Spread

'How often already you've had to be told,
Keep cold, young orchard. Good-by and keep cold.
Dread fifty above more than fifty below.
'I have to be gone for a season or so.
-Frost

I am consumed with a burning, brutal rage, directed at Microsoft. My XBOX is refusing to play any more. No games, no music, and most importantly, no DVDs. What the hell use is this piece of junk—and perhaps a better question would be, what the hell use is the XBOX tech help people, who have let my email remain unanswered for days.

I knew something like this would happen. I knew, if I went to the dark side, that it would bite me in the ass. I’ve always hated Microsoft, for their immoral business practices—honestly, who buys a company pioneering internet-browsing software for the blind and then kills the project? That’s, like, cartoon villain evil—but I put my disapproval aside because my friends all said “trust me.” And honestly, it is a good system. If you have the money to buy a HD television to go with it, I’m sure it’s fantastic. I have had a great time with it, probably having racked up literally thousands of hours on it in the last few years.

But isn’t it fitting that now, of all times, it decides to commit mutiny? The one situation where I can’t “bring it in” to a Best Buy or something like that. I’m basically screwed, here. I’m without a DVD player and can’t play games. I’m lugging around a useless piece of electronics now. I am so angry I can’t see straight. I’m angry at Microsoft for putting out a defective product and then being unsupportive when it breaks. I’m angry at myself for not bringing a backup DVD player. I’m angry at Bungie Software because if they hadn’t sold out to Microsoft, Halo would never have been released for XBOX and nobody would have bought the system, and I wouldn’t be in this situation.

There’s not much I can do about it, and that’s the big problem with corporations. I am a big believer in the move toward a corporate society, but we need to find a way to force corporations to abandon their “what are YOU gonna do about it?” attitude toward consumers. Frankly, until the thing started acting up, I considered myself a full convert to Microsoft. Now I realize how I’ve been seduced. There may not have been many games released for the Macintosh, but the ones that were released, dammit, they worked. I should never have left the fold. I am now going to seriously consider going back to Mac when I get home. Problems with one product are indicative of problems within the greater corporate organism.

With great difficulty, because I could go on for pages about my anger with Microsoft and my XBOX, I turn to the game today. Marcus J. called me from Kuwait two days ago and we talked about the game. We are in agreement: if the defense finds it way onto the field and are not high on cough syrup, we really have an honest-to-God good shot in this game. I’m not being crazily optimistic, here. We have always played to the level of our competitors, whether they’re number one or a high school team. Really all we have to do is keep up with them and then manage to come out on top in the last couple minutes.

Marc informed me of something that concerns me greatly. Apparently this game is undersold. As in, not sold out. As in, the Aggie-Texas game was NOT SOLD OUT on the A&M side, and we ended up having to give four thousand tickets to t.u.

This also enrages me. This is an Aggie game. We may not be having the best season ever, but for the love of God. You know what started this? The school telling us we couldn’t have bonfire any more. It was bad enough with all the liberal commie professors in a supposedly conservative school, but the bonfire thing killed us. Something needs to happen before long, or the Aggie Spirit will be dead forever. Am I being alarmist? Am I blowing this out of proportion? Or, on the other hand, did the Texas game not sell out?

It can’t all be blamed on the administration, though. These lazy, slovenly college students. Put them on a plane to Iraq for a year. That’ll make them appreciate their school. Miscreants.

To sum up, I hate Microsoft, I can’t believe the game didn’t sell out, and I can’t wait to watch it. Tonight! Beat the Hell.