Cables, Trade-Ins, and Other Matters...

Today, I went searching for a VGA cable.

I thought that it would be a simple enough task.

But for some odd reason, NO ONE STOCKS THEM.

Well, I'll clarify this a bit- what I was after was a 15 pin male to female VGA extension cable, not your normal male-male (insert immature giggle here) cable. I tried FIVE stores. FIVE. Including my university computer shop, which seems to have whored itself out to Apple and now seems to be solely worshiping the shrine of Steve Jobs.

I told the guy what I was after, and he goes, "Well...we have cables to connect the Macs."

("Hi, I'm a Mac!" "And I'm a PC!" Do not distract me with your Mac words, peasant!)

And then he suggested the company for which I work.

But no, my store doesn't have male-female VGA cables. We also charge $40 for normal cables, which is just plain stupid.

Anyway...I toddled off to the industrial zone near my university, which has quite a few little computer shops nestled into it. Despite the fact that they are really quite tiny little shops, the I.T guys there were lovely. And...well, they could speak English. It was nice to have a conversation that didn't run along the lines of:

"Excuse me, do you have VGA cables?"
"VGA?"
"Yes, VGA. 15 pin male to female."
"Ahhh....we no have VGA cable. All sold out."

*Awkward pause*

"Um...do you usually stock them?"
"No more. Run out."
"Well, would you be able to order them in?"

*Uncomprehending blinking ensues*

"Never mind."

Finally, I reached the very end of the industrial area and struck gold. And the cables were like $5 each. Mentally, I uttered a joyful "WOOT!" as I handed my $10 over, while the jolly old man at the counter told me that the company I work for was basically 'daylight robbery!'.

Daylight robbery or not, my humble little electronics job has paid my way through law school :)

The cables were actually for a very good friend of mine, Kryssy. In fact, I dedicate this post to her, as she's just bloody awesome. I've shrieked through Halo on her old black brick, dragged her through JB jumping up and down at a Force Unleashed mock-up, rung her in the middle of the exam period wanting her advice whilst standing at an EB clearance table, and tottered around Chadstone with her on a PS3-buying expedition, dragging a limited-edition lead safe that came with GTAIV. (That was a brilliant expedition. She got her PS3, I got knee-length black leather boots. Happiness.)

Anyway...half an hour after I got home, she came over so we could go to my local GameTraders to trade in her all her old stuff. And there was a LOT. Like three bags full. The first was filled to the brim- and imagine a large retail bag FILLED WITH PLAYSTATION TWO GAMES- the second was filled with PS1 stuff, and the third had a Xbox Console plus games and controllers.

Suffice to say, the first bag actually broke when I'd only taken ten steps away from the car, but we managed to stumble into Game Traders- I heaved up the first bag on the counter with a large THUMP and said, "We'd like to trade."

The woman at GameTraders looked distinctly unimpressed.

We let her sort all that out while I snickered through the old Mega Drive collection and viewed their SNES collection with sweet nostalgia. Kryssy got a pretty good deal- she got Call of Duty 4 and Kane and Lynch for the PS3 and that only took up like half of her trade-in credit. Pretty sweet.

We had a most excellent day- and to Kryssy, I say thank you. For years of friendship and gaming and ranting...I have so many happy (and highly amusing) memories. Sitting on your living room floor and pouring through X-Men comics. Playing Mortal Kombat on your PS2 and yelling, "MY HAT KILLS PEOPLE!". Leaving the cinema after Iron Man two minutes before they played Samuel L. Jackson's cameo, saying to you, "Boy, I wish they'd showed Nick Fury from S.H.I.E.L.D." (Am still slapping myself over that one.)

And yeah, being defeated by a flight of stairs in Halo and then screaming and firing blindly when a bunch of beaky aliens jumped out at me behind a crate.

I'll learn how to shoot straight one of these days...