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Geek Culture / E- Bay is the devil

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Matt Rock
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Posted: 1st May 2006 02:32
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So here's the deal. My two-year anniversary with my girlfriend is coming up in May. As a gift, I decided to get her a computer from E-Bay. It's a Dell B110, with a 2.53 GHz processor, 256 RAM, Win XP-H... you know, a "value" computer, just good enough for her to play the Sims and BF42 on. I bid $140 as my max bid. But, seeing that every other computer on there of the same value was going for about $200, I decided it'd be wise to bid on a second computer, this one for $130 and packing a 733 Mhz processor... an odler Dell. Yesterday, I won the better Dell for $140 ($239 after s/h charges). I thought "yay! What a great gift for my girlfriend! A new computer!" But today, a day which will live in infamy... I won the second computer, at $129.99... about $199 after shipping and handling. That's $400 USD in purchases. Granted, I'm an EBay noob... and this was easily the stupidest thing I've ever done. But wow, what a lesson I've learned.

So anyway, does anyone know of an ebay or paypal coupon that I could use to cut down on these purchases?


"In an interstellar burst, I'm back to save the universe"
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Mattman
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Posted: 1st May 2006 02:43
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1) do you HAVE to take it?

2) resell it

Why make sense when you could make brownies?
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soapyfish
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Posted: 1st May 2006 02:45 Edited at: 1st May 2006 02:48
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Talk to the seller, maybe they'd be willing to re-auction the computer as long as you paid any difference if they didn't get as much as before. You might not have to pay at all if they sell it for more and anything you do pay would no doubt be less than what you're looking at now. That is ofcourse, if it's an understanding seller.

I AM A MORON
and won't change my sig until I get off my oversized behind and finish a project.
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Phaelax
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Posted: 1st May 2006 02:47
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not sure what you mean by coupon. You could simply not bid $130 for an old arse machine while already awaiting anotehr auction. I did this once too, with sapphire/diamond jewelry. (dont ask) Luckily for me, one of them actually ended at 1 penny, plus the over-charged shipping from hong kong. (that one had lab-created gems, cheapos)

So is ebay really at fault here? I'd say no.


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Matt Rock
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Posted: 1st May 2006 02:54
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No, but I'm angry and don't want to blame myself, lol. Worst case scenario = we have an extra computer at lan parties for a "guest" to use. I emailed the seller but if he doesnt' reply soon (like, before the sopranos), I just going to pay for the computer and suck it up. BTW, anyone feel like helping me choose some upgrades for these comps?

The crappier one - A Dell Optiplex GX110, 733 MHz Processor, Win XP... And it comes with a 17" monitor, making it a real steal for the price I think. I'm thinking I should get some more RAM for it, but can't find out what kind of RAM it takes after a net search. Also, I might throw my old Radeon 9200SE into it, if it has an AGP port and is capable of handling it anyway.

The nicer one - A Dell B110, 2.53 GHz Processor, WinXP, 80 gb hard drive, NO AGP PORT... the worst part, no AGP or PCI-E port, so the video card will need to be a plain old PCI. The ram it takes is, according to Dell, PC3200, which is great because I can recycle the RAM from my Vaio into it.

Anyway, how should I upgrade these? Any suggestions? Has anyone heard of a Dell Optiplex GX110? I searched Google and can't find out what sort of RAM it takes. Hopefully it's cheap-$#@ PC100 or PC133, I've got tons of that lying around.


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Cash Curtis II
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Posted: 1st May 2006 03:12 Edited at: 1st May 2006 03:12
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I wouldn't have bought a computer as an anniversary present in the first place. That's a good birthday or Christmas present. But anniversary? That's more about love and jewelry and crap. It was karma biting you in the ass.


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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 1st May 2006 03:16
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You do realize that once you win the bid, you have to pay up?

No point in entering 2 bids. And weren't you also struggling financially a few weeks ago, and now you're blowing around $400?


It's like a Megaton Cat radar, 24 hours a day.
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Drew the G
User Banned
Posted: 1st May 2006 04:15
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Megaton, he wasn't blowing $400, it was a reasonable gift, I mean, it's not like he spent $400 on Aikido Gear and stuff like that. J/K, sorry, I couldn't help myself.

"Bug? That's a feature."
"Retreat? We're advancing in a different direction."
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Saikoro
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Posted: 1st May 2006 04:57
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Quote: "I wouldn't have bought a computer as an anniversary present in the first place. That's a good birthday or Christmas present. But anniversary? That's more about love and jewelry and crap. It was karma biting you in the ass."

You got here first.

How about re-auctioning off the old, crappy computer? You may get more for it.

"One World, One Web, One Program" -Microsoft ad.
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer"(One People, One Kingdom, One Leader)-Adolf Hitler.
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Matt Rock
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Posted: 1st May 2006 06:33
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I think I'm probably going to go with Saikoro's advice, although it might be nice to have another system sitting around at LAN parties, so someone's friend who came for the free food can actually participate and thus not be an inexplicable waste of oxygen Then again, maybe I should just ban those types from coming in the first place

As crappy a gift as it may seem, it's actually what she wanted. Her old computer is giving out and can't play some of the newer games (not even BF1942!), and it's beneficial to me, too, because now I can have my computer whenever I want to use it without having to wait for her to "save," an action that usually takes an additional 2-3 hours I dunno, she already knows I got it for her and she's excited about it... I just don't know what to tell her when the second computer shows up lol

And yes Megaton, we were BROKE not long ago, even got evicted and stuff, but thanks to my new job and a few more trivia games sold I can afford to live a little, hehe. My first paycheck was enough to cover the FIRST computer purchase and a few small $10 items for myself, too (Far Cry and the first season of the West Wing, yay!). It was a horrible time, but now we're pulling out of debt, we're caught up on the car, and we're shopping for a new apartment because living with family bites the big one. But after being that broke, and now we're bill-less for at least a few more weeks, I deemed it necessary to spend a few hundred bucks on entertainment. But the second computer? That was a mistake of epic proportions.

Anyone have any ebay tips? I never used it... in fact, the first things I ever bought on the internet EVER were from TGC. Chris actually had a problem with my credit card because it was so new, lol. That should gauge my internet purchasing experience, hehe.


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ionstream
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Posted: 1st May 2006 07:16
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Don't you mean parapalegic?

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Phaelax
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Posted: 1st May 2006 10:12
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Quote: "You do realize that once you win the bid, you have to pay up?"


You can retract the bid, even after it ends. It just doesn't look good on your rep.

Quote: "he wasn't blowing $400, it was a reasonable gift"

Price doesn't always justify reasonable. My friend paid $400 for jewelry for his gf. It's made out of rubber! Why would anyone spend that kind of money on rubber jewelry? But just because it says Tiffany on the box....


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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 1st May 2006 14:26
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Drew G: Heh, you'll learn someday that showing someone you care about them isn't about buying the coolest/most expensive stuff.

And your $400 is way off - I spent $650 on a sword once.


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Saikoro
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Posted: 1st May 2006 14:48
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I spent $1600 on a peice of wood.

"One World, One Web, One Program" -Microsoft ad.
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer"(One People, One Kingdom, One Leader)-Adolf Hitler.
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Cash Curtis II
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Posted: 1st May 2006 15:46
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Once I spent $100 on a ... plant...


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Matt Rock
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Posted: 1st May 2006 21:42
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Steel battalion, that's the game with the wacky humungous controller right? I've wanted to try it but I don't want to spend $300 on a game that I wouldn't play ever day for 25+ hours per day.

I've decided to keep the crappier computer, but I can't find ANY information about it online so upgrading it won't be fun. I know it has an AGP port (which is weird since the newer 2.53 GHz Dell doesn't), but I don't know if it's a 2x, 4x, or 8x. If it's an 8x, then I can toss my old ATI Radeon 9200SE into it. And I'm assuming that it takes PC100 or PC133 RAM since it's a P3 processor, in which case I've got tons of RAM to dump into it. I dunno... any thoughts on what could make this computer worth owning? It would be nice to have an extra computer for LAN parties


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Medieval Coder
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Posted: 1st May 2006 22:35
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If I were you I would set up an auction and sell one of them...
remember to put pictures up otherwise people wont bid...
A lenghty descript (just copy the one from the auction you got it from)
Then hope and pray....
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indi
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Posted: 2nd May 2006 02:09
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make the 2nd one a music box for your gf. this way she can keep the music running in the house and not waist cpu syscles on the main machine.

set it up as an mp3 server.

If no-one gives your an answer to a question you have asked, consider:- Is your question clear.- Did you ask nicely.- Are you showing any effort to solve the problem yourself 
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Drew the G
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Posted: 2nd May 2006 02:26
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@ Megaton
True True, you have a point, but if you ever get to the stage Matt is on, you can care about people as well as buy them expensive gifts. I mean, of course, the most expensive thing I bought someone once was, err.. nevermind that, I'll get flamed. Anyway, Matt probably does care about people, and so, since he can, he could buy them whatever. I mean, you are probably too young to understand the points both of us are coming at. Then again, the most expensive thing I've bought someone, (myself) was $100. Now, excluding myself, the most expensive thing was, well, now you know why I'd get flamed. So nevermind.

"Bug? That's a feature."
"Retreat? We're advancing in a different direction."
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Cash Curtis II
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Posted: 2nd May 2006 03:28
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The guideline that I always follow is : Buy one fairly expensive thing, Make one really nice thing. For a woman, there's no substitute for either. Women sure love gifts, but if that's all they get, they'll feel that something is lacking. Making something, like a jewelry box or a wood burning or GOOD poetry sure makes them feel special.


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Drew the G
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Posted: 2nd May 2006 18:06
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@ Cash
Wow, thanks for all this useful information. I may use it someday.

"Bug? That's a feature."
"Retreat? We're advancing in a different direction."
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Matt Rock
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Posted: 6th May 2006 04:33
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@ Cash: Unfortunately, the closest thing to poetry I could do is copying song lyrics, hehe. What I love about her is that she's a girly-girl by appearance but her personality screams "hey, I wanna blow up stuff in video games." She isn't the most hardcore gamer around, but I figured eh, she wants a new computer so she can play Battlefield 1942, and The Sims 2, and Rainbow Six 3, so I could wait until her b-day in november or I could just get it now

@ Drew: I always thought Megaton was older than me, hehe. I don't want to irk the mods by saying my age, because apparently it's wrong to do for some reason, so I'll just say I was born one year before John Bonham of Led Zeppelin died And from the other thread that was locked, I meant that I don't usually agree with your methods because you usually flame the crap outta people, lol. But usually with some sort of reason and/ or to make a valid point, so hey, if it works, it works

In case anyone was wondering, we got the first, faster computer and she loves it (and is playing BF42 right now, in fact). The second one hasn't showed up yet but eh, I'm sure it will eventually. If I set it up as a BF42 server, but we never play on it, will it be a slow server? Just wondering... I assume the answer is yes, I mean, that makes the most sense, but I don't really know so I figured I'd ask. No one likes being lagged

- Matt


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Jeku
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Posted: 6th May 2006 04:49
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We dont' want people posting their ages on here, especially if they're minors. The trouble is we want to avoid problems with pedos. If you're 16+ I don't personally have a problem.


Automaton Games website has been revamped! Check it out!
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Saikoro
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Posted: 6th May 2006 05:01
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Yeah, some guy (I'm guessing from these forums, due to the coding related MSN name, and these are the only forums I visit, let alone coding place) added me, trying to pick up on me x.x Then he told me off when he found out I was a guy x.x

"One World, One Web, One Program" -Microsoft ad.
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer"(One People, One Kingdom, One Leader)-Adolf Hitler.
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Represent
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Posted: 6th May 2006 08:46
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LOL

yea it mite be a little TOO slow for a bf42 server.

Your signature has been erased by a mod because it's larger than 600x120...
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Matt Rock
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Posted: 6th May 2006 09:01
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Oh, Saikoro, too sexy! No!

(yes, that was an SNL reference)

About the age thing: I can totally understand that... I just thought it applied to everyone and that didn't make sense to me. Thanks for clearing it up though

I dunno mouse, the minimum requirements for BF42 are 500 MHz and this computer, at 733, just scrapes past that But the recommended specs are at 800... so yeah, probably not my best idea. But a Worms Armageddon server? TOTALLY I'll put this thing to good use if it kills me, lol


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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 6th May 2006 15:26
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Quote: "If you're 16+ I don't personally have a problem."


Pfft. He lies. Every time I say I'm 16, it gets deleted.

*waits for it to get deleted*


It's like a Megaton Cat radar, 24 hours a day.
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Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 6th May 2006 16:37
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Bidding on two items is far too casual for an Ebay user. Self control is important when the eyes tell the brain that they see something that they like. Children eat with their eyes, adults eat with their brains. Same with shopping.

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Matt Rock
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Posted: 6th May 2006 22:02
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@ Megaton: I thought you were at least ten years older, and thus my age or even older than me... go figure

@ Pincho: I tend to eat with my eyes. Paste looks so much like whipped cream! But seriously, that's part of why I said e-bay is the devil... it's far too easy to go ballistic and bid on everything you see because there's a sense that you won't win it all... it's kinda like gambling in a casino, but without all the funky carpet and dim lighting and radio muzak and any chance at winning because the ball keeps landing RIGHT next to 29 and it KILLS you because you got THAT FRIGGIN' CLOSE and... uh... nevermind


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Cash Curtis II
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Posted: 7th May 2006 12:20 Edited at: 7th May 2006 12:22
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@ Megaton: I thought you were at least 60 or 65. You know, the shaking hand, the dullness. Go figure...


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Dave J
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Posted: 7th May 2006 13:05
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Quote: "And yes Megaton, we were BROKE not long ago, even got evicted and stuff, but thanks to my new job and a few more trivia games sold I can afford to live a little, hehe. My first paycheck was enough to cover the FIRST computer purchase and a few small $10 items for myself, too (Far Cry and the first season of the West Wing, yay!). It was a horrible time, but now we're pulling out of debt, we're caught up on the car, and we're shopping for a new apartment because living with family bites the big one. But after being that broke, and now we're bill-less for at least a few more weeks, I deemed it necessary to spend a few hundred bucks on entertainment."


I'm not sure if you're familiar with the concept of 'saving' but I'm sure if you read up on it, it'd definitely be worth it.


"Computers are useless, they can only give you answers."
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Matt Rock
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Posted: 7th May 2006 19:22
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Well Dave, when you're barely earning enough to pay all of your bills and stuff, and when you have to pay $3.15 for a gallon of gasoline so you can get to work every day, saving? It's kinda hard But I'm making more money now and my gf is (hopefully) starting her new job soon and so I'll be back to my old wasteful self within a month or two


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Jeku
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Posted: 7th May 2006 21:47
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Saving--- what's that? Sounds vaguely familiar.


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Fallout
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Posted: 7th May 2006 21:58
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Ugghh. I hate the expectation of anniversaries and valentines days etc. Do what I do - convince her spontaneity is where its at. Then you only have to buy stuff and be romantic when you can be arsed.

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Saikoro
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Posted: 8th May 2006 00:07
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'Tis wise words, Fallout I don't think I got her anything for Valentines day, and she didn't get anything for me. Of course, our anniversary is also the day after Valentines, so I make her breakfast or something, and all is well. Two birds with one stone, and lasts for a good few months.

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"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer"(One People, One Kingdom, One Leader)-Adolf Hitler.
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Drew G
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Posted: 8th May 2006 20:47
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lol @ saikoro
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