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13TH BLACKOUT: A DOUBLE DOSE OF BAD LUCK
Man oh man. What a crazy weekend, and not in the "Dude, I was so wasted I woke up next to a 300-lb. chick with a unibrow!", you know, fun kind of way. Seriously messed up stuff.
Hadn't had a blackout in almost a month. So Rob's over Saturday morning (okay noonish, Rob likes to sleep in on the weekends, as do we all). He's working on his laptop, I'm putting my journal entries into the blog, we're listening to some Pixies, getting in a good work groove, when all of a sudden...
Now keep in mind, Rob hasn't yet witnessed one of my blackouts firsthand. Sure, I told him all about them, even showed him the video. But apparently there's a MIGHTY big difference between seeing a tackle video and actually getting tackled.
So I wake up face down on the floor, and I hear crying. I look up and Rob's shoving his laptop into his bag. He storms out and says, "I'm sorry, I just can't deal with this!" and takes off. Grrrrreat.
So I'm sweating, thinking great, he's probably never gonna come back now, and all the pages are stored on his laptop, which is now squealing down the road. Then I feel guilty that my first thought is of the website, and not my friend who I've probably just beaten the crap out of. So I called him, but just got his voicemail. And then...
Jeremy comes in. He must of seen Rob all storming out crying, cuz he said, "Having a tiff?"
So I go, "Huh?"
"Nothing."
"Whatever," I say. Jeremy's kind of pissing me off.
So Jeremy turns to go, then pops his head back in and just says, "Look..." like he's getting ready to say something, then he shakes his head and leaves. I hear him grab some of his stuff and take off. Can this weekend get any better?
Rob finally called me back a little later, he was okay, just a little banged up and freaked out. Thank god for those pillows. He said he saw me get down into a 3-point stance, and was like, "Come on man," like I was kidding or something. Then as soon as I said, "DOWN! SET!" he jumped and almost dropped his laptop. He immediately shoved it under the bed and started looking for an escape, but I was blocking the door. He kept calling me by name and saying, "Come on man, it's me Rob!" But I just tore after him. He ducked next to the bed as I went for him, so he just got kind of knocked to the side and I hit this big pillow, which I then "tackled," threw down and started trash talking to. Meanwhile, Rob's managed to scramble away out the door and is cowering in the next room, watching helplessly as I yell, "YEAH! IN YO' FACE, SUCKA!" to a goddamn pillow.
As I'm writing about it afterwards, it actually sounds kind of funny, but Rob was VERY freaked out. He said it was like he was seeing someone else in my body, there was just this look in my eyes like I wasn't even there. He said it really scared him seeing me this way, and seeing it first hand was just maybe a little too real for him, so he just felt like he needed to get out of there. He said he understands it's an affliction and I can't help it, and all is forgiven, but that he just needs a few days to wrap his head around it. Hey, it definitely took me a few days to wrap my head around it. I feel like I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. It sucks that we'll have to postpone the site launch even more, but I couldn't bring myself to ask Rob to get right back to work after what I did to him.
THEN... Beta-13 calls tonight -- said somebody is looking for him. When he got the janitor job, he listed a friend's house as his residence, just in case, and good thing he did. His friend said some guy in a suit showed up this afternoon looking for him. He wouldn't give any info what it was about or anything, and his friend said he'd moved and didn't know where he was, which was the first thing that came to his head. B13 said this probably makes him look even more suspicious. Said he could kick himself for flaking like that and just not showing up for work, but he panicked and now he looks guilty. B13 couldn't get from his friend whether the guy was a cop or not -- said he flashed him something real quick, but he didn't really see what it was, whether it was a badge or not, and he was too paranoid to ask to see it again.
WON. DER. FUL.
Beta-13 said he packed up some stuff and went to crash at another friend's place for a while. This SUUUUUUUUUCKS!
God, I hope those revisions work.
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...OR MAYBE NOT!
AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH! Really really REALLY wanted to have the site up today, but it just ain't gonna happen. there's just a million little details and not enough hours in the day, plus I'm not really the most organized guy in the world (trying though, sorry Rob!)
Patience, MAADemperor and Stevo9510, patience.
Rob says the discussion boards are coming along though, and that we'll have a private one for me, B13 and B5 to get in touch with each other on. Cool!
Rob old buddy, you are officially the coolest guy in the world.
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GROUND CONTROL, WE'RE CLEAR FOR LAUNCH...
Rob said we might be able to get the site up tomorow. AWESOME!!! Haven't really had the chance to post on the gaming boards much under this new Beta-7 name, haven't even had the chance to look through and pick an avatar yet. I think some of the other posters are getting pissed cuz I'm not really telling them much about this whole anti-sega thing, but I figured it would piss them off even more if I tried to tell the whole thing in a post.
CAN'T WAIT TILL TOMORROW! Still a lot of work to be done though...
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I BEEN WORKIN' ON THE WEBSITE, ALL THE LIVELONG DAY...
Haven't written in my journal in a while, just been working like crazy to get the site up. Rob says I should put my journal entries into a blog for the site, which I think is a good idea but I need to figure it out myself, cuz he doesn't really have the time to walk me through it. He said its easy, but this is me were talking about…
Finally got the revisions today, but they wouldn't play in my xbox or ps2. Rob said I need to order a modified console that can play unsigned games. I found a bunch of them for sale online, but they're all $300-$400!!! And I doubt if any of them would be willing to cut me a break since it's for a "good cause"…
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THE FIT HITS THE SHAN!
B13 called and said when he got to work tonight the security guards were stopping everyone and checking in their cars and everything, so he knew something was up. He got VERY freaked out and just kept on driving. He said its not safe to go back there.
So i guess that's it for the insider connection, but we should have more than enough evidence to screw these bastards, b13 got the revisions, plus I've still got a bunch of boxes of shreds to go through, maybe some other stuff will turn up. I just hope b13 doesn't end up getting busted.
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THE MOTHERLOAD!
HAAAAAAAAAYOLE YEEEEEEEEEEE-UH! Just got a wake-up call from Beta-13, 5:30 am with the best breakthroug yet! HE STOLE A BOX OF THE 2K4 REVISIONS FROM VC!!! He's mailing them to me later today, regular mail so it's harder to track.
This is the smoking gun we've been waitng for!!! YES! You're going down Sega!!!
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AN EVIL ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME...
Well, well, well... Just read a post on the ign boards that Sega is changing the name of nfl 2k4 to "ESPN NFL Football." I can't believe they're actually just gonna go ahead and cram this thing down peoples throats after all. What a bunch of GREEDY BASTARDS!!! Typical corporate press release rah-rah BS: "The new branding and further integration is just the first step, with so many more improvements and ground-breaking features to come." Sure. Ground-breaking. And chair-breaking, wall-breaking, cd rack-breaking... call it whatever you want sega, pretty soon eveybody will know the truth. I CANT WAIT TO GET THIS SITE UP!
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ROOMMATE? OH YEAH, THAT ROOMMATE!
Jeremy came home today and it was kind of weird, it's like I almost forgot he lives here or something. He just came home to pick up some clothes and popped his head in my room to say hey and when he saw all the boxes, shredded paper, pillows and scotch tape everywhere he just had this look like, "ooooookay!" and then he left.
I wonder if he's just going to end up moving in with Gina. It would probably be better for him, but it would suck for me, cuz there's no way I can afford the entire rent. Maybe Rob could move in. He's been fighting alot with his parents lately.
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GOOD MORNING, AUSTRIA... OR NOT
Set my alarm, got up at 2:00 am and called austria, it's 8:oo am there and the guy picked up! Or at least A guy picked up, I don't know if its our beta or not. Couldn't understand a word he was saying, but as soon as I mentioned "Sega" the guy started FREAKING out, yelling at me in german and then hung up!!! I called back a bunch of times but just kept getting a busy signal. DAMMIT! I'm going back to bed.
More scotch taping today as Rob worked on the site. Must admit, i'ts getting harder and harder to watch rob on his ps2 breaks and keep working, but i just have to keep telling myself I'm a man on a mission.
The money situation is starting to worry me again, spending more than i anticipated on all this stuff and i'm sweating waiting to see what the long distance bill is gonna be.
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GOOD EVENING, AUSTRIA
Called the Austrian guy today at noon, it's 6:00 there, so I figured I'd catch him after work but before he goes out for the night, but still just got the machine. Left a message, even longer and more ramblig than the ones to the other betas. Don't know if the dude even speaks english though.
Friday the 13th AND a full moon tonight. At last the werewolves and serial killers can work together as a team...
Kept thinking wouldn't it be cool if some big break happened today, and kept waiting,hoping, but nothing. I'm going to bed early.
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"I'M CALLING TO TELL YOU ABOUT AN INCREDIBLE OFFER..."
Went with Rob to his dad's office tonight, which is WAAAY beyond the call of duty since he had to "borrow" his dads key and could of got seriously reamed if we got caught. One of the lines there has caller id block, so I figured maybe one of the other betas would pick up if they didn't recognize the number being from orlando. Felt kind of sleazy, like a telemarketer or something but hey, any means necessary, right?
Four of the betas phones had *67 or whatever, because they didn't go through, and the others just still didn't pick up. I actually left messages this time, most of them ended up being way too long and rambling cuz I was nervous, so they probably won't call back anyway cuz they'll think i'm a psycho. Just basically said i was one of the beta testers trying to get to the bottom of the situation and could use their help. It was after 9:00 so i still couldn't bring myself to call the austrian guy in the middle of the night though.
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MEMO: GUINEA PIGS OF TOMORROW!
HELL YEAH! Found a memo today that mentions FUTURE beta tests, but I could only find part of it. Dates, but no locations.
Rob showed me the graphics for the main page, and they look awesome, but I was trying to tell him I was more concerned with getting the site up and running, but at the same time I didn't want to piss him off. He said he's going to work on putting up a discussion board, but that it'll take a little longer than he anticiapated. This site is gonna kick ass!
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ALL WORK AND NO PAY
Working, working, working. Wish it was the kind of work you got $$$ for, but oh well. Rob is an unbelievably cool friend. He's really getting into the site. I told him not to worry so much about what it looks like, nobody's gonna know its his stuff anyway, but he just said pride in your work is what seperates us from the animals. I can't really tell him what to do, since he's doing all this for nothing, but I just don't want to get to hung up on what it looks like.
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SPECIAL DELIVERY FROM BETA-10
Got a video in the reg. mail today from Beta-10! It was another tackle video with a note saying, "Are you happy? Now leave me alone! Sincerely, "Beta10" Would be cool if he could come on board with us, but it's better then nothing.
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A LITTLE TASTE OF HEAVEN
I guess I've gotten used to this boring tedius routine of taping and stuff, but Rob gets distracted pretty easily. He actually MADE me sit down and take a ps2 break for like 40 mins (threatened to bail otherwise), and even on the crappy little tv in my room it was like heaven. I know that little taste is just gonna make me want to come back for more though, and I don't have time. I want to get this stuff done.
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GETTING ORGANIZED
Still taping, organizing etc. I felt a little more sane having Rob around though, like I'm not a crazy old hermit or something. Also, Rob could kind of help guard me from myself and my blackouts. I could actually THINK about possibly venturing outside again, that is if I had any time to.
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YOU THE MAN, ROB!
Been trying to organize my disaster zone of a room and start putting together stuff for a website. Figure it's the best way to get the word out. Thought about just going to a lawyer with all the stuff we have, but since it was gathered illegally it probably wouldn't hold up,and I don't have the money for a lawyer anyway. With enough bad PR, could end up doing more impact than a lawsuit anyway. Registered beta-7.com.
Don't know much about html, so I inlisted Rob's help, which meant I finally had to fill him in on all the crap that's been going on lately. At first he didn't believe me, but then I showed him all the evidence we've been compiling and it blew his mind. He told me it was a messed up situation, but that he was kind of relieved because he just thought I was losing my mind over Karen this whole time. I wish. I havn'et even had the time to THINK about Karen for like weeks. Told Rob to keep it on the DL though till we get the ball rolling, cuz I don't want people messing with it and under mining whta we're trying to do.
Rob said he'd help with the website and organizing, but that the scotch taping is all me...
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12TH BLACKOUT: SO GLASS DOESN'T BOUNCE AFTER ALL...
Blacked out in the kitchen today and smashed a jar of olives on the floor. Cut my right forearm, but nothing that needs stiches or anything. Luckily Jeremy hasn't been home all week.
Beta-13 called and said he tried calling Beta-10, but that the number was disconnected! The call last night must of really freaked him out.
Called the dude in Austria but just got a machine with a greeting in German. Didn't leave a message. Called the others as well, but just got machines again. No messsages, cuz what the hell am I going to say on a machine.
I've now gone through 34 rolls of scotch tape.
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COME BACK, BETA-10!
Talked to Beta-13 today, he says wer'e starting to get enough dirt together that we should start organizing it and putting it out there. We need to get ahold of the otehr betas from the test on March 22 and try to get their input, because the more documentation we have from different sources the better our case will look.
Emailed b-5, just told him we hadn't heard from him in a while, wanted to make sure he was stil out there, that we had a plan. I want to make sure he hasn't already tried to contact the other betas, or that he hasn't been busted or something, since we haven't heard from him. He emailed back right away, everything's cool, he's still trying to work on the sega server, but hasn't had a lot of time. I told him about contacting the other beta's and he said, yeah cool, just don't mention his involvement.
Decided I didn't have time to mess around waiting for email, so i tried calling the other betas from beta-x;s list (except for one guy who lives in Linz, Austria, i'd better call him tom'w cuz its probably the middle of the night) Of these, 7 numbers were disconnected! I got through to one, but it was an old lady who said there wsa nobody by the name of XXXXXXX living there. The rest were answering machines and voice mail, but i dind't leave a message cuz I figued they probably wouldn't call back. Try again tomorrow, it's getting too late to call.
Just got a call at 12:30, it was Beta-10! Said he got my number off caller id, what did I want, etc. He seemed really nervous, asked how I got his number, what I wanted from him. I tried to explain the situation to him, what we've been doing, and he just seemed to get more and more freaked out the more I told him. I told him we could really really use his help, that we were for real, on his side, ect. but he just said, "Look, I'm done with this shit, okay, so leave me alone!" and hung up. Damn. Told b13 about it,he said he'd try calling him tomorrow, since it would be from a different number and maybe he'd pick up this time.
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MEMO: NEVER BEEN TO O-TOWN, HUH SEGA?
HELL YEAH! JACKPOT, BABY! An older memo that mentions not only the beta test, but SPECIFICALLY a beta test for NFL 2k4 in Orlando, to be conducted by Sunshine survey systems! Also mentions that the test will study the game's effects on "non-participating observers" which explains why the other guy wasn't playing.
We now have proof that Sega conducted the beta test in Orlando on march 22, something they specifically denied IN PRINT. Our dear little paper trail is now turning into a six lane highway....
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EVEN MORE TAPING...
Still taping. still nothing. Jeremy's been staying at his girlfriends alot lately, which makes it easier on me and what i'm doing, but I feel kind of bad cuz its his place too. Hopefully all this BS will be over soon though. we'll have enough evidence that they'll have to do someting about it.
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MORE TAPING...
Still taping pages. Nothing good on my end for a few days. Haven't heard form Beta-5 in a few days but he said he'd only contact us when he had something to report, so...
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