Gifts Cards, and the pain of using them

My family sent me gift cards for my birthday -- that is AWESOME -- I love getting to choose what I want, and they know what places I shop at.  This is the part of the blog where I stop being cranky and just be nice for once.  Thank you guys so much for letting me get what I want.

Katherine -- The two books I got were insanely expensive , I bought "Your Story" and "Our World" of the Dresden Files RPG.  We will probably play this game for the next 6+ years, it beats the heck out of a video game of any kind, thank you.
Chris -- I got "A Rollins in the Wry" - by Henry Rollins, you know I love this guy, he's my first page quote, "Tron:Legacy" soundtrack by Daft Punk, good music to work to, urgent, but no lyrics, I can jam out miles of code, most of it good :) just flowing with this music.  I did also get Thor, not my favorite comic character, but close, and he seems likable, and no one's going to make a movie out of the Phantom Stranger.  Nerd Rant sometime when I choose to, if you're waiting for it, I'm sorry, you must have not seen my update schedule.
Mom and Dad -- Castle, complete series, I haven't watched more than 20 minutes of the series, but it's NATHAN FILLON! and my Mom likes it, which is recommendation enough.  My Mom likes things that are good (West Wing, Gunsmoke, etc) and that's more than recommendation for me.  Plus, it's Mal/Captain Hammer, it has to be good.

Now I'm going to rant in full on whiny mode.  You can keep reading if you've had a bad experience with gift cards, but it's not really bad, just annoying.

K, just gave me cash to spend, and told me where to go (Rogues Gallery, to a nerd, the most awesome place for miles), not an issue, though they did ask if I wanted to go into the Fantasy Football League.  P.S.  In Batman vs. Superman I did choose Batman, cause he doesn't get in to fights without choosing the terms, and he has evidence (comics) that he is prepared.  Plus team Batman had Hellblazer (John Constantine), and I won't vote against him, it's awesome.


C, a most awesome gift card, with lots of choices.  It was easy to get what I wanted, but I did have to update my credit card and say "No credit card"  They were fine with that, and it took seconds to select that option.  But is shouldn't have been an issue at all, I had redeemed my card and my credit card shouldn't have been an issue at all.  Not a dime was coming from my credit card.  What difference could it possibly make?

M&D, I had to update my credit card, even though I had more than enough on my gift card to get what I wanted.  Amazon would not let me through with out a valid credit card.  They would not let me select my shipping method or anything, even though I had 7 dollars left on my gift card, until I had given my updated credit card information.  Um, the person who sent me a gift spent good money, that automatically goes to you, what difference does it make to you about my credit card?  If you had let me select my shipping method first, with the gift card, it should have been no difference, I don't owe you anything.  Not to complain about what was given to me, Amazon had, by far, the best choices, but they were so obtrusive about letting me spend my (gift) money.


In short, thank everyone for the gifts, let me itch about some sites, but it was an awesome experience all around, thank you guys so much.

David B. -- aspects (Fortunate Son; My Daddy's Boy; This I Learned from My Mother; Touch My Sis and Die!; Devoted Husband; Fairy Tale Romance; Papa Bear)

If you understood what's up there in the parenthesis, I'm about to start a new game, write me.  :D