FF ramblings

[ria_oaks]

I happened to check Rpgamer.com a few minutes ago and noticed that FFIII:DS comes out today (I haven't really been keeping track...). I'm probably just being too over-emotional, but this day feels rather historic in the RPG world - the last Final Fantasy that wasn't released in the US is finally here. I checked, and it's been approximately 16.5 years since FFIII was released in Japan - well, better late than never, I guess. XD I mean sure, I played it years ago on a translated ROM and I won't be buying this version anytime soon (lack of a DS... and lack of time to play. woe.), but it's still cool to think that it's here. It's sort of a pity that the original version of the game will never make it here, most likely (how hard would it have been to include the orignal version in the new game, really...?), but the new version looks pretty spiffy. Hopefully I'll get to play it someday.

3 FF games in the past 2 weeks, 2 of which are new to the US (FFXII and FFIII:DS) and one of which only ever made it here in a mangled fashion (FFV Advance) - makes me miss the days when I could play all the time... I haven't really been into gaming as much the last few years, largely because of a. lack of time during school, b. other interests take up my free time, and c. i'm lazy., but I still get excited hearing about games and still want to play when I get the chance. I'm way behind on all the games I'm playing, but I still plan to ask for either FFXII or Disgaea 2 for Christmas (leaning towards the latter - FFXII will be easy enough to find for years to come, and it'll get cheap fairly quickly, whereas Disgaea 2 will start disappearing soon...). I am sorely tempted by FFXII, though - it's been getting fantastic reviews, and hell, it's FFXII! We've been waiting for this game for years, and it's finally here... and I really can't justify the time or money to get it. Part of me, too, is still a bit uncertain about it - but most of the reviews have said that the game is nothing like (and much better than) anything we've seen of it to this point, including the demo. I plan to give it a chance eventually, but can't do it yet.

And... I'm procrastinating. Back to my Farscape paper... it's due tomorrow at 9, so I need to get moving. Up to 5 pages, need about 12 - and I'm still blathering on about the context, haven't even gotten to analysing the series itself! Ehehehe. baaack to work.

Comments

[bk635.livejournal.com]

What the hell is going on with the dollar? D:

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Lol, I dunno, I haven't been at work to check the rate for the last few days. XD Has it gone back down? I hope not, because I want to buy some US cash tomorrow for my trip... better still be really good.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

$1.036-something US now. About $0.026 drop today. It hit $1.103 on Friday and has been sharply going down since. I hope this trend doesn't continue.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Whaaat. Shit, it was 1.09 the other day. Should've bought it then... Though really, it's probably not too bad a thing - the dollar being so good meant that we were losing US business, which is bad. But granted, it was nice. *sigh* Dammit. Maybe it'll go up again?? :(

[bk635.livejournal.com]

It will take a few days for the trends to be readjusted, and we'll know what analysts think then. It fell not because we were doing anything different, but because the US dollar had a sudden surge in strength, due to oil prices or something; I don't really know. Their economy is still shit, and it's not like ours got worse all of a sudden, so maybe it'll continue rising.

I'm irked because I bet there are a lot of Americans now gloating that we can't hold our own afterall or whatever the fuck they think about to make themselves feel superior.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I don't want to risk it going down more... i think I'll just buy some US tomorrow. It'll still be a good deal, compared to a few monthes ago, anyway.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

This downtrend might have been a good thing, really. The dollar was going up way too fast, which makes it extremely unstable. Better we have a small crash now than later, no?

But I really hope it goes back up; retailers were just starting to reprice their wares.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, true enough.

And yeah, it was nice... for shopping and such. Though I still kinda worry about the effect on tourism from the US, the film industry, etc... still, it was nice to have our economy so strong. :)

[bk635.livejournal.com]

It's up it's up~!

Did that sound wrong?

$1.0426 US now.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Goody. :) I was at work today and our buy rate (what we buy US at) was .93 or so and our sell rate was .97 (equivalent of that 1.04 number, I guess, minus some commission or whatever BC Central takes off). But I thiiink I get US at the buy rate because I'm staff, which would be sweet. Forgot to get it today and didn't really have a chance; should do it tomorrow. Though won't be there long - get there at 11:30, then we close at 12:30 for a Mastercard training session (fucking yawn). Will have to remember to do it right when I arrive. Better figure out how much I want for that shopping... in San Diego, then in Mexico (I gather all the tourist places in the areas we'll be in take American). Am thinking $400? Or maybe that'd be too much... I dunno. *sigh* Wonder if I get to exchange it back to CDN at the sell rate instead of the buy rate... must ask.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Mastercard training session?

I think $400 is way too much. I can't really imagine what you would buy in Mexico (and I mean, Peso..). I'd probably take like $250 or something, mainly for San Diego shopping.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

And down agaign.. $1.0348 US. The news people said to buy your US cash as soon as possible because the dollar is just too unpredictable. :\

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's up and down. Didn't get a chance to buy it today because we had our Mastercard training then I was out of there to catch the ferry to get to the hospital. Mom had her surgery today, but she's fine... was in good spirits when we left. She should be out tomorrow. It's a relief... ^^

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Ah, glad to hear everything went well, then.

That's soon though; I thought it was going to be during your cruise.. Will she recover in time for to go to San Diego with you (or whatever the plan was)?

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, us too...

No, she definitely won't be... I mean, she should recover fairly quickly, but not well enough that in two weeks she could go gallivanting about California. :) It's okay. I'm going to go just for the cruise; flying in the night before (shindig that night!) and flying back the day we get back into port. It'll be fun, anyhow. Would've been kinda nice to go to LA, esp because I'd like to go to the picket lines and support the writers for a bit (translation: run into someone cool and famous), but oh wells.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Someone cool and famous, like him?

http://media.tv.ign.com/articles/835/835008/img_5061223.html

[bk635.livejournal.com]

$1.0156 now..

Hurry up and exchange that money. ;p

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

I know eh! Pissed off. It was $0.93 CDN to $1 USD at work yesterday; called co-worker today to get him to set aside US money for me (forgot yesterday, don't want to risk waiting until Tuesday) and it's .95. Woe. Got him to exchange $250 for me today, so it's a decent rate still, but it's definitely not as good... was .89 last week. :(

Check out my latest comment in the LT, re: tomorrow.

And tonight... Supernatural! :)

[bk635.livejournal.com]

It's annoying how fast it's going down.. I wonder why..

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Yeah. 3 hour training session on the different cards available, what each one offers, etc etc. It was actually quite a good session; learned a lot, and it will be useful for selling them to people. Especially since we get money for each card we sell. :) And we've got a promotion on right now, so we get double what we would normally - up to $30 per card for the best ones.

I'm going for $250, I think, yeah. For San Diego shopping and a bit in Mexico (come on, cool Mexican souvenirs! ^_^)

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Buy me a bottle of tequila. I'd love to put it up next to my bottle of (aging) vodka. :p

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Lol, you can buy tequila up here. XD Anyway, I wouldn't want to risk anything like that from Mexico... call me paranoid, but considering the dangers involved in food and water down there I'm not sure I'd want to drink their alcohol. ^^

[bk635.livejournal.com]

That makes it exciting. ;p

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, getting Hep A or B is very exciting. ;) I'm just not going to eat or drink anything there... will go back to the ship for lunch. It's free, at least. Pretty sure that I got a Hep B shot back in high school, but not Hep A. Doctor said I could get it for $70, but I figured that hell, I'll only be there for two days, in very touristy areas, and won't eat any of the food. Should be okay.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Anyway, so I'm in town tonight... power went off at Bowen, so we came down for the day. Staying overnight, then going up to work tomorrow morning. Then back down Wednesday for Mom's surgery... anyway, PB tonight! Hey, I could come over and watch it on your big shiny screen. XD Course, I'd have to bring my computer so we could up our comment count - after all, what's the point in just talking about the ep IRL? XD