who brought skateboarding games to the forefront. At the same time, he seemed careful not to praise our game too much or give it too many accolades. I like how he transitioned quickly into talking about skateboarding games as a genre, taking the focus off a specific game.
Anyways, for a person who has done so much for the skateboarding world, it's interesting to hear what he thinks of our little project.
This Sunday evening, I found myself returning home after having dinner at my parent's home. As I got off the elevator, I turned the corner to go down the short hallway where my apartment is located. As I got to my door, I looked down the end of the hallway where there are two additional apartments. On the ground, just a few feet in front of me was the unmistakable colour and design of a Canadian $20 bill.
The placement of the slightly crumpled up $20 bill was a bit suspect. It was right in the middle of the hallway, as if placed on purpose. I quickly looked around to see if there were any cameras that were observing. Of course, there were none... I think. I wasn't really sure what to do at this point. Should I just grab the money and dash into my apartment? Should I try to see if the $20 bill belonged to anyone in one of those two apartments?
Just taking the money seemed too easy and it really wasn't my money. I decided I should at least make a half-assed attempt to return the bill to its rightful owner. Since I was going to do it half-assed, I decided I would only knock on the door of one the apartments down the hall (the bill could have only come from those two apartments). Now I don't know much about my neighbours. I think I may have said hi to each of them once so far. I do know both apartments are two-bedroom units. I also know one of them is occupied by a young couple and the other is occupied by two young ladies who share the place. Guess which one I chose?
After a solid knock and a curious look through the peephole, one of the roommates opened the door. It was the tall, brunette one. I could see her shorter, blonde roommate behind her, wondering why I had knocked.
"Oh hey, did one of you just drop this $20 bill in the hallway? I found it on the floor."
"Oh... no, but the pizza guy was just here, so I guess it's your lucky day."
"Oh, alright. Well, thanks!"
"But thanks for checking with us first."
"Yeah, no problem!"
So with that, the awkward exchange ended and I walked back to my apartment door and let myself in. Considering I spent almost $50 in groceries today, the $20 I found certainly is most welcome. I also appreciate the honesty of the young ladies down the hall. They could have made up some crazy story on the spot and I pretty much would have had to give them the money.
I know you're wondering but I am indeed going to continue working. I just wouldn't know what I'd do with all that free time.
