Second Life Explorer

Hai Guyz,

So long story short, I’ve been wanting to buy a PS4 to play a couple titles that aren’t available on any of the half dozen consoles that I already own. I bought one off of Ebay, which was supposed to arrive between the 16th and the 20th, it was the 23rd and I had not seen it. The pandemic may have slowed things down, but I was a bit concerned, because it was a $400 item, and because I was anxious to play Final Fantasy VIIR which was released two weeks ago. I logged onto Ebay and literally did nothing but click a link that said,”I have not received item”.

Within minutes, I got a couple angry messages from the seller

Apparently reporting an item as “not received” locks up the seller’s paypal account. I will keep this in mind for future transactions. I was a bit taken aback by being told to chill, as well as him for blaming me for locking up his account. However, the troll part of me enjoyed the hostile exchange. So I requested an apology. Anyway, I didn’t bother posting my responses because of the way Ebay shows the messages, which would have made taking screencaps a bit tedious. However I can provide my responses if anyone wants them.

On that note, I did receive other packages from Ebay in a timely manner. I also contacted both UPS and USPS(apparently, he originally sent it UPS, but it got transferred from UPS to USPS). USPS told me that they would open up an investigation, and that they would get back to me in 2-3 business days. However, he didn’t need to know that, so I didn’t tell him.

I asked for an apology before “threatening” him with negative feedback. Predictably, rather than apologize, he doubled down.

The government agency I threatened to contact was the Better Business Bureau, who wouldn’t do anything, but I was curious to see how he would respond. I also told him that I requested USPS send back the item. He shows even greater customer service skills by calling me a liar. Although Ebay said that I would actually have to receive the package before returning it.

I couldn’t help but smile when he accused me of borderline harassment, pettiness, and ignorance, all because I was simply wondering why my package was 3 days late.  I am a but salty about having to wait so long, regardless of whose fault it is, but at least I found other ways to entertain myself.

Update 28 April 2020:

After accusing me of harassment, he  asks me to close the case, which would unfreeze his funds. Not only does he do this after accusing me of harassing him, but he fails to do so nicely, notice how he doesn’t even bother to say please. I respond by asking him to apologize for how he has talked to me, in addition to a $200 partial refund, in exchange for closing the case(which would release his funds).

Predictably, he not so politely declines my offer, and instead doubles down.

He also insured a $400 for $50.

I told him that I asked USPS to send the package back, I never said that they’d actually do it. USPS said that they couldn’t find the package, and even if they did I’d need to pay for return shipping. However, I did not feel like elaborating that point with him. As of this update, I’ve yet to receive the package. Fortunately, I bought the thing on credit, and will hopefully either the system or a refund soon.

Hai Guyz,

So I’ve been in the job market for the past year or so. Naturally my inbox is flooded with prospective employers. One of these employers was very suspect. My apologies if this post is a bit odd as I am writing it on my cell

Not at all sketchy

Just from reading the e-mail, I’ve noticed several red flags off the bat.

1.) Joshua Joshua,what kind of a name is that?

2.) The company isnt named in the email. Literally every prospective employer has the company name in their signature.

3.) The “hiring manager” has no office number, and uses a Gmail account, who conducts a job interview on googl Hangouts?

4.) They didn’t even bother to use my actual name and simply call me “applicant”?

5.) 5 different jobs are listed in the email, I wonder which one they are hiring me for.

The smart thing to do would be to delete the e-mail. However I wanted to see what was down this rabbit hole.

A quick Google search reveals that Biogened SA is an actual company in Poland. However I don’t see them posting any job openings in the U.S.

Surprisingly, A Google search shows no plans for Biogened expanding in the U.S.

He doesn’t seem to notice that the name I gave him earlier doesn’t match what I just told him.

He never answers ANY of my questions, and simply copy/pastes from the Biogened website.

A very unusual business strategy indeed.

Umm ok, very unusual but ok…

They are willing to pay their employees 46 bucks an hour but make their senior employees use Gmail accounts and Google Hangouts. This doesn’t seem fishy at all.

Ok…

So I did not elaborate on my any of my answers. Not did he ask for elaboration. How I scored 91 out 100 I have no idea. His hiring manager however thought that someone who gave him a fake name over a job recruting website and hasn’t even met in persob will be a good fit for his company.

Lol, “Software’s”.

He isn’t the least bit fazed that I live at 123 Fake street or that my phone number is 123-456-7890.

So I did get a phone call from an actual job company. I had to make a quick cover story.

How he knew that I have a bank account with USAA I do not know. This does worry me a little and makes me wish that I didn’t venture this far down into the rabbit hole. But no turning back now…

This was an extremely short interview/introduction. My new employer seems very impatient.

He didnt bother to verify any of the information I gave him and he is already trusting me with a $1000 check. What a nice company.

Printing out a check on order to he scanned by a mobile deposit app. A bit unorthodox but ok.

I was actually in bed…but he didn’t need to know.

He actually sent me a check with my fake name on it..

Seems legit, don’t you think?

He is once again impatient and keeps blowing up my phone while I am at my real job. I im him when I get home.

He is less interested as to why I am hospitalized than he is about a $1000 check, what a nice guy.

Mmm hmm…

He doesn’t seem very interested in my story….

A company willing to pay a relatively unskilled employee $46 an hour’s seem awfully concerned over a $1,000 check…..

Its been several hours and I still haven’t heard back. I am guessing that they gave the position to someone else.

While President Trump is heavily criticized for attempting to obtain funding for his wall. It is very important to remember When Obama refused to sign a budget unless he received $10 Billion for his giant healing crystal. His detractors, such as Dr. Ben Carson, claimed that healing crystals were ineffective, and that the 10 billion would be better spent on upgrading hospitals and medicare. Still, Obama remained adamant that not only is a “good old-fashioned healing crystal” the best option for our nation, but that it is imperative that the nation purchase a very pure crystal from a crystal mine in Arkansas. When asked if his decision was influenced by the fact that the mine was owned by the Clinton family. Obama responded by screaming “Fox is fake news” at the reporter, and flying off to the sunset with his jetpack.

While visiting troops in Atropia, he made a speech claiming that the “Republicans want all of you to die of AIDS”. If you ever hear a democrat criticize Trump’s wall, be sure to show them this article.

I have grown bored of Second Life and trolling. I have decided to post about things I’ve cooked. Even though I am by no means a professional chef, I do like to cook, a lot, for several reasons. The first is I cannot afford to eat out all the time. The second is because despite the first reason, I need to maintain a semi-healthy diet. The third is cooking is a way I feel like I can express my creativity in a constructive way(aside from trolling). In this post, I will share some of my staple recipes.

Warning: I never really measure my ingridients in the kitchen, and I oftentimes prefer to use whatever is on sale at the grocery store.

Tofu Carrot scramble

Ingridients:

2 carrots, shredded

4 tablespoons soy sauce(Hoisin, Ponzu, and Worcestire sauce make for decent substitutes)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 package(usually about 8-12 ounces) of firm tofu, cut into half inch cubes

optional:

chopped garlic

green onions

Place carrots, Sesame seeds, and half of soy sauce in skillet over medium heat. Cook until carrots are soft and translucent, I think like 10 minutes. Add in tofu cubes, add additional soy sauce to coat the tofu cubes. Cook for another 10 minutes until cubes are warm.

I usually serve this over a bed of rice or Quinoa, although it also goes good with tortillas.

Slow cooker stew

Ingridients:

1 pound pork shoulder(or whatever meat is on sale)

2 carrots, chopped

2-4 potatoes, chopped

1 onion, diced

1 cup tomatoes

4 stalks of celery, chopped

3 bay leaves

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon pepper

1 chili pepper, fresh or dried(1 can green enchilada sauce is a great substitute)

3 bay leaves

optional:

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon oregano

1/4 cup shredded ginger

1/4 cup mushrooms

4 ounces red wine

3 strips bacon

Mix flour and pepper in bowl, then use the mixture to coat the meat. Throw the meat in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add whatever other ingridients into the pot and cook for 8 hours.

So long story short, I have moved into an apartment by myself for the first time in my life. Said apartment is not furnished, which means that I have to buy al of my furniture from scratch, including my bed.Being the Ultra-mature person that I am, I thought it would be fun to get a Totoro-shaped bed.

I’ve seen dozens of different sellers on Ebay sell the same Totoro-shaped bed. The girl in the picture appears to be an adult, albeit a petite one(an assumption I make based solely on  her ethnicity). I figured that if she can lay on it comfortably, then so can I.

A week later, it arrives at the post office. I was a tad worried when I saw how tiny the package was. I figured that whoever packed it must’ve packed it really tightly to save on shipping….

I rush home to open the damn thing, having every intention of sleeping on it that night.

When I fully unpack the damn thing, this is what I get…

This isn’t big enough to use as a bean bag, let alone a bed. At best, this is a glorified stuffed animal. I felt very much ripped off and left a negative review.The seller was quick to take notice.

I pointed out that the item he sent me was much smaller than the one in the pictures(assuming of course that the girl pictured isn’t a child or a midget). He pointed out that the dimensions were listed in the description, which I didn’t scroll down to read. In all fairness, he did offer to accept  a return.

Hai Guyz,

So I get this text out of the blue…

I actually live an hour away from Tucson. When I asked how she got my number, she gave the name of a dating site that I use on occasion(If any dating profile stated that they were underaged I would’ve reported it ASAP, and I sure as hell wouldn’t send them my cell number).

So I decided to do a reverse image search:

The girl in question is apparently named Sammie Daniels, and is on Twitter along with several porn sites.

Last, I decided to do a reverse phone search

Frederico Rucio from Gaston, South Carolina.  Sadly, when I actually called, I got no answer. Not today Isis, Not today.

Hai Guyz,

I’ve been spending most of my weekends in front of a screen. I decided to change that. I thought renting a tiger for the weekend would be a good idea. However, I had no idea where to rent one, but what better source of information than Facebook?

Tonio’s link was interesting I sent an e-mail asking for a quote.They’ve yet to respond.

I resisted the urge to make a dirty innuendo at Janie’s comment.

Thus far, I have yet to find a tiger, updates soon.

So one day out of the blue, some lady sends me a private message over Facebook…

Note: I had a profile pic of myself in my Army uniform. To my knowledge the U.S. is the only country to ever wear ACUS.  Regardless of my skepticism, she presses on…..

Quite an attractive lady, and a desperate one at that. Sadly, all of her pics are about 8kb apiece, as though they were meant to be thumbnails. I am guessing she has very slow internet. I questioned her about this…

Note: I have a smart phone, but I didn’t want her to know that. I get a little suspicious when the pics appear to be a different  dark-haired woman with a similar body type…

..Yeah, she lays it on thick. Notice she knows absolutely nothing about me other than I am wearing a uniform in my profile pic(My privacy settings are set so that the rest of my profile is hidden to those who aren’t my friends). I decide to perform a reverse image search on some of the pics she sends….

The pic of the woman in the black dress appears on this website.

It appears to be a middle-aged porn actress named Aria Giovanni.

The green shirted lady appears in several dozen dating sites. Here are the original pics she sent for those who wish to do the reverse image search for themselves.

The Singularity of Kumiko is perhaps the most immaculate sim I have ever seen in Second Life. It has taken me hours to fully explore.  Everything is extremely detailed, to include the many clockwork-looking creatures. In addition the the visuals, many parts of the sim are interactive. Bryn uses sound, scripting, and many other devices in Second Life to tell a very complex yet mysterious story.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Immersiva/13/106/21

Also be sure to check out the creator’s blog.

My journey into the Singularity started in a “lobby”. In the lobby, I am given instructions on how to set the proper graphic and windlight settings so that the sim can be enjoyed as intended. I am also given the instructions on how to use both the accompanying HUD and headlamp. The “visitor” is also tasked with finding 14 bottles containing messages, either in a flash drive or on a piece of paper.  The HUD always gives visual clues as to the location of the bottles. However, I chose to wander the sim aimlessly until I found all of them.

Upon exiting the Lobby, I am teleported into a dark forest.  All the trees have little or no foliage attached to  them, and appear to be dead or dying.

It is not long until I come upon a two-lane road. a short walk down the road leads to a car crash. There appears to be no blood or or dead bodies on the road, although personal belongings are strewn everywhere. Among them, I find my first bottle. The message appears to be written by the titular Kumiko, to her friend Iktomi. She is apparently stranded on some sort of island, although the island appears to have human habitation, as demonstrated by aforementioned car wreck.

A mysterious road

An accident with what appears to be a bicycle and a small car.

My first bottle

Further down the road I come upon crates full of bees, as well as a rusting swan full of gears. I can’t help but wonder who put them there in the first place, or why they had been abandoned. The Swan looks like it has been rusting for quite a few years, but the bees still live. On a table by the crate of bees, I find my second bottle.

Even the tiny bees are intricately detailed

A rusting swan full of gears.

My second bottle, also crates full of bees.

The road ends abruptly, leaving me to wander the forest aimlessly. I come across many odd creatures similar to the swan. Many appear to be giant insects. However, rabbits and pigeons are also common. I also come across a large number of bees.

A creepy rabbit in the box, if you see this, RUN/.

A pigeon

In addition to many odd creatures. Someone appears to have taken the time to nail up paper advertisements around the forest. Advertising artificial pets, and other gadgets.

That is not all the weirdness that I found in the forest. Many structures and statuary adorn the forest throughout. The most bewildering being a mass of shopping carts. Oddly, I did not come across any stores on the island, leaving me to wonder if the carts ever had any purpose other than to confuse those who wind up here.

Who built this?

How are these powered?

I finally manage to find a shoreline, and a dock. On the dock stands a little girl. Behind her appears to be a flock of pigeons carrying a bomb. I look to her feet, and see what appears to be a bird she has killed. The dead bird and the bomb are both very unnerving, so I wander back into the forest.

Why does she have a dead bird, and why is there a bomb behind her?

Another bottle

I do find a pair of children alone in the forest, one of which is drawing in chalk, the other reading.  The boy is named Elliott, the girl is Imogen. Imogens story is much longer, but no less interesting. Elliott likes bugs, whereas Imogen is obsessed with pigeons. Neither child seems very coherant, so I bid them a good day and left them to their own devices.

Elliot Amber

WTF is this?

Eventually, I find a stone staircase to a large building. I can’t help but think I am dreaming.

The entrance appeared very foreboding, but my curiosity had overidden my fear, and I trudged on.

Inside the home I found all sorts of things that are as horrifying as they are bewildering, very similar to what was in the forest outside. Insects both real and clockwork. School desks meshed together like the shopping carts outside. people sitting lifelessly, dilapidated playground equipment….

What manner of Depravity is this?

gears, gears, more gears

More bugs….

….However, the most unusual of them all are the rabbits in the basement. Kimiko tells a rather odd story with her correspondence to Iktomi about the rabbits, and supposedly some foxes.

Finally, I come upon a portal. Upon attempting to cross, I am told that I must find the 5 remaining bottles. I spent the better part of a day searching both the house and the forest for the remaining bottles. When I do, I am finally allowed to see the end of this dream. I’d tell you what happened to Kimiko, and what she discovered, but it doesn’t make sense even to me.

Hai Guyz,

For this week I visit New Babbage, a somewhat Steampunk-themed sim that has been around since I’ve been in SL. The sim itself is pretty large, and I didn’t feel like reviewing all of it. I have opted to instead showcase what I personally found the most interesting, a wax museum in Second Life.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Babbage%20Square/177/203/106/?title=Wax%20Museum&msg=At%20Babbage

Entryway to the msueum

Babbage has lots of Airships.

Upon Entering the building, I come across depictions of Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Aleister Crowley.

Edgar Allen Poe

Alistair Crowley

Lovecraft

At the end of the first hall I come upon a bar and dancefloor. Quite an odd thing to have in a wax museum!!! I then notice a door off to my left, whereupon entry I am greeted by what I think is supposed to be Igor.

A bar in a wax museum, who would have though?

Igor, I presume?

Indeed, the chamber of Horrors contains plenty of blood and Gore!!

Some of the scenes I’ve recognized are from Frankenstein, Cthulhu, The Fly, The Time machine, and a few others that I did not recognize. All of which have a notecard that explains the scene.

I came across yet another mysterious door, this one leading me to what appears to be a secret underground passage that leads to a bakery.

I then explored the rest of Babbage and called it a day