Tone Parsons

I haven’t posted here for quite a while.  I blame 3 basic factors for my absence: Apathy, Facebook, and more apathy.

I really should deal with at least one of those.

My addiction to facebook is rather substantial though, and I feel that posting both there and here are rather redundant.  So I’ve been posting there for the most part (I also use google+ about as often as everyone else, once every few years).

And there you go… a new post for an old site.  I don’t know when I’ll post here again (it could be on any day that ends in the letter “y”), but I will keep renewing the domain ad infinitum (or until it’s so irrelevant that it’s no longer worth the money).

And now… a picture of a monkey:

For those of you who use facebook, you’ve already seen this… but I want to make it so anyone who googles dvdentertainmentshop.com is warned.

For my birthday, I ordered myself a copy of Stargate SG-1, “The Complete Series” from that website. I had found them via an add from facebook. They were selling it for $50 less than I was able to find it anywhere else and I jumped on the it immediately.

I became suspicious when I received an email from them with my tracking number…. it was shipped from China (the movie piracy capitol of the world). When it arrived yesterday, I became even more suspicious when I opened it up. The box looks legit, but the contents were shoddily packaged and the print on the DVD’s looked kinda crappy. After putting in 3 of the DVD’s (chosen at random from the 54 in the box set), it became apparent that they are bootlegs… the sound and picture quality aren’t very good.

So… being the fascist that I am…. I called the MPAA in Los Angeles, CA and spoke to Bob in the internet department. Apparently, dvdentertainmentshop.com is a known shipper of bootleg DVD’s. They seemed shocked that I found them via a facebook add, but said there wasn’t much I could do.

I contacted paypal to dispute the charge, but their reply was that they only deal with people who never receive a product, not with sellers who market bootleg products. My bank won’t help either.

So… lesson learned, moving on… a little wiser now.

In a nutshell…. do not buy from dvdentertainmentshop.com. While you will get what they sell… what they sell isn’t what you want.

I’m going to give myself a break from the blog for a while.

My earlier optimism isn’t quite working out the way I had hoped, and I’m now sitting on the lower side of the fence.  Rather than posting a bunch of depressing crap, I think its best just to give it a break.

Hopefully… things will turn around soon.

I’ll see you when I see you!

For years now, I’ve been searching for one of the foster family’s I grew up with.

I spent a good chunk of my youth in the foster care system, some homes were good, some were horrible beyond words.  The last home I was in (before I turned 18) was one of the good ones.

I fell out of contact with them some 15 or so years ago.  Life got busy, people moved, and my computer puked all over itself (wiping email address and phone numbers).  I did searches on the web from time to time, hoping to find contact information but all I’d get is old address and disconnected phone numbers.

Then, last weekend, everything changed.  My foster sister, Debbie, found my sister Jenifer.  Information was exchanged, and I got an email!  After a couple emails were exchanged, I got phone numbers for my foster mother, brother, and sister.

I immediately picked up the phone and started making calls.  I can’t tell you how good it was to talk to them again!!  I spoke to each of them for at least an hour and played catch-up on their lives and let them know how things were on this end.

Each call was a good thing and it really raised my spirits, with the exception of one piece of news: my best friend from high school, Dewayne, is no longer with us.  I guess that means that I have no reason to attend a high school reunion, as he’s one of the very few classmates that I’d want to see.

I also found out that my foster sister and brother have accounts on Facebook.  While I normally shun things like that (I think I’ve made it clear how much I hate myspace), I created an account so that I could see their pictures and such and found that I actually like it.  Actually… I’m kind of addicted to it.  Its a great way to stay in touch with friends (did I just say that?).

I’ve also found old friends from work and school on Facebook.  Some of them I havn’t seen since the mid 80’s.

Life is good! 🙂